Watermelon: Orange Tendersweet

Description

(Citrullus lanatus)

Orange Tendersweet is a medium to large, heat and drought resistant watermelon, dark green rinds with yellowish irregular striping and very sweet orange flesh.

Orange Tendersweet is a welcome treat on the picnic table at any summer get together. These will get up to 35 pounds.

It’s not just about looks. This one keeps well, and because the rind is thicker than OrangeGlo, it can be taken to market, although it’s not as thick-skinned as modern varieties.

However, it’s much sweeter than modern hybrids and the harvest period is spread across several weeks. A genuine treat that’s a feast for the eyes as well as the belly.

Orange, white and yellow watermelon varieties are unusual today, but are actually earlier forms of watermelon than red ones are. The red varieties were almost all developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

These watermelons go back to at least the 1920s when they were in several catalogs. W. Atlee Burpee is the oldest source we’ve found so far, with listings from 1924. Likely it was at least a regional favorite before that and could easily have been released by another seed company before that, as the 1920s were a heyday for the recently commercialized red-fleshed watermelon.

Germination rate 92 percent – tested June 2021

Minimum 30 Seeds