MELONS
GROWING TIPS:
- Melons love the
heat – Plant outside only after all danger of frost has passed,
typically around the first of May and by August 1 you’ll be enjoying
the first harvest.
- Black plastic
mulch will help generate more warmth by absorbing the heat from the sun
and reflecting it back to the plant. (It also keeps the weeds away!)
- Be sure to
incorporate fertilizer into the ground *before* you put the plastic down,
otherwise it will be hard to get fertilizer to the plants easily later.
- Melons are
space hogs and can grow up to 3’ in diameter – leave 6’
between rows and plant 18” apart within the rows.
- Water deeply
once a week.
- How do you know
when it’s ripe? Cantaloupe is ripe when the stem
is just starting to crack and the melon can be easily pulled
off. If you’re tugging and twisting to get it off
– it’s not quite ready. Watermelon is ready
to be picked when the curly tendrils on either side of the stem turn
brown.
VARIETIES:
Watermelon Sugar Baby
An heirloom variety with thick dark green skin and sweet red
flesh. More compact than most varieties; it’s great for smaller
gardens. Each vine will dependably produce 4-6 melons that are 10”
across.
Cantaloupe GOLD STAR
The earliest
ripening variety on the market. The 3-4 lb melons have a large core that
makes it easy to slice and seed.
Cantaloupe 2076
One of the sweetest
varieties of cantaloupe you can get. Fruits ripen naturally two
weeks behind Gold Star, so planting both varieties at the same time will
extend your harvest time.
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