Melon Donation Tracker

Quick Links: How & Where to Grow | Temperature | How to Care For | Harvest Signs | Harvesting | Pruning | Pests | Companions | Varieties | Preservation | Recipes | Michigan Tips | Fun Facts

🌱 How & Where to Grow Melons:

• Start indoors 3-4 weeks early – melons need every warm day we can give them!
• Transplant when soil reaches 70°F (early June).
• Space plants 3-4 feet apart in rows 6 feet apart.
• Sunlight: Full sun (8+ hours) essential for sweetness.
• Soil Type: Well-drained, sandy loam ideal, pH 6.0-6.8.
• Soil Amendment: Add compost but avoid excess nitrogen

Melons are the ultimate heat lovers – success in Michigan requires choosing short-season varieties!

🌡️ Temperature Guidance:

Critical 70°F minimum soil. Won’t germinate below 65°F.

• Transplanting: Wait for consistent 70°F soil temperature.
• Growing: Optimal growth at 70-90°F.
• Growth stops below 60°F.
• Cool nights = less sweet melons.

Black plastic mulch can make the difference between success and failure in Michigan!

💧 How to Care for:

• Consistent Moisture: Critical during fruit development.
• Watering: 1-2 inches weekly until ripening, then reduce.
• Mulch: Black plastic mulch essential for soil warmth.
• Fertilizer: Side-dress when vines begin running.
• Support: Place cardboard or straw under developing melons.

📏 Harvest Signs:

Cantaloupe: full slip, strong aroma. Watermelon: brown tendril, yellow ground spot.

• Each melon type has unique ripeness indicators – learn your variety!
• Cantaloupe: Stems slip off easily when lifted, sweet aroma.
• Watermelon: Tendril nearest fruit browns, deep hollow thump.
• Honeydew: Creamy yellow color, slight give at blossom end.
• Don’t harvest too early – melons don’t ripen after picking!

The “thump test” for watermelons really works – ripe ones sound hollow!

🧺 Harvesting:

Handle gently. Harvest in morning. Use immediately for best flavor.

• Always support melon’s weight when checking ripeness.
• Cut watermelon stems – don’t pull from vine.
• Cantaloupe should slip easily – if you have to tug, wait.
• Morning harvest when sugars are highest.
• Handle carefully – bruising affects storage.

✂️ Pruning:

Limit melons per vine. Pinch tips. Remove misshapen fruits.

• Cantaloupe: Keep 3-4 fruits per vine for best size.
• Watermelon: Allow only 2-3 per vine for larger fruit.
• Pinch vine tips once desired fruits set.
• Remove misshapen or damaged fruits early.
• Cut side shoots to concentrate energy on main vine.

🪲 Michigan Pests:

Aphids (virus vectors), cucumber beetles, squash bugs.

• Aphids – worse problem as virus spreaders than direct damage.
• Cucumber beetles – major threat, spread bacterial wilt.
• Squash bugs – attack all cucurbits including melons.
• Bacterial wilt – devastating, no cure once infected.

🫱🏽‍🫲🏼 Companions:

Radishes, nasturtiums, marigolds, corn. Avoid potatoes.

• Radishes deter cucumber beetles when interplanted.
• Nasturtiums act as trap crops for aphids.
• Marigolds repel various melon pests.
• Corn provides light shade in hottest weather.
• Avoid potatoes and other heavy feeders nearby.

🍈 Varieties:

Cantaloupe: ‘Minnesota Midget’, ‘Fastbreak’. Watermelon: ‘Bush Sugar Baby’.

• ‘Minnesota Midget’ cantaloupe: 60 days, 4-inch fruits, perfect for short seasons.
• ‘Fastbreak’ cantaloupe: 69 days, disease resistant.
• ‘Bush Sugar Baby’ watermelon: 75 days, space-saving bush type.
• ‘Blacktail Mountain’ watermelon: 70 days, developed for cool climates.
• Key: Choose varieties under 85 days!

🫙 Preservation:

Fresh 5-7 days. Freeze changes texture. Pickle cantaloupe.

• Fresh storage: Whole melons 5-7 days room temperature.
• Refrigerate: Cut melons 3-5 days in sealed container.
• Freezing: Cube and freeze but texture becomes mushy.
• Pickling: Unripe melons make great pickles.
• Dehydrating: Makes chewy fruit leather.
• Best enjoyed fresh – preservation options limited.

🧑🏽‍🍳 Recipes:

Fresh fruit salads, agua fresca, grilled watermelon, melon gazpacho.

• Watermelon feta salad with mint and lime.
• Cantaloupe wrapped with prosciutto appetizers.
• Melon agua fresca – refreshing summer drink.
• Grilled watermelon steaks with balsamic glaze.
• Chilled melon soup with yogurt and herbs.

✋🏼 Michigan Tips:

• Choose <85 day varieties.
• Black plastic mandatory.
• Protected location essential.
• Start transplants indoors May 1.
• Use row covers until flowering.
• South-facing slopes ideal.
• Container growing allows moving to warmest spots.
• Mini varieties more reliable than full-size.

🧠 Fun Facts:

• Cantaloupe named after Italian villa.
• Watermelons 92% water.
• Watermelon is both fruit and vegetable (related to cucumbers).
• Square watermelons grown in Japan using boxes!
• Ancient Egyptians buried watermelons with pharaohs.
• Cantaloupe has more vitamin A than any other melon.
• The world’s heaviest watermelon weighed 350.5 pounds!
• China produces 70% of world’s watermelons.