HOME AND GARDEN
Melons for miles
DISEASE-FREE In addition to being trellised, a layer of straw or sawdust
can be added under melons, to get them off the ground.
Classic cucurbits bloom in the summer garden JUNE 15, 2018
By KATE RUSSELL
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weet, juicy melons are a Morgan Hill gardening favorite. Easy to grow, productive and delicious, what’s not to love? To ensure a good harvest, May and June are the best months for melon planting. Melons are members of the Cucurbit family, along with pumpkins, squashes, and even luffas! There are two basic types of melon: watermelons and muskmelons. Cantaloupe, casaba, honeydew, and canary melons are all muskmelons. Melons grow on vines with both male and female flowers. Female flowers have a miniature fruit (ovary) at the base of each blossom. Male flowers generally appear first and usually only last for one
day. Melon pollen is very sticky, so honey bees must carry the pollen from one flower to the next. Hand-pollination can also be used. Melons are planted in 4-foot square mounds. Plant three to five seeds, 1-inch deep and 2 inches apart, into the middle of each hill. Water well. Once the seeds have sprouted into seedlings, snip the smallest plants off at ground level to avoid disturbing the remaining plant’s roots (and helpful soil microorganisms). Melons need to be watered every two or three days during the peak of summer. Regular watering helps prevent fruit splitting. Side dress melon plants with aged compost and water it in during the growing season to improve both crop quantity and quality.
A layer of straw or sawdust can be added under melons, to get them off the ground. This helps prevent rotten areas, as well as insect damage and fungal disease. Melons can also be grown in containers or trellised. Trellised fruit will need to be supported in miniature hammocks. A melon is ready to harvest when a slight crack appears around the stem. This is called the full slip stage. Crenshaw, casaba, and some honeydew varieties do not develop a slip. Casabas and honeydews can be stored for several weeks; other varieties are best eaten right away. Melons are susceptible to the same problems as other cucurbits, including leaf spot, powdery mildew, downy mildews, mosaic virus, fusarium wilt, sudden wilt, verticillium wilt, and belly rot. Cutworms, cucumber beetles, aphids, leaf miners, leafhoppers, nematodes, wireworms, crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, squash bugs, spider mites, earwigs, stink bugs, whiteflies, and thrips may also try getting into your delicious melons, so be vigilant! Many of these problems can be avoided with row covers, diatomaceous earth, insecticidal soap, and crop rotation. You may have heard a rumor about cross-pollination and melons, but pollination between different species does not occur. What does happen is two different types of melon can cross-pollinate. That's how Crenshaw melons came about—Persian melons were crossed with casabas. It just wouldn’t be summer in Morgan Hill without slicing through the hard outer rind of a melon and devouring the sweet, refreshing fruit within. Start yours today. Kate Russell is a UCCE Master Gardener in Santa Clara County. For more information, visit mgsantaclara. ucanr.edu or call 408.282.3105 between 9:30am-12:30pm Monday through Friday.