Watermelon In A Cup - Death by Skittles

Today is a very sad day in Watermelon In A Cup history.

Yesterday afternoon a series of events took place that ended in the death of our little friend (Who, from here on out, will be lovingly referred to a Mitch... in memory of the late comedian, Mitch Hedberg, who also died way too soon).

Lets just say that some co-workers of mine decided they needed to eat some Skittles out of a 3lb bag that was doubling as the counterweight to the plant light. The Skittle bag was not returned to it's proper storage location and within the hour the light slowly descended upon Mitch and snuffed out his life source.

A short memorial service was held for Mitch and today, myself and several of my co-workers are wearing watermelon ribbons to keep his memory alive. It's sad when you think of how strong he was a few short days ago... and now - frail and lifeless. He has ascended to the mighty watermelon patch in the sky.

It is no secret that Mitch's favorite musical artist was Josh Groban (It seems like it was all he listened to) so it was such a treat that Mr. Groban made the following video in Memory of Mitch, the Watermelon In A Cup.

Mitch, you will be missed. Goodbye dear friend.

Please leave your kind words in the comments below.

Watermelon In A Cup - BOIIIINNG!

Holy Frickin' What?!

So, I wait a couple of days to update on the status of the Watermelon In A Cup and it goes and grows like crazy in spite of my non-posting. Ladies and gentlemen, those ticks you see on the left side of that stick are quarter-inches.

That means that [insert name of the plant here] has grown over three inches in the past 4 days... putting him at a total of 3.75 inches.

Pretty soon I'm going to have to get him a much bigger cup. Too bad he still doens't have a name... if only there were some way to post name suggestions in this blog where people could see, discuss, and vote on one... like if there was a link directly below this post that said something along the lines of "# comments" that you could click on to take you to a comments section where you could leave feedback of some kind...

Watermelon In A Cup - Breakthrough!

Holy Crap! After waiting a total of 16 days (and giving up frankly) we have a break-through! That is correct ladies and gentlemen.... when I checked the Watermelon In A Cup before going to bed yesterday it was still just a cup full o' dirt... and when I woke up today this little green guy was here to greet me.

Why hello little green guy. Are you ready to grow me some delicious watermelons? I bet you are. You are such a good little sprout, yes you are. Grow big for daddy. You can do it, yes you can!

Well, Now that Watermelon In A Cup if finally on the same page as the rest of us, more blog posts will probably come sooner than later. Tomorrow W.I.A.C. will come visit me at the office (Think of it as Bring Your Pet Watermelon In A Cup to Work Day) and get his first official measurement.

What should we name our little friend? Suggest your favorite name in the comments below!

Watermelon In A Cup - 48 Hour Update

So, it's been a little over 48 hours since I planted the watermelon seeds in the cup and there is very little to report. The soil is moist but I'm getting a little impatient with the little guys. I mean, come on, sprout already. My self esteem as a nurturer of plants is on the line here (Ok, so the Internet says it takes on average 5 - 10 days for the plants to break soil). I will have to be patient.

I read somewhere that plants respond to music.
Today I decided to start music therapy. 

For over an hour I played Josh Groban's 2003 hit song, You Raise Me Up, on repeat, hoping that it would inspire the seeds to sprout and rise to greet me. We will see how that works.

I'm trying to come up with a playlist of songs to play to the Watermelon In A Cup. What songs do you think I should add? Leave a comment below to let me know.

Watermelon In A Cup - The Beginning

I'm going to grow a watermelon in a cup. This, by far, might become one of my greatest achievements to date. I will create life where there was only an old dry seed. I will nurture growth. I will teach it to thrive against diversity. And, when all is said and done, I will feast upon the fruits of my labors (pun intended).

So here is what has gone down so far... 1. I removed the seeds from the cup and replaced them with 1/3 cup of warm water, then 2. waited for the warm water to fully saturate the soil nugget in the bottom of the cup. 3. 'Fluffed" the soil with a "strong and tough" white plastic fork, then 4. replaced the seeds and covered with the remaining 1/4 inch of soil, and then 5. topped the cup with it's clear plastic top in an inverted position. Now we wait.

Stay tuned for updates on Watermelon In A Cup! (a title so epic, it defies the rules of capitalization).