2020 AAS Edible - Vegetable Winner
Watermelon Mambo F1
Summertime means melon time and Mambo watermelon will grow and yield well even in cool cloudy conditions! Gardeners who plant Mambo will enjoy multiple, perfectly round melons with a beautiful dark green rind and deep red flesh. The sweet crisp flesh is extremely tasty and holds well (doesn’t overripen) if you can’t harvest them right away. Each 9” fruit will weigh about 11 pounds at maturity, which is only 75 days from transplant. A smaller seed cavity means you almost get the look of a seedless melon but the superior taste of a seeded melon. The AAS Judges agree this is one of the easiest watermelons they’ve grown because of high seed germination and vigorously healthy vines.
Retailers: Download 8×10″ benchcard
Plant Description
Genus:
Citrullus
Species:
lanatus
Common Name:
Watermelon
Plant Habit:
Climbing
Plant Spread:
12 - 13 feet
Fruit Color (Harvest):
Dark green skin color with blackish green stripes
Fruit Shape:
Round
Fruit Weight:
11 pounds
Fruit Size:
9.5 x 8.5 inches
Fruit Flavor Description:
Crispy sweet
Foliage Color:
Dark green
Breeder:
Known-You Seeds
Close Market Comparison:
: Top Gun F1, Shiny Boy F1
Planting & Care
Garden Spacing:
10 feet
Days To Harvest (Sowing Seed):
90
Days To Harvest (Transplant):
75
Duration Type:
Annual
Light Needs:
Full sun
Water Needs:
Dry to normal
Season Type:
Warm season
Staking Required:
No
Judges Observations
- “Very tasty variety with healthy vines“
- “The interior was solid and a crisp fresh-tasting red meat waited inside. I even stored one for 2 weeks to see how it held and the meat was the same as the one I ate right in the trials field“
- “Entry had a beautiful dark rind, deep red interior, and high yield”
- “Excellent, sweet, crisp flesh!”
- “For me, it is strange to think that someone could improve something like watermelon, but it happened. The striations and color of the fruit, the health, and vigor of the vines, the taste and texture; all of these attributes went a long way to creating an award-worthy plant.”
Reviews
Lynette L. Walther –
I am a garden writer for magazines and newspapers in Maine and Florida. In the spring I received seeds for AAS new varieties. We and several other gardeners with whom I shared the seeds, grew them in Maine this summer. In particular watermelon Mambo was universally loved. Reports of “BEST EVER” were the norm. Mambo not only grew well in Maine, but produced the most delicious melons.