Growing Melons, Growing Watermelons, How to Grow Melons

The best tips for growing melons including watermelon, in your backyard vegetable garden. Learn how to grow watermelon, muskmelon (Cantaloupes), winter melons when home gardening.

Design Your Own Vegetable Garden Layout Using our Free "Vegetable Garden Planner" Software!

The superior taste of vine-ripened fruit is well worth the extra effort it takes growing melons.

The plants naturally pack up on sugar during its final days of growth before harvest.

This sweetness is noticeably missing in commercial brand melons, which are picked green for shipping.

Melons need nutrient rich soil, lots of sunlight, and at least 3-4 months of warm weather conditions.

The plants that produce melons, a vine of the gourd family, need quite a bit of room to grow.

For example, a single watermelon vine, can sprawl across 100 square feet and only produce two juicy fruits.

On the other hand, a 16-square foot area can provide dozens of sweet fruits.

Download Free Garden Planning Worksheets, Garden Diary, Zone Chart, Or Planting Guide

Types of Melons to Grow: Watermelons, Cantaloupes (Muskmelons), Winter Melons

Alternatively, grow standard types vertically on a strong trellis or fence.

What are usually call cantaloupes are actually muskmelons.

Winter melons (also a type of muskmelon) ripen as the weather starts to cool and will keep for long periods if stored properly.

This group includes honeydews, crenshaws, casabas, and Persians.

Growing Watermelons

Watermelons fall under a different botanical classification yet thrive under the same cultural conditions that other growing melons require.

Watermelons are now offered in compact growing cultivars or plants that are perfectly sized for smaller vegetable gardens.

There are also seedless cultivars on the market that produce firm, delicious fruits.

Planting Melons and Watermelons in Your Garden

Harden off the seedlings a few days before planting time.

Banana Cantaloupe

Banana cantaloupe is ready for harvest in 90 days.

Exceptionally sweet, and spicy, its flesh is vibrant salmon colored.

These unique melons grow up to 24 inches long, and are shaped somewhat like an oversized banana.

Growing Guidelines

Trivia: Spittin' Distance

Former world champ Lee Wheelis, once sent a watermelon seed sailing 68 feet 9-¼ inches in a seed-spitting contest!

Back To Top

Growing Melons to Vegetable Gardening

Growing Melons to Planting a Vegetable Garden

"Get the Dirt!" on Vegetable Gardening! > > A FREE Vegetable Gardening Tips and Ideas Newsletter < < "Where to begin with my own vegetable garden? I need some help!" Should I just try planting some seeds in the ground? Is there more to vegetable gardening than meets the eye? How about a container garden? Get the answers, tips, ideas, and more by subscribing to our FREE "Get the Dirt" newsletter.

New! Comments