The first aborted fruit at 1 week old. We were amazed at the rate of daily growth.

Well, the plant may have triumphed but the fruit did not. I’m sad to report that our first watermelon fruit failed to make it to maturity after all. It may have been the rain – I read that the plants don’t like too much water; or maybe the stem had been disturbed and the plant didn’t appreciate it.

It doesn’t help that the vine was snaking its way through grass that I was reluctant to trim because I was afraid of cutting the stem like our gardeners used to do.

All I know is, we had watched the fruit grow to the size of a tennis ball within a week before the stem leading up to the fruit suddenly sported dying leaves.

I had to see what the fruit looked like on the inside, so I cut it open. I can’t believe it had so many seeds already, at just a week old.

I admit that I had cut the grass near the plant, but an inspection of the stem didn’t show any cuts or breaks anywhere, so I can just surmise that the plant is just sensitive, just like pumpkin vines. I’ve noticed that the latter tend to abort fruit flowers if you shift the stems. Sigh.

Well, the rainy season should end in a month or so. I wonder how the watermelon plant will react then.

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