Melons - Fedco Seeds

• About 25–35 seeds/g; watermelons about 20 seeds/g; exceptions noted.
• Days to maturity are from date of transplanting.

Melon seed lives more than 10 years with proper storage. 18th- and 19th-century growers preferred to sow 4- to 10-year-old melon seed, believing that such seeds produced plants that spread less and fruits with a finer perfume.

With competitive price and timely delivery, Lianshou sincerely hope to be your supplier and partner.

Most Years You Can Vine-Ripen Melons In Maine
Melons are a tender crop with high nitrogen requirements. They love heat, cannot stand frost, and may be damaged by night temperatures below 40°. Though they require some extra fussing, the results are sure worthwhile.

• Note days to maturity and select varieties that will ripen in your climate. Alvaro and Halona are surest bets.
• Start indoors in early May (later if the spring is slow to warm) in plastic or peat pots, 2 or 3 seeds to a pot. Minimum germination soil temp 60°, optimal range 75–95°. Melons resent transplanting but will take if their roots are not disturbed.
• Prepare hills in advance with liberal amounts of well-rotted manure or compost. A cold start can permanently stunt growth, so wait for a warm spell after all danger of frost to transplant, usually between May 20 and June 20. Don’t place melons next to vigorous crawling plants like cucumbers, gourds or winter squash.
• Water heavily and, if soil is dry, place a temporary hay mulch around plants until a soaking rain comes.
• Melons are much more sensitive than squashes so use low tunnels with floating row covers that do not abrade plants. If you have sandy soil, check daily and irrigate when needed.
• Use blue, black or clear plastic mulch between plants.
• Use a foliar feeding program to speed ripening.
• Remove row covers before buds open. Replace them when you don’t desire any more fruit to set.
• To reduce rot loss, rotate ripening melons occasionally. To reduce mouse damage, place ripening melons on bricks.
• Inspect your patch daily at ripening time. Check fruits for aroma and color and pull gently on those that appear to be ripe. Most muskmelons are ripe when the pressure causes them to slip from the vine. Harvest Galia, Charentais, Honeydews before full slip. Watermelons are ripe when the tendril near the stem is dry.
• Enjoy an incomparable taste treat!

Pest: Striped Cucumber Beetle
Cultural controls: use tolerant or resistant varieties, rotate crops, till under crop debris soon after harvest, use floating row covers until flowers appear, use plastic mulch, perimeter trap cropping (Black Zucchini and Blue Hubbard make particularly good trap crops), use yellow sticky strips, hand-pick early morning when beetles are very sluggish.
Materials: Surround, Pyrethrum (PyGanic).

Disease: Powdery Mildew
Controls: Use small plots to slow spread, plant indeterminate (viney) varieties, control weed competition.
Materials: sulfur and whole milk, mineral or other oils in combination with potassium bicarbonate.
Disease: Bacterial Wilt
Cultural control: Striped Cucumber Beetle is vector—control it; choose resistant varieties.

Fascinated by heritage melons? Amy Goldman’s Melons for the Passionate Grower (ISBN 1--213-1), a mouth-watering journey through her 100 favorite varieties, is an indispensable identification and cultural aid.

Melon Seeds from Gurney's

Sweet and juicy melons are a summertime treat. At Gurney's, we've supplied gardeners with quality products for over 150 years. We grow a lot of cantaloupe, muskmelon, watermelon and other melons in our test gardens and note the best in yields, disease resistance, flavor and other factors. Our melon seeds for sale represent the best melon varieties for home gardeners, including growers in the North and South.

Choosing the Right Melons

Home gardeners have lots of choices when selecting melon seed to grow. Here are some factors to consider when choosing the right melon.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of melon seed supplier. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

• Because melons are a warm-season crop, northern gardeners with shorter growing seasons should choose early-maturing varieties. Muskmelon usually mature more quickly than watermelons.


• Melon vines take up a lot of space. If space is an issue, more compact melon varieties may be an option.


• Melons come in all sizes. Personal-sized watermelons and cantaloupe are quite popular among home gardeners. However, if you want to feed a crowd, melons that produce larger fruits may be a good choice.


• If melon diseases are a problem in your area, then consider more disease resistant varieties.


• Taste and seeds. Choose melons with the flavor and texture you like. Also, when growing watermelons, you can choose between seeded and seedless varieties.

Getting Started With Melon Seeds

Melons are warm-season plants that like plenty of sunshine (at least 8 hours of direct sunlight daily) and well-drained soil. Here's how you grow melons.

When to Plant Melons

Melon seed can be directly sown in the garden soil or started indoors. Sow melon seed into the ground about a week before the last spring frost date. The soil temperature should be at least 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Start melon seeds indoors about three weeks before the last spring frost date. Wait to transplant melons until danger of spring frost has passed.

How to Plant Melon Seeds

Melons are often planted in hills spaced about 6-8ft. apart. Each hill usually has 2-3 plants. Follow seed packet instructions for specific planting depth and spacing of plants. It varies with the variety. After planting melon seeds, water thoroughly.

Where to Plant Melons

Melons are vine crops that take up a lot of space in the garden. Smaller sized cantaloupe can be grown on a trellis. When planting melons, make sure to allocate enough space for them. Because melons are pollinated by bees, avoid using pesticides, especially when the vines are flowering.

How Long Does it Take Melons to Grow?

Most melons take 80-100 days to reach maturity. Usually muskmelons mature earlier than watermelons.

How to Harvest Melons

Melons do not ripen all at once. Watermelon are ready for harvest when the tendril at the stem becomes brown and dry; the fruit color looks duller; and the side of the melon in contact with the soil starts to yellow. Muskmelons are ripe when the stem separates easily from the vine.

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