Make a square watermelon

Squaremelon
BF5man writes writes - "Don't have more info than this picture but it's quite self explanatory. Put a small watermelon from you garden inside a box and let it grow. Garden Art!" - Link.

Related:
The Weird World of Weeds and Other Hilarious Horticultural Hijinks - Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | May 23, 2006 07:33 PM
Arts | Permalink | Comments (9) | Email This | Bookmark and Share | Digg this!

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Posted by: bludwulf on May 23, 2006 at 8:02 PM

old trick, to take it one step further if ya carve an image or design on the inside of the box the growth will fill it, some designs work better than others... good for faces on pumpkins heheh


Posted by: rripken on May 23, 2006 at 9:17 PM

The box looks like its made of green plexiglass with a clear lid. At what stage are the melons put in the box and how is the box oriented as they grow?
An article on watermelons being grown like this in NZ so that they perfectly fit in the vegetable drawer of Japanese refrigerators. $82 a melon. Article mentions that farmers use tempered glass cases.

I also read an article (can't find it now) about a pumpkin farmer that tried to grow pumpkins with faces using a similar technique but never found a way to get the pumpkins to take the shapes. I remember something about him trying cast-iron molds and that the neighborhood was terrorized by them b/c they would explode like a bomb when pumpkins outgrew them.


Posted by: mister.joshua on May 23, 2006 at 11:13 PM

Not only does the OFA (Old Farmer's Almanac) have the annual planting tables, but it tells you how to grow a square watermelon that won't roll around in your fridge.

Yes, really.

In the spring, just drape your baby, pea-sized melon into the opening in a cinder block. Let it grow. When it fills the square opening in the summer, use a hammer to crack open the block.

SOURCE


Posted by: oldgreek on May 24, 2006 at 3:33 PM

How about making some square tomatoes that will fit on a damn sandwich?


Posted by: DanYHKim on May 24, 2006 at 7:55 PM

The comments suggest that the melon will exert considerable pressure on its container as it grows. If the container is smaller than the size of the mature melon, this can be disasterous.

If square corners are not as important as four flat faces, it may be possible to use four flat boards to apply pressure to the four faces, while the two ends of the melon will be free to expand outwards. Maybe this will relieve some of the problems of excessive pressure.


Posted by: udonotknowme1 on May 26, 2006 at 7:11 AM

I heard it's common in Japan. There are even little kits for tomatoes that come with seeds, soil, fertilizer and little plastic boxes. Other fruits will work too...


Posted by: zabolyx on May 26, 2006 at 5:25 PM

I saw a couple of years ago an article where they were using cement shells... two halves that locked together.... This allowed for the shell to pop apart if the pressure got too high... I don't remember where or what was used to lock the shell.... and making the shells would take little effort after making a wooden casting mold... simple pour set and repeat for other half... so making a bunch wouldn't take very long....


Posted by: havefaith20 on April 8, 2007 at 9:49 AM

They now sells these cases in the USA, I saw them on www.square-watermelons.com, have fun in growing your square watermelon


Posted by: oldcowboy on December 11, 2007 at 6:02 AM

This is old, I read that japan strated this twenty years ago. My daddy showed me how to do this when I was eight years old and now I am fourty-seven years old. You can also change the flavor of the watermelon too.


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