Melon Growing Tips

More Melons

To turn your vines into a melon factory, pinch off each vine's growing tip when the main stem has produced five large leaves.  Nip subsequent side shoots when the tip develops three leaves.  This halts leafy growth and forces more fruit production.  When the plants are growing vigorously, keep them well watered and give them a liquid organic feeding as the first fruits reach walnut size.

Bitter Melons

Uneven watering leads to bitter melons.  Therefore never let the soil dry out completely.  Ideally you should water deeply, then don't water again until the soil has dried to about 8 inches down.

Cantaloupe Tree

To create a cantaloupe tree, plant three midget cantaloupe vines about 12 inches apart in a wire mesh cage (3 feet high, 18 inches in diameter) set over a container filled with planter mix or soil fortified with manure.  The cantaloupes will grow upward both inside and outside the cage.

Better Tasting

For delicious cantaloupes, rototill a 10x10 foot area with rotted horse manure.  Three to four weeks later, rototill the plot again, adding 10 more bushels of horse manure.  Plant your cantaloupe in hills, three to a hill, 5 feet apart.  In about 100 days, you'll have all the sweet cantaloupes you can eat.

Rotting Cantaloupes

Don't let your cantaloupes rot.  Save those plastic foam trays that come with supermarket meats.  Place one upside-down tray under each cantaloupe.  They're waterproof and will keep the fruit from spoiling.  At the end of the season, pick up the trays and throw them away.

Early Female Flowers

Melons have a lazy streak:  they sometimes produce too many male flowers before they start growing the female flowers that bear fruit.  But you can give them a push in the right direction.  Count four adult leaves from the base, then pinch off the growing tip.  This hastens side growth and the formation of female flowers.  If none appear, again remove the growing point beyond the fourth or fifth leaf.

Increased Melon Production

Although bees are great at pollinating melons, you can increase production by taking on the job yourself.  To pollinate artificially; remove the male flowers, which grow in clusters and have a prominent central core.  Shake this powdery core into the center of the open female flower--the one with a flattish center and a swelling behind the flower.