Tiger Melon Hybrid Project

[TrygveTillman]

Hello all!
This forum will document some hybrids I'd like to develop over the next 10 years.
About the grower:
Welder by trade, I travel the USA doing welding work for mostly military applications for various countries. Lived on a yacht for 5 years and now ready to settle down and get my feet back in the grass.

The project goals:
Tiger melon coloring; orange and yellow stripes on exterior

Size: Significantly larger than a softball, ideally 6-8lbs

Crosses planned:
Tiger x Snow Leopard F1 (Johnny's seeds) 2024
Tiger x RZ1 (Osborne Seeds) 2025
Tiger x Orange Sugar (Osborne seeds) 2025

Initial hybrid was made in Wisconsin by crossing a "tiger melon" with Johnny's seeds "Snow leopard" indoors over the winter of 2024. Now 2025 I'm growing out 4 of the F1 hybrids to evaluate which traits are dominant and which are recessive.

[TrygveTillman]

A quick pic of the garden bed with the best of the 3 growing closest to me around the fig tree as of May 2nd 2025

2nd plant, less vigorous but seems to accept pollination better

[Tim DH]

Hi Trygve,
     Has you restricted that fig? If not you might want to google 'Fig Pit'!

Tim DH

[Alex]

Tiger melon is not tasty. Why was it chosen? Wouldn't it be a waste of years? I grew it, tasted it, but it will never appear in my garden again. For me, standard of taste is Uzbek melons, and tiger melons are only used for fattening cattle.

[Alex]

Be sure to watch video about how bad tiger melon tastes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a50pLZs3dsM

[Diane Whitehead]

There seem to be several 'tiger' melons.  Which one are you growing?

The one in the video is called Tigger.

There are two Tigers mentioned in the book Melons for the Passionate Grower by Amy Goldman. This is a picture of the first one.

Tiger:   Cucumis melo var reticulatus.  size 10" long by 8 1/2" wide    weight 6 pounds
sugar content 11 Brix   A fine specimen of melonhood.  Yellow brown with parallel streaks like a tiger.  Not the same as the Tiger or Orange Ananas from Afghanistan, which has white skin and orange flesh.  An English variety.

[Alex]

Which one are you growing?

Armenian Tiger Melon: https://www.hrseeds.com/product-page/tiger-melon

[joe]

I had great success with Snow Leopard. It was super healthy, and vigorous (huge leaves compared to other varieties I grew that year, and didn't want to give up the ghost). Not the most interesting flavor, but looks amazing and was sweet. Interested to see how that cross does as they are very different looking melons.