Tigger melons

I grew tigger melon this year on a whim. It's a small melon about the size of a baseball. Reviews were mixed mostly stating they smelled divine but the taste was bland. I ate the first of them today and was pleasantly surprised. This melon smelled like a cantelope and tasted similar to honeydew. It wasn't overly sweet and the skin was thin leaving little rind. I honestly wonder what the reviewers expectations were. Is it my favorite melon? No. But it's tasty and more importantly it's conveniently sized for a snack. Lesson here is take reviews with a grain of salt.

How long does this little melon take to mature?  My garden is short on sun,  so I am on the lookout for a melon that will ripen faster,  seems like a small one might.

Mk Neal wrote:How long does this little melon take to mature?  My garden is short on sun,  so I am on the lookout for a melon that will ripen faster,  seems like a small one might.

I planted these in June. Package says 80 days which sounds about right. My other melons are definitely behind these but I think they're listed as 90 days. So, not much shorter unfortunately based on the packet info.

That looks like an excellent melon, we're always throwing half a melon out here, so smaller is better.

We had our first taste of one of these from a friend this year. Very productive and fragrant but bland. We tried peeling, slicing, and dehydrating to concentrate what little sugar is there and the end result is still bland. They seem like a good melon to experiment with crossing to get their early productiveness into something with better flavor? We've grown Sakata's Sweet for several years, a Japanese melon that is eaten skin and all. It dehydrates nicely and tastes almost date like when preserved by that method. But their thin skin, while convenient for eating and slicing, offers no protection from rodents and their button end, like buttercup squash, is where the rodents tunnel in to get to the seeds. They can be grown on a trellis but maybe crossing them with the Tigger might make it possible to grow them on open ground? Just a thought.

Larisa Walk wrote:We had our first taste of one of these from a friend this year. Very productive and fragrant but bland. We tried peeling, slicing, and dehydrating to concentrate what little sugar is there and the end result is still bland. They seem like a good melon to experiment with crossing to get their early productiveness into something with better flavor? We've grown Sakata's Sweet for several years, a Japanese melon that is eaten skin and all. It dehydrates nicely and tastes almost date like when preserved by that method. But their thin skin, while convenient for eating and slicing, offers no protection from rodents and their button end, like buttercup squash, is where the rodents tunnel in to get to the seeds. They can be grown on a trellis but maybe crossing them with the Tigger might make it possible to grow them on open ground? Just a thought.

It was definitely less sweet than a larger melon but this one was pretty ripe so maybe not as bland as some? I ate it paired with a cup of black coffee so maybe that made it seem less bland? Or maybe growing conditions affect taste? I haven't had a second one yet. I will have to look at the Sakata. If compatible definitely might be interesting to try crossing. I like the idea of a smaller snack size melon. Thanks for the reply post!