How to Grow Marvelous Melons

In summer, when they’re in season, farmers’ markets are awash with melons. But they’re well worth growing yourself for the endless variety of flavors, sizes, colors, and textures available.   

A fresh melon, perfectly ripe from the garden, is a treat only gardeners get to enjoy. When you learn to harvest them at peak ripeness, you’ll experience melon flavor you won’t find at the grocery store. Happily, melons are not hard to grow, and even new gardeners should have success following the melon-growing advice below.

Choosing Melon Varieties

While some melons take up a lot of space, others are much more compact. There really is a size of melon for nearly any garden. Hundreds of melon varieties are available. Some have more compact and bushy forms, while others have a more sprawling habit. Typically, the largest melons are also the biggest space hogs. 

Speaking of size, melons are available in everything from personal melons just bigger than a softball to 40-pound whopper watermelons that barely fit on the counter. There are hybrids with more disease resistance and heirloom varieties, which are quite delicious and let you save seeds. 

Melons typically grown by home gardeners include watermelons, honeydews, and, in the U.S., muskmelons. However, they are commonly referred to as cantaloupes. A true cantaloupe doesn’t have a netted skin or rind, and doesn’t slip from the stem when ripe (more on that below). Whatever we call them, they are delicious.

If you live in a location with a shorter growing season, be sure to pay attention to the estimates for days to maturity. Some cantaloupes, like Aphrodite, are ready in as little as ten weeks. Huge watermelons like Congo can take more than three months to ripen. Remember that maturity isn’t exact. Cold weather will slow melons down, especially watermelons. If you have four months of frost-free growing, but the first and last months are pretty cool weather, you’ll have trouble with melons needing 90 days or more. Go for quicker varieties.

How and When to Plant Melons

Melons are warm weather crops that won’t tolerate a frost. The first hint of frost in the air is enough to kill melon vines. Melons also won’t grow much, or germinate, in cold soil, so you don’t need to rush to get them planted in spring. The soil should be warmish, about 70°F if you have a soil thermometer, and the danger of frost should be well past. Depending on your weather and soil type, that could be as soon as a couple of weeks after your last spring frost, or a month later for heavy, damp soils.

Melons can be started indoors 2-3 weeks before planting out, but they can start to grow quickly and don’t always transplant well. Resist the urge to start them any earlier. Start melons indoors by sowing two seeds per small container or peat block, and then snipping off the weaker one after they’ve sprouted. Ideally, they’ll only have one or two true leaves when you transplant them. 

Melons vary in plant size, so if planting in rows, follow the spacing directions on the packet. I plant melons in hills frequently, and sow 5-6 seeds on top of the small mound, then thin to the strongest 2-3 plants after they’ve developed true leaves. The larger the vines, the farther apart the mounds should be. If you are short on space, try training smaller fruiting melons to grow vertically up a trellis or fence.

Soil, Sun, and Moisture

Melons love sunshine. While they will still grow in partial sun, you won’t get as many melons, and they’ll be smaller. Give melons full sun if you can. Melons, no matter the type, need a well-drained site, which is the reason for the old gardening advice about growing melons on sandy soil. 

Melons are heavy feeders and like fertile soil. Work in some compost before planting, and either fertilize or side-dress with compost as the season progresses. Compost tea can also be used. Like growing big pumpkins, melons do best with even soil moisture. Dry spells during early growth will restrict vine size and therefore, later yields of tasty melons. Provide about 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week, cumulatively between rainfall and irrigation.

Growing Tips for Melons

Growing melons is pretty straightforward, but here are a few tips to help you on the way.

• Keep the vines in check. It’s okay to pick up a wayward vine and move it out of the path, away from the driveway, or train it up a trellis. Keep at it. Older vines are much harder to move without damage.

• Mulching under melons will not only help maintain even soil moisture but also keep weeds down. Once the vines grow, it can be hard to get in there and pull weeds. A thick layer of mulch keeps your melon patch from looking like an overgrown fallow field, and also gives the melons a place to rest up off the soil.

• Don’t forget to water during dry spells. Melons need even soil moisture for best growth. Water from below or at the base of the plant, if you can. If you use an overhead sprinkler, water in the morning so the foliage has time to dry during the day.

• Pay attention to spacing. Melons crowded together are less productive.

• You need pollinators! Bees buzzing from flower to flower are a good sign. If you aren’t sure there are enough bees (or you don’t see any), you can try it yourself. Check out our article on hand-pollinating flowers.

• If your soil isn’t as fertile, use a slow-release fertilizer product or side dress with compost to help them out. 

Common Pest Issues

Melons are cucurbits and are bothered by the same pests as squash, pumpkins, and cucumbers. If you have cucumber beetles, squash bugs, or aphids on other plants, you’ll likely have them on your melons as well. Melons are also susceptible to powdery mildew, which often doesn’t kill the plant but will reduce yields. Some varieties, like Goddess Hybrid, are quite resistant. 

As always, a daily garden walk is the best way of detecting pests early enough to do something about them. Aphids are easily washed off plants with a strong spray from the garden hose, and they crawl back up slowly, if at all.

Cucumber beetles, both larvae and adults, feed on melon plants. It’s the adults’ leaf-chewing behavior and the resultant disease transmission that are the biggest concerns. A few cucumber beetles can be swatted with a flyswatter or hand-picked.

Squash bugs also affect melons, and look kind of like stink bugs. They are fairly large, brownish gray, and have two long antennae. They typically bother younger plants and can be plucked off and tossed into a container with soapy water. Check the undersides of leaves for egg masses and remove them as well.

When to Harvest Melons

Have you ever picked up a watermelon and knocked on it, trying to listen to see if it’s ripe? Knowing when a melon is ready to pick can be tricky. For many cantaloupes and hybrids types, the melons are ripe when they easily separate from the vine with a slight tug. This method of harvesting is known as full slip, meaning the melon easily slips from the vine. Honeydew melons and some French melons are overripe by then and need to be cut from the vine earlier. Watermelons are always hollow, but when ripe, they will be brightly colored with a firm rind and may have a bit of yellow where they were sitting on the ground or in mulch.

For cantaloupes, the best way to know is by the sniff test. Stick your nose down there and smell that melon. If it’s sweet and fragrant, it’s ready. Once a melon starts to look ready, check it every day or two until you decide to harvest it. 

Most melons don’t store well and will only last a few days on the counter. For cantaloupes, storing in the refrigerator works well. Other melons store best at a slightly warmer temperature than typical fridge temps. However, you can still keep them in the refrigerator for a while. Once you cut into them, cover any leftovers with plastic wrap or they’ll get a weird taste in the refrigerator.