• 'Tom Watson' watermelon - Litho from 1911
  • 'Tom Watson' watermelon image from the 1913 Buist catalog.
  • 'Tom Watson' watermelon description from the 1913 Buist catalog.
  • An old 20th century 'Tom Watson' seed packet lithograph.
  • 'Tom Watson' watermelon from the 1950 Wm. A. Watson's Sons seed catalog.
  • 'Tom Watson' watermelon from the 1918 Steckler seed catalog.
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Tom Watson Watermelon

Tom Watson Watermelon

$2.95 USD
$2.95 USD
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Tom Watson

95 days — The fruit of 'Tom Watson' watermelons are large, reaching up to forty pounds, and have sweet, crisp, dark-red flesh. The tough rind makes it a good shipping melon and its thickness lends it to be suitable for pickle recipes. When it was more common, it was once very popular with home gardeners as well as market growers.

'Tom Watson', named after the Georgian newspaper editor, attorney and politician, Thomas E. Watson, is an old heirloom variety that was originally introduced into the commercial seed trade by William A. Watson of Thomson, Georgia in 1902.[1] Mr. Watson noted:

"Owing to its superior qualities in every respect, and its great productiveness, it is the most popular melon wherever it is known. I have been growing melons for the market for thirty years and in all of my experience, have never seen any melon that could equal the Tom Watson."

Each packet contains two grams, which is approximately 18 to 20 seeds.

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Planting Instructions: The seeds can be directly sown in spring after the soil has warmed or started indoors four weeks before the last expected frost. Indoors, plant two to three seeds per pot, ½ inch deep, thinning to the best plant. Do not disturb roots when transplanting.

Outdoors, plant three to four seeds, ½ inch deep, in hills spaced four to six feet apart. Transplant or thin to two plants per hill. Young plants are cold sensitive and some cover protection at nights may be required. Mulch or cultivate to control weeds. Information References:
  1. Newspaper Advertisement, The Jeffersonian, Thomson, Georgia, 1911.
  2. Correspondence and conversation with Dexter Rhodes, Grounds Manager for the Watson-Brown Foundation, Thomson, Georgia. 2003.
  3. "Catalog," William A. Watson's Sons: Original Propagators of the Tom Watson Watermelon, Thomson, Georgia, 1950.

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