Honeydew
Fruit · warm season
When to plant
- Sow seeds outdoors about 3 weeks after your average last spring frost.
- Ready to harvest about 95 days after planting.
Ripe when the blossom end softens slightly and smells sweet.
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 95 days
- Plant family
- Squash family (cucurbits)
- Harvest per plant
- About 8 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.
Pests and problems
Grow it well
Tips
- 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.
- Cut, don't pull. Peppers, eggplant, and melons are firmly attached. Pulling can snap the branch or uproot the plant. Cut them with pruners.
- Afternoon wilting isn't always thirst. Squash and cucumber leaves often droop in the afternoon heat and perk up by evening. If they're still wilted the next morning, check the soil, and look for vine borers or wilt.
Honeydew 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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