The Party Watermelon That Came To Stay

By Tanjua Damon

The D’Eramo family patio is like something out of a Stephen King novel. It is being taken over by a watermelon vine and not just any watermelon vine.

The family – Eric, Suzanne, Jillian and Caitlin – hosted a Sandy Hook School end-of-the-year fifth grade party in June. And what is a pre-summer party without watermelon?

A little over a month ago Mr D’Eramo saw a “weed” growing in a flowerbed along the patio, but decided to leave it since he likes nature. Much to the family’s surprise, it kept growing and growing and growing.

Now the vine is close to moving its way up the back of their house. It contains four or five watermelons. One weighed in at 14.5 pounds on the family scale. Another made its home underneath the patio table as it bakes in the sun and prepares to be eaten.

After the 14.5-pound melon was cut open, the fruit was found to be all white inside, including the seeds because it was not ripe yet. It did not smell much like a watermelon and was not very sweet.

“It’s weird,” Jillian said. “It was okay but it seems like a cucumber. It left a bad taste.”

The D’Eramos’ neighbors, the Petrovich family, shared in the excitement of the fluke vine. Nick Petrovich helped care for it while the D’Eramos were on vacation.

“I didn’t know if I should watch it of not,” Nick said. “I just thought it was a big pile of bush.”

Mrs D’Eramo explained how her husband could be considered a nature nut. He brings things home to see how they will grow. “He really does enjoy all things living,” she said.

Mr D’Eramo has quite the sense of humor. When asked for a comment on the pumpkin vine, he said “I’m vining to think of something.”

Puns aside, he felt the vine was interesting in the way it has taken over the patio, positioning oval green watermelons around it.

“I give everything and anything an opportunity,” he said. “I am amazed. Everyday I check it in the morning. I like gardening.”

Sandi Wilson, coordinator of the master gardener program with the University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension Service in Bethel, explained that watermelons like warm temperatures and soils to grow and be healthy.

Watermelons usually are planted in the spring about four weeks after the last expected frost. The seeds need to be planted a half-inch to an inch deep.

“Sixty-five to 75 degree temperatures are best for germination,” Ms Wilson said. “It takes four to ten days to germinate and needs 80 to 100 warm days to mature.”

As the D’Eramos and their neighbors found out, watermelons ripen towards the end of their growth, not as they grow. They gain most of their sweetness later in the process.

“Watermelons pack up on sugar during their final days of growth,” Ms Wilson said. “It’s important to leave them on the vine as long as possible.”

Watermelons grow better on hills, but can be grown in rows, according to Ms Wilson. It is important to remove smaller watermelons that will not produce, and the flowers to save on energy the larger melons need.

The fruit is ready to be picked when it can be broken off the vine cleanly with no pressure. Just by picking it up should be sufficient, Ms Wilson said. There are other ways to decide that a melon is ready to be cut into for consumption.

“When the little curly pig tail attached to the vine turns brown,” the watermelon is ready, Ms Wilson said. “When the bottom surface or ground spot is a light straw color to gold-orange or rich yellow, it’s ripe for the picking or a tap on the side that has a dull thud.”

So beware next year if there is a party and watermelon is served. Who knows what might loom from the ground and take over another patio in Newtown.