What are the common varieties of Hami melon? A melon grower's guide to selecting and planting

There are many brands of Hami melon varieties circulating on the market, no fewer than a hundred, intricate and complex, and for a moment one hardly knows how to choose. So what are the common varieties of Hami melon? How do you choose the right variety to plant?

1. What are the common varieties of Hami melon?

1. Donghu melon

Donghu melon is a type of Hami melon, and “Xinjiang melons are the finest under heaven, and Donghu melons are the finest in Xinjiang” is the best description of Donghu melon. Donghu melon has an attractive netted pattern, tastes like a fragrant pear, is fresh, sweet, crisp and tender, and gives off an alluring milky, fruity and vinous aroma. The melons produced in Donghu, Shanshan are sweet and mellow, and people regard the Donghu melon of Shanshan as the king of melons.

2. Black Eyebrow

The Black Eyebrow Hami melon is oval in shape, with more than a dozen dark green longitudinal stripes on its skin, just like a beauty's delicate eyebrows. Its flesh is emerald green, fine-textured and juicy, with a high sugar content that makes it sticky to the mouth and hands. Eaten after the onset of winter, it is even more fragrant, sweet and refreshing.

3. Red Heart Crisp

The Red Heart Crisp Hami melon is orange-red in color, crisp and juicy, with a creamy flavor and a rich aroma that fills the air, leaving a lingering fragrance in the mouth long after eating.

4. Yellow Egg

The Yellow Egg Hami melon is golden yellow in color, round and small in shape, with flesh like mutton fat, soft and sweet. Placing one melon in a room fills the whole room with fragrance.

5. Snow in Red

Snow in Red is a thick-skinned melon bred by the Xinjiang Hami Melon Research Center. It is an early-to-mid maturing variety, with a fruit development period of about 40 days. The fruit is oval, with white skin and occasionally sparse netting. When ripe, it shows red beneath the white, and the flesh is light red, fine and tender, crisp and refreshing, melting in the mouth, with a taste like a fragrant pear. The central refractive sugar content is above 15%, and a single melon weighs about 2.5 kg.

6. Jiashi melon

Jiashi melon is named after its place of origin, Jiashi County, and has a cultivation history of more than 1,500 years. It has many varieties, divided into early, mid and late types, with more than thirty kinds available in all four seasons. Jiashi melon has a long cultivation history; its shape is well-proportioned and plump, and it is characterized by thick flesh and fine texture, being sweet, fragrant and crisp, with rich juice, thin skin and high sugar content. It ranks first among all melons in Xinjiang and stands out among all kinds of melons and fruits in China.

2. How do you choose the right Hami melon variety to plant?

However, when planting, melon growers also need to consider their own actual circumstances to see whether a variety suits them.

1. Determine from the strain whether a variety suits you for planting

The Hami melons we know well all belong to the melon series, and within the melon series there are further divisions into the Elizabeth series and the Hami series. The Elizabeth series is mainly a thick-skinned melon series represented by varieties such as Yugū, Yellow-Skin Large Fruit and Jiuhongrui. These varieties have relatively strong stress resistance and pest and disease resistance, with relatively well-developed lateral roots, and are more suitable for planting on sloped land in places such as Jiusuo, Foluo, Jianfeng, Nangang and Gancheng. Typical representatives of the Hami series include Youliang No. 25, Youliang No. 17 and Changxiangyu, as well as improved varieties such as Meilong and Jinxiangyu. They have stronger adaptability for widespread planting and can be planted on sea-sand land, sloped land and paddy fields alike.

2. Decide from how easily the melon splits whether you are suited to grow it

Among all Hami melon varieties, the Elizabeth series is relatively resistant to splitting, while the Hami series is somewhat weaker. Within the Hami series, the varieties best at resisting splitting are Changxiangyu, Meilong and others, while No. 17 is a variety crossed between Changxiangyu and No. 25, and its splitting resistance is second only to those. The variety least tolerant of splitting is No. 25. There was once a saying popular in Hainan: “If you want to get rich, plant No. 25; if you want to go broke, also plant No. 25.” This made many people turn pale at the mention of growing No. 25. Among the splitting-resistant No. 25 varieties, Youliang No. 25, which appeared in recent years, is a typical representative and is deeply favored by melon growers.

3. Decide from soft flesh or crisp flesh whether a variety suits you for planting

Soft flesh and crisp flesh are determined by the market demand on the customer side and the length of shelf life. Soft-fleshed melons have a relatively short shelf life and are not suitable for storage; they generally keep for around twenty-odd days before the flesh begins to turn mushy. This type is more suitable for consumption by high-end groups and elderly groups. Prices are unstable from year to year; when melons are scarce, prices are relatively high, but if they come onto the market all at once, the sales range is relatively narrow. Crisp-fleshed melons suit the mass market, with more consumption at entertainment venues and conferences. Because of their long shelf life (up to two months), excellent flavor and high sugar content, they are deeply favored by the market and are now also the preferred melon type for major supermarkets and specialty fruit shops. Taking Youliang No. 25 as an example, its market reputation has not cooled for several consecutive years.

4. Decide from fruit size whether it suits you for planting

The size of the melon determines the future market direction of your Hami melons. Large melons are suitable for conferences and entertainment clubs, while small melons are suitable for ordinary household consumption or for taking the premium route. Large melons are suitable for sloped land and paddy fields, because large melons are relatively tolerant of water and fertilizer and are suited to large-scale or extensive management. Small melons are more suitable for sea-sand land, because their root systems are relatively shallow, their disease resistance is relatively weak, and their requirements for water and fertilizer are extremely strict. For people with poor soil and water quality and inadequate technical management, the difficulty of planting is relatively greater.

5. Decide from the difficulty of planting whether it suits you for planting

Hami melons are divided into loose-type plants and compact-type plants. The melons of loose-type plants have relatively weaker stress resistance but higher yielding ability, while compact-type melons have strong stress resistance but relatively weaker yielding ability. Loose-type melons have relatively shallow root systems and higher requirements for water, fertilizer and technical management; a slight lapse in attention and they will become diseased or split. Compact types have relatively well-developed root systems, and management is not too difficult; it is only during the fruit-swelling stage that they have strict requirements for water and fertilizer.