I need help choosing melons...advice anyone?

[blueblossom]

Hello....

I'm new to this forum and I'm hoping some of you could give me clues as to which melons make good climbers naturally. I'm pretty sure there are species that would fit the bill perfectly, but I've never grown melons and, as a novice, I'd feel much better about making a choice with some advice from those with experience.

The BC catalog makes Rich Sweetness 132 sound like a possible candidate, as are a couple of other listings in there, but I would prefer to hear how these grew for others before buying seed.

Any ideas for me...?

I would suggest an icebox sized melon. That way you can make little "hammocks" for them. Anything bigger might not be manageable.
Maybe Sugar Baby, or Sweet Siberian...??

[happyhill]

New Hampshire Midget is the only melon I've successfully grown (and I have tried lots). It's about the size of a softball and grew fabulously on a trellis. They are seedy but very sweet. It has a very thin skin so you do get more melon. The year before last I picked 15-20 melons on just a few plants but lost count. Last year was a bad year for many things and none grew. The seeds are available from SandHill Preservation. I did grow Rich Sweetness last year. It grew well in spite of the weather and the crowded area where it grew. Don't let the name fool you because the ones I grew weren't sweet but maybe it's just my climate. I will grow it again because it had a good flavor and interesting texture. It would do great on a trellis. Besides its so cute. Gee this is making me hungry!

[Blujen]

Hi Blue! I always trellis my melons to protect them from pests and from hidden melons going to waste. None of the melons are what you'd call "natural" climbers, they don't climb strongly at all and you will have to train them for the first little bit to get them going upward, but once they've caught hold of your trellis you should be pretty set with any variety. The small ones like Minnesota Midget are easy to do, but if you want to try the larger ones don't be afraid, i've gotten 12 pounders off of my trellises without too much trouble.

When the melons are growing I don't have any problem with them coming off the vine just from their own weight. As they ripen they sometimes start to slip a day or two earlier than i'd prefer, what I do is take a mesh bag and put the melon in the bag, then tie the bag to the trellis to support the melon and take the weight off the stem. When they ripen they slip from the stem and i have a bagged melon waiting for me in the garden.

Any sort of a support would work, some folks use panty hose, some use t shirt cloth tied into a sling, i like my cheapie mesh bags from the car organization department at walmart or the dollar store =)

[blueblossom]

Originally Posted by ThunderChickenCTC

I would suggest an icebox sized melon. That way you can make little "hammocks" for them. Anything bigger might not be manageable.
Maybe Sugar Baby, or Sweet Siberian...??

It's cool you mentioned Sugar Baby, TC, I have three little seedlings started beneath their trellises already and took a gamble on those only because I had those seeds already and it was as good a time as any to start experimenting with the trellising of melons. I planted them back about two weeks ago during a warm spell and they seem to be doing fine, even with our recent and much colder weather.

I'll look into Sweet Siberian for a later experiment.

Thanks for your reply!

[blueblossom]

Originally Posted by happyhill

New Hampshire Midget is the only melon I've successfully grown (and I have tried lots). It's about the size of a softball and grew fabulously on a trellis. They are seedy but very sweet. It has a very thin skin so you do get more melon. The year before last I picked 15-20 melons on just a few plants but lost count. Last year was a bad year for many things and none grew. The seeds are available from SandHill Preservation. I did grow Rich Sweetness last year. It grew well in spite of the weather and the crowded area where it grew. Don't let the name fool you because the ones I grew weren't sweet but maybe it's just my climate. I will grow it again because it had a good flavor and interesting texture. It would do great on a trellis. Besides its so cute. Gee this is making me hungry!

LOL! Happy, why is it that talking about gardening just naturally makes one hungry?! It does me the same way and if I happen to see pictures of peas...any kind of peas, it doesn't matter what kind...it gets worse and I start drooling like Pavlov's dogs. LOL!

I'll keep an eye out for the New Hampshire Midget variety; the current BC seed catalog has a listing for a Minnesota Midget that might be similar to the variety you're recommending.

I am glad to hear feedback on Rich Sweetness and it is good to know you will give them another try. I think I'll try these at some point, though not this year, as they're sold out. I'll take this as a 'sign' and choose another. In fact, after posting this question yesterday, I spent awhile scanning the melon section of the BC catalog again and have my eye on the Kazakh melon and the Valencia Winter Melon. One or the other of which I'll likely order in the next few days.

Thanks for your reply!

[blueblossom]

Originally Posted by Blujen

Hi Blue! I always trellis my melons to protect them from pests and from hidden melons going to waste. None of the melons are what you'd call "natural" climbers, they don't climb strongly at all and you will have to train them for the first little bit to get them going upward, but once they've caught hold of your trellis you should be pretty set with any variety. The small ones like Minnesota Midget are easy to do, but if you want to try the larger ones don't be afraid, i've gotten 12 pounders off of my trellises without too much trouble.

When the melons are growing I don't have any problem with them coming off the vine just from their own weight. As they ripen they sometimes start to slip a day or two earlier than i'd prefer, what I do is take a mesh bag and put the melon in the bag, then tie the bag to the trellis to support the melon and take the weight off the stem. When they ripen they slip from the stem and i have a bagged melon waiting for me in the garden.

Any sort of a support would work, some folks use panty hose, some use t shirt cloth tied into a sling, i like my cheapie mesh bags from the car organization department at walmart or the dollar store =)

Hi, Blujen....

Thanks for all the good advice! I was somewhat afraid they might not be as good at climbing as say gourds or whatever, but was hoping some varieties would climb without too much help on my part. However, I don't really mind training them to a trellis...that's part of the fun of growing vines and I think I am up to the challenge. At least, until everything starts coming in, then I may well be up to my eyeballs instead and completely overwhelmed, so it's a great idea to have the slings ready to catch the melons when they slip from the vines! Love the ideas on the various materials I can use for the slings!

Thanks for the advice.

[Little Minnie]

Minnesota Midget would work.

[blueblossom]

Thanks, Minnie!

[Blujen]

Minnesota Midget & Sucrin de Tours planted this week on my cattle panel arches.. i can just tastem!