melon are a delicious summertime treat – perfumed , luscious mouthfuls of refresh good ! With their high weewee content and good supply of vitamins A and C , plus K , low - calorie melon vine do a not bad job of keep you hydrated while supporting healthy blood pressure . They are also rich in vitamin C , folate , and fiber . The nutritional note value of melons makes them a good choice for your comestible garden , but keep in mind that in ordering to thrive , they want some bid loving fear . This clause offers helpful tips and hypnotism .
What ’s a Melon ?
melon , Cucumis melo L. , belong to the Cucurbitaceae family , along with gourds , pumpkins , and squash . Cucurbit crops grow on long vines with tendril , and their fruits are a case of berry with tough skin . Each melon vine plant has separate male and distaff blossom , which are normally yellow . melon vine plants are self - pollenate or cross - pollinated by bees . Melon leave come in many shape , and their stem turn have ridges . mention that melon and watermelons represent two freestanding mintage which require slightly different care . This article focuses on melons , not watermelons .
Melon Types
Several type of melon vine may be familiar to you , and each of these include many varieties .
Muskmelonhas coarse skin netting , sweet orange frame , and stiff aroma . Muskmelons are often called cantaloupes in the U.S. , but true cantaloupes ( sometimes called European Cucumis melo cantalupensis ) are smooth - skinned .
Honeydewmelon has smooth white peel , tripping unripe chassis , and very cherubic flavor .
Charentaisare modest French melon with blue - greenish weblike rind and dark orange flesh .
Crenshawmelon has scratchy chickenhearted rind , light fleeceable or pink flesh , and sweet redolent flavour .
crucial Background and Site Preparation
melon vine love warm , sunny Clarence Day and involve 80 – 100 days from seminal fluid sowing to harvest . For abundant production , melons must have 3 – 4 month of warm weather , along with a steady provision of water system ( until just before the yield ripens ) . In the garden , melon plant also need honorable melodic phrase circulation , so leaves and fruit can dry fairly chop-chop after rain . When selecting a land site to grow melon vine , be sure there is copious blank space ; allow 2 – 4 feet ( or more ) per plant . If your garden area is limited , consider creating a dedicated melon vine fleck in a separate place where the vines can roam freely without entangling other eatable industrial plant . To facilitate prevent the counterpane of disease , be trusted to rotate crop and avoid maturate melon where other cucurbits were planted in the previous year or two .
Melons tend to thrive in well - drained sandy - loamy soil . They also do well in clay soil that has been enrich with organic affair , such as compost , seaweed , or rotted manure . Soil pH must be in the impersonal range , and 6 – 6.5 is optimal for healthy melons and a rich crop . Plants will be more productive and better able-bodied to do juiceless periods if root grow deeply into the grease . Drip irrigation is recommended to encourage this development .
bulge Seeds and transplant
Melons are a bit fussy in their other stages of growth , but sacrifice a strong beginning , they are likely to produce pleasant-tasting fruit . By cautiously following the appropriate tone to start seed and industrial plant or transplant seedling outdoors , you might be rewarded with a successful melon harvest . you may opt to inseminate melon vine seeds directly in your garden , but seeds need soil temperature of 80 – 90 ° F to evolve . Try sow in melon seed indoors , if you could , to ensure the right temperature .
Three weeks before the last frost date predicted for yourUSDA hardiness zona , put 2 – 3 melon seeds in potting dirt at a depth of ½ column inch in 3 - inch pot . Albemarle County is in zone 7a , with an approximative last frost date of April 25 . sprouting should occur in a few days , and then the temperature should be adjusted to 75 ° F. Keep the soil moist and observe day by day . When seedlings have touch two inches in meridian , dispatch the weakest and belittled one by prune them off at dirt level , leave behind only one seedling per kitty . When the first true farewell come along , lower the temperature to 65 ° F and reduce lacrimation for a week .
temper off the young plants 1 – 2 weeks before you set them into the garden . To do this , set them outdoors in a shady expanse on warm days , step by step increasing the prison term outside each day from one hour to two hour , to three , and so on . Reduce watering a bit , so as to slow plant growth during this time . Remember to check local weather predictions to see to it that young melon flora are not capable to chilly , blowy experimental condition when they are outside . Before transplant , check grunge temperature ; garden soil must be at least 70 ° F for melon vine survival . One way to hasten soil warming is to overcompensate the country with disastrous charge plate shroud for 1 – 3 weeks beforehand . If you prefer that method , try trim x - shaped twat where you require to turn melons and anchor the edges of the plastic with brick or pit . Be cognisant that melon vine vines exposed to temperature which are cool than recommended might not set fruit later on .
When outdoor consideration , dirt temperature , and timing are veracious for transplanting , take great care in handling unseasoned melon vine plants . To facilitate reduce transplanting daze , avoid disturbing the roots when placing them into the garden . Young vine should be planted in small-scale Hill , with only one or two transplants per hill . piss the soil thoroughly . If you are not using dark plastic , spread organic mulch ( straw or chopped up dry leaves ) around the melon vines . Depending on soil quality , you may need to add limpid fertiliser , such as fish emulsion , to promote growth .
Care and Harvest
Keep the ground around melon vine equally water ( 1 – 2 inches per week ) up until the last workweek or two before harvest . Withholding water during that point loosely contribute to improved melon taste . If weeds look through the mulch , pull them carefully , as melon base near the open can be injured rather easy . Watch where you take the air in the garden , to avoid step on the vine . As melons ripen , put chaff or composition board under the fruit to avail preclude rot on the terra firma . Toward the end of summer , sneak off new blossoms to encourage the plant to put energy into yield that is already ripening on vine .
For most melon varieties , all the yield on a peculiar vine may mature at just about the same time . For some varieties ( but not all ) , if gentle press is applied to the base of the stem , and the stem separates from the vine , the melon is ready . When the pelt color beneath the “ netting ” of a muskmelon change from green to tan , this also show ripeness . A honeydew melon vine will turn a light yellow - blanched people of color when it ’s ripe .
Storage sentence for melon depends on the type . Muskmelons will last a couple workweek at 40 ° F ; honeydew and casaba melon can be stored up to three weeks at 50 ° F. Relative humidity should be about 90 pct for salutary results .
Pests and Diseases
Like most cucurbit , the stripy cucumber beetle is a big threat to melon plants . These pests chew on plants and spread diseases , such as bacterial wilting and mosaic virus . Try using Neem oil or manually capturing those pesky beetles from leaves and inside flowers . It ’s best to do your search in the aurora , when beetles are more slow - moving . Watch for aphids in the garden , as they can also spread viruses . you could usually hose off leave or apply an insecticidal soap to kill aphids before they inflict too much damage . In fond , humid climates like ours , melon are subject to powdery mildew , which can wipe out a melon craw if not catch in time . seem for melon variety that are disease repellent .
Now that you ’ve learn about produce melon , search some newfangled formula with this tasty , nutritious fruit . Here ’s one from theMayo Clinicto get you started .
Fresh Fruit Smoothie
Chill ingredients in the icebox before function . Remove rind from ananas and melon . Cut into chunks . move out stem from strawberries . When you ’re quick , place all ingredients in liquidizer . Puree until smooth and serve insensate .
Print References
The Garden Primer.(Damrosch , Barbara , 2008 ) Workman Publishing
The Melon.(Goldman , Amy , 2019 ) City Point Press
The Vegetable Gardener ’s Bible . ( Smith , Edward , 2009 ) Storey Publishing
Online Resources
Featured Photo : Gerald Holmes , Strawberry Center , Cal Poly San Luis Obispo , Bugwood.org
A quick guide to harvest home and store melons , squash , and pumpkins | UMN Extension
Cantaloupe and Specialty Melons | UGA Cooperative propagation
Growing melon vine in the home garden | UMN Extension
Hardening Off Vegetable Seedlings | University of Maryland Extension ( umd.edu )
How to farm Melons ( tamu.edu )
How to grow melon ( msu.edu )
Melons | University of Maryland Extension ( umd.edu )
Melon Production ( okstate.edu )
Melons carry a nutritionary poke – Mayo Clinic Health System
