Melons

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Provide full sun and a fertile soil when planting melons. Plant 2-3’ apart in rows 6-8’ apart. Watermelon vines need room to sprawl. Good soil moisture is important in early stages of growth and during pollination when fruits are setting. Do not water the last week before fruits are ripe, as overwatering can cause bland fruit.

Sugar Baby – ideal plant for gardeners with limited space; vines only reach around 3 feet in length. Early producer; the juicy & sweet little 6-12 pound fruit should be ready to harvest in 75 days. Flesh is deep scarlet; skin is dark green with no striping.

Orangeglo – beautiful, deep orange flesh, very sweet flavor. High yields, strong vines are resistant to wilt and insects. Introduced by Willhite Seed Co. prior to 1965.

Athena Melon (F1 hybrid 75 days)

Early yields of uniform, high quality 5-6 pound fruits. Firm flesh, fruity aroma, small seed cavity with good shelf life after harvest. Good disease resistance to powdery mildew and fusarium wilt.

Noir des Carmes melon An heirloom melon with sweet, aromatic orange flesh. The 2-3 pound ribbed fruits will turn from greenish-black to yellow and green when ready to harvest. This is a true cantaloupe, rather than a muskmelon.

Hale’s Best –

(Open pollinated, 86 days)

Sweet, juicy 3-5 pound oval fruits, first introduced in 1924. Netted and moderately ribbed. Vigorous, drought-resistant plants are powdery mildew resistant.

Cantelope, Tuscany

Aromatic and flavorful, 2-3# melon with juicy, salmon-colored flesh. Water regularly, fertilizing with kelp or fish emulsion if needed.

As the melons start to reach maturity, gradually withhold water and then stop watering all together to prevent the rind from splitting. Harvest when melons slip easily off the vine. If the grooves on your ‘Tuscany’ melon are still green, it’s not quite ready to harvest yet. Give it a few more days!

Melons can be a bit tricky to grow here as they are susceptible to powdery mildew and other foliar diseases. Most foliar diseases are spread by water-splash or by the leaves staying wet for long periods. Use soaker hoses or drip tape, and avoid sprinkler irrigation. Be sure to rotate your crops and plant non-vining crops for at least three years before planting cantaloupes, to reduce soil-borne disease.

If you are a beginning gardener, you might start with our Striped Armenian Cucumbers instead. They are the easiest to grow of any vine crop that I’ve tried; reliable, disease-resistant, productive & tasty. And impressively big!