 Hi everybody, welcome. Welcome to the spring fever garden forums where we connect gardeners with the experts at North Dakota State University. And my name is Tom Cobb. I'm an extension horticulturist in the Department of Plant Sciences. Now today is first day of spring, and it's the first of our four spring fever garden forums. And tonight our theme is on vegetables and soils. So let's get started. And our first talk we're going to talk about growing melons. And just imagine biting into a sweet, crisp and juicy watermelon or a cantaloupe. And just a wonderful taste fully ripened out of the garden. And here to provide us with some secret tips on how to grow melons in North Dakota is Don Kinsler. Don's a native of Lisbon, North Dakota, and he's an alumnus of the NDSU horticulture program. A lifelong gardener, Don is the extension agent for horticulture in Cass County. Don, welcome to the forums. Well, thank you, Tom. And good evening, everybody. It's great to be here. Now, everything that I'm going to say this evening is in the handout that I prepared for you on growing water melons in Northern climates. So sit back and relax. And like I say, everything I say and more is in that handout. I love vegetable gardening, always have. And the slide here is of our vegetable garden in South Fargo. My wife, Mary and I, and I even dressed up to take that photo of me with one of the water melons that we grow in our garden. And water melons homegrown garden fresh water melons and musk melons are an indescribable unbeatable flavor. They just drip sweetness and sugar and I love growing melons. So tonight we're going to concentrate mostly about musk melon, water melon, but this would apply to any type of melons also. Now, I grew up eating water melons. In fact, on the left hand side there, the photo, I'm the little guy, I'm eating watermelon with my dad. And my dad's parents, my grandparents lived in New Jersey. And when we would travel out there in from their garden, I tasted the most incredible water melons. And so from a young age, I developed this, this taste for a homegrown ripe watermelon right out of the garden. I never forgot that flavor. Now, of course, in North Dakota and Minnesota here, Montana, we don't have as much heat as of course they do out east and down south. And melons are native to Africa and Asia. They love heat. They need a long growing season. And here in North Dakota, Minnesota, we don't have as long growing season as a melon would prefer. Both watermelon, musk melon, other types of melons as well. So even though we get some hot stretches, we don't have a season long, season long period. So I started gardening as a young boy. And I never forgot the flavor of those water melons. So as I was gardening, I wanted to try to grow watermelon the way my grandparents did out in New Jersey. Well, in junior high I started planting water melons in our garden, such as the sugar baby the small type and they were okay, but I wanted something better than that. So when I was in high school, when I was in high school, each Sunday I would read the garden column in the forum newspaper written by Dorothy Collins, she wrote it for about 50 years. Well anyway, one Sunday, I read about some breaking news on research that was being done on how to grow melons in North Dakota. And of all places this research was being done at NDSU in the horticulture department. It was research was being done in the late 60s, early 70s on how to get tomatoes to grow quicker better. But the primarily concern was to get musk melon and work for watermelon to how to get these to ripen in our shorter season. And so I read the material and tried it. And for the last 49 maybe it's going on 50 years, I've done this in our home garden ever since and it's worked beautifully. So from high school on I've enjoyed these melons. And so this is the procedure that I'm going to share with everybody this evening I've never done a program on this before I've shared, I've shared this with people before but never an entire program. So anyway, the tips that I'm going to share are from this research that was done at NDSU. And I found that it worked ever since. So I'm going to cover this in 20 steps. And again, this is all listed in the handout. Okay, step one, we've got to choose the right cultivars, because we've got a shorter season so we choose cultivars that will fit for us. Now a good way to find these selected cultivars of either watermelon musk melon is by doing an online search for vegetable gardens for North Dakota NDSU 2023 and you'll come up with that with that bulletin that you see right there on the left hand side of your screen. So that will list very good tried and true cultivars of watermelon musk melon and others for our area. Now you may not be able to find these seeds probably won't find them on the seed rack. So that means we'll have to will order those seeds in most cases from those so check those. Now it's important to get melon varieties will ripen within 65 to 85 days now that'll be listed on the type. If it's over 85 days, those are really too long for our area no matter what we're going to do. Okay, step number two. Once we've got the right variety is to start the seeds early indoors about May 1 to the 10th somewhere in there don't start too early or they just languish and get too long and spindly but start the seeds indoors may first to the 10th. Now in the photo that you see there, which was in our home garden, you see musk melon plants on the left hand side. They were started this photo was taken probably in June sometime on the left hand side, those plants were started early about May 1 for Fargo. And on the right hand side that row, they were direct seeded and notice the difference, those that were started earlier from plants are already producing blossoms. Okay, a few tips on seeding, put a couple of seeds, two to three seeds in a pot after they sprout thin them down to one or two. And I say in a breakaway pot, I'm going to tell you why a breakaway pot is important in a minute. Okay, step number three. Melons love heat and the seeds need heat. So put the pots in a tray on a seeding mat germination mat and provide very good light. I grow these in our basement under fluorescent lights fluorescent lights LED lights plant lights will all work. The bulbs need to be within just a couple inches of the emerging plants or they'll stretch and get too leggy. Step four, on sunny warm days, we can take the melon plants outside and harden them off in a wind protected spot to get them used to the outdoors. Okay, step five, transplant to the garden held in the hands there as a little watermelon transplant at about the right stage, probably two to three weeks maybe from seeding. So when are we going to put these out in the garden. Now we mentioned that water melons musk melon need heat. They need warm air temperature because a little tickle with frost and they're done, they're gone. They also need warm soil, we can't plant them into cold soil. So when are we going to plant these out. I like the 10 day window between about May 25, depending on whether you're in the southern half the state or the northern. The window between about starting May 25 through the first week in June. That's kind of the window. And don't be afraid to go into the first part of June when things warm up well melons will love the heat. Step number six, the key to success. And now here, this is where the research from NDSU and like I say, I've done this for the last 49 years I followed NDSU's recommendation, the key to success is plastic mulch. If you look at the photo here on the left hand side, those plants were started early indoors from Fargo about May 1. And on the right hand side, they were started the same time, but notice how those in the plastic mulch have gotten so much larger so both started from plants, but the plastic mulch really does give a key to success. If you remember three things this evening, pick the right cultivar. Number two, start them early somewhere between May 1, May 10, the third use plastic mulch. Ah, because the, and this is in our garden. The plastic, the plastic just makes the melons just go gangbusters look at this. And again, these are in our own garden from last year. Look at the way that the clear plastic just causes the melons to proliferate. So what are we going to use? Are we going to use clear plastic, black plastic, colored plastic? Well, you might think wouldn't black plastic really warm up nice? Well, in sunshine, if you put your hand on the black plastic, it feels nice and warm. But if you slide your hand underneath, it's not as warm underneath, might even be a little cool on the soil. On the other hand, clear plastic mulch, which is what the research at NDSU was based on, clear plastic mulch laid on the soil creates a greenhouse type effect over the soil. The sunlight penetrates through, it's collected onto the soil, it heats the soil, warms beautifully and retains the moisture and the heat with that. Now, the, the thickness of plastic is important. Four to six mil clear plastic. Now there are other colors of plastic available to that you can get. You know, there's research done on blue plastic, different types of colored plastic, but those have to be special ordered and tracked down. But clear plastic, because the research was done on it, but and showed it worked, but also I can go to the hardware store, the farm supply store, the national chain store, and I can find clear plastic. It may be a wider role, but you cut it down to four foot long strips. And if things aren't readily available or handy chances are we don't do them, but clear plastic, we can find readily available. All right, laying the plastic. Now this, this is not a photo of me or a crew. It's at a different location and they're trialing different colors of plastic. But here's the concept. To lay the plastic, I dig two trenches with a hole, three foot apart, then you roll the plastic down the center between the trenches and then fill in the sides with soil and it holds it beautifully in place. You can even put the plastic down early. I mentioned the melons love warm, hot soil. You could even put the plastic down, maybe early May, start the soil heating up well in advance. Now how are we going to transplant? Okay, again, this is not my operation there on the left hand side. They're even doing these melons in a hot tunnel or a high tunnel, and they're really going to grow. So the melon plants are installed after the plastic is laid down in holes. Now here's a very important tip. Don't disturb melon roots. If when the melon roots are taken out of their little pot, if the roots break apart, melon roots won't recover. So we can't tease the roots apart. That's why I mentioned a breakaway pot. Styrofoam cups with a nail hole works well. Peat pots work well if you break down the upper rim and kind of break the sides apart a little bit. So again, don't disturb the roots. To transplant, and this is in my garden last summer, I make an X shaped slit, plant the plant down in, and spacing is important. Within the row, about 12 to 18 inches apart, and the rows should be about 6 to 12 feet apart. Again, this is listed in your handout. Okay, now you see that I planted those little plants down in the plastic slit there. Next, it's very important to take a couple of handfuls of soil and tuck the plastic in, tuck those little tabs in under, take a couple handfuls of soil and seal that plastic down around the plant. That will keep the heat in and it will keep the wind from catching under. You might even want to give it some liquid starter type fertilizer. What about the weeds under plastic? In 49 years of doing this, I've never had any problems for a couple of reasons. Clear plastic, the sunlight shines through, it solarizes and fries off a lot of the weeds. Even if it's a heat-loving weed, and of course my garden is just as weed as the next guy, but anyway, under this plastic, I don't have any problems. Even heat-loving like purslane, by the time those melons get all over the plastic, even the purslane gets shaded out. Never had any problems with weeds. Now, how does water get to the plants? Well, when rainwater or sprinkling water, it will get into the hole in which you planted the plants, but also the water comes in from the edges very nicely, so we don't need to add extra holes at all. Now, you could even add a roll cover if desired. Now, the thing that I think is so fascinating on the left-hand side labeled 1971, that is a page out of that NDSU from 50-some years ago. They were talking about roll covers then, and on the right-hand side, you see a roll cover being used along with plants. That's not in my garden. I've never used roll covers, but it'd be kind of fun. I think that would extend. Now, a couple of slides left. How to tell a ripe watermelon? They're easy. I wish watermelons did this. If you give a tug on a ripe musk melon, it separates well. Look at these circular scar on that musk melon, and this was a musk melon out of our garden. Isn't that beautiful? They slip off easily when they're ripe. Watermelon are a little more difficult. A ripe watermelon, take a look at the arrows pointing to the wire-like tendrils. When they become dry and crisp, the watermelon is ripe, or at least it's approaching ripe. I don't depend just on that, because sometimes it's yielded watermelon that aren't quite as ripe, but take a look at a couple of other things. The ground spot on which the watermelon rested on many or most varieties turns from creamy to a yellow. Also, if you notice this watermelon that's not ripe, notice the kind of waxy bloom, the shininess maybe to it. A ripe watermelon loses that glossiness, that waxiness, and becomes a little more dull. And then, of course, you can give it the thump test, and I could talk for a whole hour on the finesse of thumping a watermelon. And, of course, the flavor and sweetness are going to vary each season with the air temperatures. So if you try a cultivar, a recommended cultivar one season, and it isn't quite what you thought it might be, well, give it a couple of seasons, because the sweetness and flavor does vary. At the end of the season, you do need to pull up the plastic and discard it, otherwise it'll break down, make a mess in the garden. And happy meloning. I created that word especially for tonight's program. Meloning, isn't that a great term? Yeah, it describes this entire process of growing melons. If you have any questions, feel free to email me as well, donald.kinsler at ndsu.edu. I'm going to stop sharing and we'll go to questions. Don, that was great. You make it look so easy. It is. 49 years. 49 years and counting. Okay, so we invite your questions and I'll just, we'll get them going here. How about, can we use a black weed barrier like landscape fabric instead of plastic mulch? It does not give the soil warming, and the soil warmth is very important. That's why the clear plastic lets the sunshine through and creates the necessary warmth. Yeah, that's why, you know, when I was, when I use black plastic, you got to lay it down so it touches the soil, right? Because like you said, otherwise if you put your hand, if there's a gap there, you lose a lot of that heat generation. So with the bumpiness of soil, it's pretty hard to get the black plastic totally in touch with the soil. Don, also about when you lay the plastic, do you feel, my experience is it's really important to make sure there's moisture in the soil at that time. Because it's, you know, if you don't have moisture in that, if you put that black plastic over dry soil, I've had, I've had a couple disasters with that. Totally correct. If you notice in the photos there in our own garden, the moisture is not bubbling up. It's moistening well, steaming under there. So yes, absolutely, there's moisture available. So yeah, dry soil would be problematic. Don, that's the most beautiful garden I've seen. I don't know if that's real. Your garden is tremendous. I love it. Like I say, I've got as many weeds as the next guy, but I don't see one weed in that whole thing. I don't believe that at all. How about Don, do we need to use a seeding heat mat if you have grow lights? Yes, because you need the bottom heat to get the melon seeds to pop. So combination of grow lights plus the heat mat. Have you ever grown a honeydew melon? I have. Honeydew melons are a little tricky to tell when they're ripe, but yes, the, what am I trying to say, the cultivar variety list does have a couple of good honeydew melon varieties, I believe. How often do you water your melons? Watermelons, watermelon, muskmelon, don't like to be overwatered. They can take it fairly dry. And so if we got an inch of rain or even half an inch of rain once a week, we're good. We would not need to do it. The research at NDSU that was done at several points in North Dakota indicated about watering three times during the course of an average season. Of course, we haven't had an average season ever, but you know, don't keep them well, don't keep them too wet. Water less often and deeper. Okay. Do you have a favorite watermelon variety? I do. Three must-haves that I plant and I plant all three. One is sweet Dakota Rose, the other is Blacktail Mountain, and the other, which is a nice large one called Sangria. Those are the three that I always need. Okay. Okay, Don, do you ever sell your melons? Someone wants to buy them from you. No, we're so busy eating them and giving away to friends and relatives. No, we've never sold. Okay. Do you ever grow a canary melon? Never tried canary melon. Now I am going to have to check that out. It sounds intriguing. Is there a good watermelon we can grow in a small space? Yes. There are some all-America selections, watermelons for small space or containers. So do a little search, all-America selection, small space watermelons. Okay. And that sugar baby naturally has a shorter vine, but not the greatest quality, huh? Yeah. A sugar baby, it was okay, but they're awfully seedy. And half the fun of growing a watermelon is getting one out, maybe a little bit larger. That's right. The challenge. There you go. And do you ever reuse your plastic mulch or do you use new mulch every year? I use new mulch because if it's not treated with ultraviolet inhibitor type things, by the end of the season, it is getting brittle. So a person oftentimes does have to roll it up with caution. So one season. One season. How about have you ever grown melons on a fence? Sometimes they, if you notice my garden does have a fence beside and sometimes they'll creep up the fence, not intentionally, but they can certainly be grown on fence and then with the melons supported. Okay. You know, Don, sometimes when people grow melons, they put like something on the ground, like a, like the tray of a pot or something to get the melon off the soil. Is that a word you ever have to do that? Do you worry about slugs or something rotting the bottom of the fruit? I've never had any problem. I suppose in a very, very wet wet year, maybe that would be a problem, but I've never had any problem with the basis rotting. And slugs have picked on my tomatoes enough to leave the melons alone. They've got a harder rind. Okay. How about, well, have you ever trellised a melon or grown vertically? You know, in some of our smaller lots, you know, I'm lucky, you know, well, we dug up a lot of lawns so we could put in garden, but in small space gardens, you know, definitely melons can be trellised and then the melons can be supported onto the fence so that they don't just hang, hang down, hang apart. And then if a person chooses a small space container type variety. Okay. Have you ever used like drip lines under the plastic? See how that would work? No, but I do notice one of those slides that I borrowed, they were rolling the plastic and they had a drip line underneath. So installed before the plastic, I suppose, yeah, underneath the plastic would be preferred. But I've not done that. When you do water them, how do you water them? You just stick a hose in that hole or how do you do it? Yeah, I go with a watering wand. I go along where I know that the hole was and water that way. Actually, the research from NDSU said to water just along the sides, the outer perimeter of the plastic and let it soak in from the sides. Sometimes there's a concern that melons can get over wet, over waterlogged. Okay. Does watermelons, do they grow better in sandy soil versus clay soil? Yeah, sand. I mentioned New Jersey. It's the garden state and the soil is almost entirely sand. So they'd probably prefer sand versus the clay. Yeah. But we work with what we have. That's right. Well, how about a raised bed? Would that help warming up the soil in the springtime? It would. Yep, certainly would because you wouldn't have that big mass of frozen soil. So raised garden would certainly warm up better. So that would give you a little head start even with that. There's a gardener in Mercer County who loves the variety New Queen, which is a yellow flash type. It has a few seeds. Super crisp and super sweet. There you go. I'll try it. Thank you. I'm writing it down. Yeah, thank you for that. How about are there more eco-friendly options than plastic mulch? Like, can we use paper mulch or something like that? The idea for the plastic, of course, is to let the sunshine in and that gives the warming effect. Paper mulch, I agree, is probably more environmentally friendly than plastic is, but it doesn't give that same heat effect. I believe there are some, they're working on, maybe it's already been invented, biodegradable type plastics. Maybe they'll come up with something a little friendlier. There you go. How about, you know, I noticed when you lay down that plastic, you made trenches along both sides. So the question here is, how do you keep the sides of the plastic from blowing away? Yep, you dig two trenches, three foot apart, lay the plastic in, it's four foot wide. So you have six inches in each trench and then fill in, totally fill in the trenches so that the plastic is totally down in the soil. So there's no exposed plastic edges. So along the sides and at each end, totally covered, buried in soil. There you go. How about Kenya? I know you've proven that you can grow melons in Fargo, but can you grow in Manitoba? Yes, in Manitoba you certainly can. And so I'd certainly follow this procedure and select the varieties, maybe instead of going with an 85, go with one that's maybe more down with 75. And there are several watermelon varieties that were developed in Manitoba. I won't be able to come up with the name, but yet Manitoba should certainly be able to follow this as well. Yeah, those three watermelon varieties you mentioned, Blacktail Mountain, Sangria, and Sweet Dakota Rose, they're all early. Yeah, I think they would do well in the Winnipeg, Manitoba area. But there's questions about using green plastic versus clear plastic. I suppose that would be, yeah, I suppose I've heard of blue being used, and some of that would probably let in the sunlight. But my biggest, the reason I'm a proponent of the clear is because it's so available to us. Some of those other mulches would probably be interesting to order and try. But I like the handiness of the clear plastic. But it'd be interesting to try some of the other colors as well. You know what's interesting, Don, is your clear plastic is four to six millimeters. But black plastic is usually like one millimeter. So that's a pretty thick clear plastic you've got gold. Yeah, at least four. For example, if you get the painter's type plastic, it's quite, the painter's type plastic is too thin. That's maybe one to two mils. So the four to six just gives a little stronger, less apt to whip around and just gives a more solid structure to the plastic. It's really interesting. The green plastic sometimes that's that infrared IRT type that lets some some the solar power in, but it prevents some of those rays that accelerate weed growth. Exactly. So some of those. Right, exactly. So some of those if a person can get I think probably have the benefit. And, and then you won't have probably any weed growth. But again, I've never I've never had to deal with the weeds underneath. It seems they kind of handle themselves underneath. Good. How about this, you ever get mold underneath the plastic? No, never been bothered with mold underneath with weeding. I should mention though, sometimes, you know, weeds will pop up right next to the plant, you know, coming up out of the plastic out of the hole. And so those definitely do need to be pulled out. How about powdery mildew? Is that a problem for you? On the foliage, no more so on plastic, maybe less so on plastic because a person isn't getting some of the, maybe the soil splashing up, maybe not quite as much right next to the plant, but a person does need to watch. I don't do much overhead sprinkling. I water only the soil. And if a person does notice any powdery mildew starting would be important to apply a fungicide. The varieties that I mentioned seem to be somewhat tolerant or resistant of powdery mildew, not, not, not immune. I hope that helps. Yes, it does. This person's got black bugs on their cantaloupe. I wonder if they're the little sap beetle, those annoying little beetle with the two couple of black spots, and they detect ripe fruit, and they like to go in. If it starts to crack a little bit at the stem and they have a way of finding their way in, at least with a melon such as musk melon when you cut it open, it's pretty easy to flick aside those little black bugs. Do you have any other common pests in your planting? These are the little striped cucumber beetles. These striped cucumber beetles will attack most of those fine crops. So when the plants are very young, it's important to monitor and scout for those little striped cucumber beetles because they can ruin a crop. Okay, Don. What's a derp kind of cantaloupe and a musk melon? I was waiting for that one. Yeah. Okay. And notice I always said musk melon. I know. There's this. For botanists, we not true cantalopes. They're over in Africa or Asia somewhere. So whether you commonly call it this or that, the botanists tell me that everything we grow are actually musk melon. That's right. The cantaloupe comes from Cantalupo, Italy. There you are. There you have it. That was my master's was cantaloupe. So it's Italy, Italy. You got it. It's in your capo estate. The Pope loved cantaloupes. There. That should rest that debate once and for all. There you go. How about when you sow your seed? Does it help to scratch the seed before planting it? Watermelon and musk melon. I've never done that. Watermelon seed is maybe a little harder than musk melon seed, but not much. I found that they just sprout fine, given bottom heat and top light. How about this gardener has a planter melons in a low spot and there's cool nights. Is that plastic going to help keep the melons warm at night? It will. It'll hold the soil, the temperature in. You know, as the soil heats up through the plastic, the soil will be retained. The heat will be retained and it won't lose it as much at night. That's one of the advantages of the plastic. When you start the seeds indoors, is there, how do you determine the light? How much light? How many hours of light? The hours of light should be at least 16 hours. 16 hours on eight hours off. There's nothing wrong with melons of keeping it on 24 hours a day. Sometimes when I haven't had a timer, I've done that, but 16 on eight off. Right. Just like people turn off the lights at night. Let them sleep. Eight hours of sleep. Right. There you go. How about Don, do you worry about any plastic leaching chemicals in that mulch? The plastic hopefully is not on long enough for the course of May, June, July, August and removed in September at some point. I'm not. I think there's a lot of, I think the research isn't fully out on that as to whether it is leaching material. I've seen a lot of contradictory evidence on that, but you know, I'm hoping that they'll come up with something. What I'm trying to say, I'm hoping they're going to come up with a more environmentally friendly product than the current plastic. Okay. How about you guys? I know that is, that is being debated. I know. Right. Especially when you have to reuse it. New stuff every year. How about you got a favorite musk melon variety? Yes. My favorite musk melon variety is one called gold star. And you can't get it anymore. A few of us have a few seeds, but so I've had to go to the other varieties and the ones that you've listed on your vegetable, whatever variety I've had good luck with. Let's see. I think there's a superstar. Maybe Halona. Yeah, you mentioned Africa ID. There's one called Sarah's choice and Hannah's choice. Those are both good. Like goddess that might be one. Goddess. That's a great one. Okay. I'm going to got to keep going. You're done. You just, you're just a wealth of knowledge. I gotta tell you that. How about you got problem with deer in that garden? No, we have a fence that high enough. And then I add wire up on top of the six foot. And because we do have deer that, that wander and even in South Fargo. So that's one reason for the fence that and of course the rabbits. Can we start our seeds in soil blocks? I think that would work well. I've not tried that, but I know you there are little soil block makers. And whatever will keep the roots intact. Well, so you don't have to separate them or monkey with them upon transplanting. How about Don, can I grow my water melons next to the musk melons? Yes. Yep. They don't, they don't cross pollinate. The flavor of one doesn't affect the other. You can plant cucumbers next to your melons. They don't affect the flavor. Even if they did cross, it's the seed inside and not the fruit itself. That's affected. Even if they did cross. Right. How about Minnesota Midget? You ever tried that? Oh, Minnesota Midget. That's a, that's an old, old one. And no, I haven't tried, well, I tried Minnesota Midget, maybe back in the 1970s. And I was looking for something a little larger and a little more flavorful. But again, sometimes it depends on the seasons, you know, a one season trial isn't sometimes enough. And that's all I gave Minnesota Midget. That's an early one. I'll tell you that that's an early one. And we're testing that against Dakota sisters this year. They're both two open pollinated heirloom types. I've tried Dakota sisters and I need about that. And I need to try that, try it again, because again in a one season, it can be so temperature affected by the air temperature. And Dakota sisters, I need to try a little more. The first trial, it wasn't as sweet as I had hoped. But again, it's, we can't really base, especially musk melon I've noticed on one season. Is there a good companion crop with these melons that you would recommend? Oh, let's see. Well, a good companion crop. Just space wise melons can take a fair amount of space, but I don't know of anything that, well, I plan them next to sweet corn because then they can kind of run up and maybe run into the sweet corn a little. So sweet corn seems to play nice if spaced far enough away. Okay. Okay, this person starts seeds in a used toilet paper roll cut in half. Yeah. The used thing. Yes. But it could take a little bit for the roots to come out, but the toilet paper roll will be fairly soft, but kind of break it apart just a little bit to make sure that the roots can escape well before it disintegrates. How about flea beetles on our melon crop? Is that a problem? I'm not bothered as much with flea beetles on that as I am the, you know, radishes, kohlrabi and things such as that. Maybe it's because they keep going to those. Yeah, it's because you don't have a canola field near you, Don. That's the thing. Well, that could be too. Yeah, but if you look at the, if you look at the, the seed that the canola gets harvested, then you see the black cloud coming to your. Sure. And that's quite an exciting battle begins. How about, Don, have you ever started, or do you ever save your seeds of your melons? Yeah, I don't, because for the reason, usually I'm planting more than one variety of like more than one variety of watermelon, more than one right, musk melon and of course there, the bees are going to cross pollinate those. So I don't save my own seed. Okay. I think we just about, there was a question about like latitude or day length. I don't think we can get into that. Don, I think you just made this so simple for us to grow melons. It's not such a challenge. We just, everybody should just watch your video ahead of time and they'll be successful. So thank you for sharing your secrets there. Yeah, I do enjoy growing melons. So yeah, thank you very much for inviting me this evening. Thank you.