Cantaloupe
Fruit · warm season · also called muskmelon, rockmelon
When to plant
- Sow seeds outdoors about 3 weeks after your average last spring frost.
- Ready to harvest about 80 days after planting.
Ripe when it slips easily from the vine.
Frost dates depend on where you live. Enter your ZIP code to get exact dates.
Dates by zone: 3a 3b 4a 4b 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a 8b 9a 9b 10a 10b
Growing basics
- Sun
- Full sun (6+ hours)
- Spacing
- 24 in (trellised)
- Soil temperature
- At least 70°F
- Time to harvest
- About 80 days
- Containers
- At least 10 gallons
- Plant family
- Squash family (cucurbits)
- Harvest per plant
- About 6 lb
- Seeds keep
- About 5 years
Companions
Keep apart: Potato. Potatoes and squash-family crops compete for water and share pests.
Keep apart: Horseradish. Horseradish spreads aggressively. Give it its own spot.
Keep apart: Mint. Mint spreads aggressively into neighbors. Keep it in a pot.
Keep apart: Fennel (bulb). Fennel slows the growth of most garden plants. Grow it on its own.
Keep apart: Sunchoke (Jerusalem artichoke). Sunchokes spread aggressively and shade neighbors.
Varieties to try
- Minnesota Midget 65 days: small, for short seasons
- Hale's Best 85 days: classic
- Ambrosia 86 days: very sweet hybrid
Pests and problems
Grow it well
Tips
- Know when a melon is ripe. A ripe cantaloupe slips off the vine with a gentle push and smells sweet. A watermelon is ready when the spot where it rests turns creamy yellow and the curly tendril nearest it has dried up.
- Warm the soil for melons and peppers. Lay black plastic over the bed a week or two before planting, and cut holes to plant through. It warms the soil several degrees, so heat lovers like melons, peppers, and squash get off to a faster start.
- Cover young squash until they flower. Row cover over young squash and cucumbers keeps out squash bugs, cucumber beetles, and vine borers. Take it off when the first female flowers open, so bees can pollinate them.
Cantaloupe seeds on Amazon (opens a new tab)Floating row cover on Amazon (opens a new tab)Straw for mulch on Amazon (opens a new tab)Bypass pruners on Amazon (opens a new tab)
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