Last edited on October 16, 2026. View history
Melon
How to sow melon: Direct seed. If planting indoors, use peat pots and harden off before transplanting seedlings outside.
Sun requirement for melon: Plant in Full Sun
Melons are a group of species in the Cucurbitaceae family. They produce sweet fruits that grow on sprawling vines. Types of melons include: watermelons, cantaloupe, honeydew, casaba, and crenshaw. More growing information is available in individual species entries.
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For melon, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 9°C and a shortest growing cycle of 50 days at its best temperature, about 750 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your melon will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
by shiny,
Beans, peas and corn: remove husks and allow seeds to dry out – this may take a couple of weeks, then remove casings and store.
Pumpkins and melons: seeds need to be washed and set aside to dry for a week or so before …
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by oakandsage,
My raspberry are flowering!
Anyone whose english pea plants yield spherical peas must be a saint. I only get spherical peas if I miss a pod. In the evening I sit out in the garden and eat peas until there is nothing worth eating left on the plant. Then I am done…
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by oakandsage,
Yay, seeds arrived. Gonna go on a planting binge tomorrow. Especially since tomorrow is tomato day!
Got: Golden purslane Watercress Yard long bean Blackeye pea Charentais melon Cantaloupe (M…
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Nobody has harvested this crop yet.
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If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 50 to 120 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Cucumis melo L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Dilleniidae Violales Cucurbitaceae |
|---|---|
| Life form | herb, vine |
| Life span | annual |
| Habit | climber/scrambler/scadent |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, organic |
| Optimal soil fertility | moderate |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
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