Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: Preparing the soil and planting
• Part 2 of 3: How to Care for Melons
• Part 3 of 3: What Problems You May Have
• Tips
• Warnings
• What do you need

Cantaloupe is a type of melon that you can grow in your garden. There are many varieties of this melon now, but one of the best will be Hale's Best. This variety is preferred by many gardeners. In this article, we'll show you how to prepare the soil for planting and how to care for cantaloupes as they grow.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Preparing the soil and planting

1. 1 Choose the variety that best suits your climate. Cantaloupes grow best in hot climates. They need two to three consecutive hot months. Melons also like sandy and loamy soils with good drainage and acidity around 6 pH.
   • For cooler climates, cantaloupe varieties like Hale's Best, Sarah's Choice, and Eden's Gem will do. Aromatic varieties such as Hearts of Gold, Ambrosia, Athena, and Honey Bun can also be grown.
   • Pay special attention to the ripening time of the melon, which should be indicated on the seed package. Chances are, you will be growing cantaloupe from seed. So be sure to read the instructions on how to plant a particular strain and how to care for it. And especially pay attention to the ripening period.
   • If you want to save and plant then the seeds of some particularly sweet melon that you were lucky enough to taste, then remove them with a spoon and soak them for a couple of days in cold water. Dry the seeds on paper towels and store them in a clean jar in a cool, dark place. It is advisable to plant seeds within a year.
2. 2 Choose a suitable landing site. The most important thing is that the melon has warm soil and enough room for its creeping stems to grow. Whether you're planning to tie up the stems or let the melons ripen on the ground, you'll need to set aside a fair amount of space for them. It depends, however, on what kind of crop you are going to harvest.
   • It is not true that cantaloupe melon flowers can be pollinated with pollen from cucumbers, other varieties of melons, courgettes, and pumpkins. You can safely plant it along with other crops. If your melon tastes strange, it is not due to accidental crossing, but due to other factors related to soil, weather, etc.
3. 3 Prepare the soil. Fertilize it with compost and well-rotted manure. Top soil should be 6-8 inches (15-20 cm) high, plus fertilizer.
   • Dig up the soil to a depth of 30 cm. Loosen it thoroughly and remove all stones and branches. Add a thick layer of manure to the soil and a smaller layer of compost on top. It will be better if you make small mounds of the ground for the melons.
   • If you want, you can cover the ground with plastic wrap to help the soil warm up faster. The cantaloupe melon seed must be planted in warm ground.
4. 4 You can grow seedlings at home first. If you know the exact date of the last frost, then planting a melon will not be difficult. Ideally, seeds are planted about 10 days before the last frost. But since this date is rather difficult to determine, we recommend that you grow seeds at home.
   • If you live in a cool climate, start planting seeds at home about a month before planting seedlings in the ground. Plant seeds in biodegradable pots filled with seedling soil. These pots are best used in order not to disturb the delicate rhizome of the seedlings. Water the soil generously, but so that there is no standing water in the pot. The plants will be ready for transplanting as soon as they have a few mature leaves.
   • If you live in a warm climate, then you can plant seeds in your vegetable garden when the soil warms up to 18 degrees.
5. 5 Make small mounds of earth for the melon. The mounds should be spaced about 30 cm apart. The distance between the beds should be at least one meter apart.
   • Some gardeners prefer to tie up the stems of the melon to keep the fruit off the ground. But this is usually only suitable for small melons. How to tie up melons, we will tell you in more detail below.
6. 6 Plant a melon. Wait for the ground to warm to at least 18 degrees Celsius. The landing time will depend on where you live.
   • If you've grown your seedlings indoors, plant them directly in biodegradable pots. Water the soil well afterwards.
   • If you are planting seeds, place five seeds in each mound.

Part 2 of 3: How to Care for Melons

1. 1 Melons should be watered generously, but rarely. Just do not water them so that there is standing water between the beds. Plants should receive about 2-5 cm of water per week. Melon will also need more water during dry periods. Watch your plants closely.
   • It will take a while for the plant to develop a vine, but you can tell how sweet the fruit will be from its leaves. Healthy leaves will be dark green in color and tough to the touch. If the leaves are yellowish or spotty, then this means that the plant is drying out or sick.
   • If it's too hot outside, the melon leaves may look withered until evening. This is normal and does not necessarily mean that you need to water the plants more.
   • You can water cantaloupes with special tools such as drip tape. But if you have a small vegetable garden, then the plants can be watered by hand. Water around the stems, being careful not to get water on them.
2. 2 You will need to take care of the fruit. You can cover the beds with plastic to keep the plants warm and also to protect them from insects. For convenience, you can place small wire frames over the melons, which you can then cover with foil.
   • Only the film will need to be removed after the melon has flowers. Otherwise insects will not be able to pollinate them.
3. 3 Weed the beds thoroughly before the melon has creeping stems. Pull the weeds out during the first weeks of plant growth so that the stems get stronger and can handle the weeds on their own.
   • Note that melon sprouts can look very similar to clover. So don't accidentally execute them.To prevent this from happening, mark the sprouts in some way or wait until they grow up to distinguish them from weeds.
4. 4 You can tie up the plants. Depending on what kind of garden you have, you can tie up cantaloupes to keep them from growing on the ground. It would be best to install a lattice fence next to the melons.
   • Dig in a pole near each melon, a meter and a half high. Connect them to each other using wire, slats, thick rope, etc. The melon stalks will cling to them and grow upward.
   • You will need to put something under the fruit to make it easier for the stems. For this, you can use, for example, inverted jars or pots. You can cover the fruit if it is being eaten by wild animals.
   • When the fruits begin to ripen, then those melons that lie on the ground will deteriorate faster. So when it gets damp outside, the garter will help you preserve the harvest.
5. 5 Fertilize the soil periodically. If some of your plants do not grow well or do not want to bloom, then add nitrogen fertilizers to the soil. Some experts also advise watering the melons with coffee grounds.
   • After the cantaloupes bloom, they can be fertilized with potash and phosphorus fertilizers. Try to use compost or manure instead of herbicides and other chemical additives.
6. 6 Before the melons are fully ripe, reduce the amount of water for irrigation. The cantaloupes will then be much sweeter. Start doing this about a week before harvesting.
   • When the melon is ripe, the stalk will begin to crack. If the melon is overripe, the stem will completely fall away from it. Ripe melons will start to smell as well. As soon as you smell ripe melons in your garden, you can start harvesting.
   • Cantaloupe melons usually mature within four weeks of emergence on the stem. But the specific ripening dates must be indicated on the seed package.

Part 3 of 3: What Problems You May Have

1. 1 Pest insects. If the stems of your melons are on the ground, pests such as spider mites or moths may feed on them. You will definitely have to learn to recognize them.
   • Root knots and swollen stems mean your melons are spoiling nematodes. To get rid of them, you will have to plant rye instead of melons next year.
   • If the leaves of your melons have become sticky and withered, it means that they have been attacked by aphids. Theodan or other natural insecticides, such as mixtures with essential oils, can help you get rid of it.
   • Gnawed leaves mean that you have a miner moth on your site. But don't worry too much about her. It shouldn't significantly affect your harvest.
   • If the leaves turn yellow and are covered with cobwebs, then this means that you have a spider mite. If there are too many mites, then you will need to get rid of the melons.
2. 2 Learn to recognize the diseases that cantaloupe melon can have. If you've properly grown and watered your plants, they should grow healthy. But sometimes, especially if the melons are not tied, they can be susceptible to certain diseases. You need to learn to identify the most common diseases in order to remove the diseased plant in time and preserve your harvest.
   • Yellow spots on the leaves means downy mildew has appeared on them. It is sometimes treated with chlorothalonil, or another natural fungicide. You might also want to tie up the melons to prevent mold from spreading.
   • If the stems of a melon break, and a yellowish-orange liquid oozes out of them, this means that it has become ill with mycosperella rot. Most likely, you will not be able to save the crop. And next year, instead of melons, you will have to plant some other crop, and treat the soil with a fungicide.
   • If your melons are rotting after rain, it is possible that they are suffering from sclerocial southern rot. This often happens in areas with heavy soils.Therefore, try to water the melons in moderation and add mulch between the beds to prevent rotting.
3. 3 Melons may sometimes not bear fruit. There is little pleasant in the fact that after all the work and caring for the plants, you will be left without a crop. Try to learn from this a lesson for the future. Melons may not bear fruit for the following reasons:
   • Lack of pollinating insects. Cantaloupe melon has both male and female flowers on the vine and must be pollinated. If you grow melons in a greenhouse, or live in an area where bees are scarce, you may need to manually pollinate your flowers.
   • If the soil is too cold, the melon will only have male flowers. Only plant melons when the soil temperature is around 18 degrees Celsius.
   • If your melons do not bear fruit, and you do everything as in the book, then try planting rye in their place a month before planting melons.

Tips

• Some gardeners suggest leaving one fruit per vine. Thus, the plant will channel more nutrients into its growth, which will make it sweeter.

Warnings

• The leaves of your melons can be attacked by insects and fungi. And so you can tell from the leaves how sweet the fruit will be. Leaves are an indicator of plant health.

What do you need

• Compost or manure
• Fence slats
• Seeds or seedlings
• Water
• Fertilizers
• Mulch
• Jars or pots
• Boxes