How to Grow Cantaloupe: Tips for a Sweet and Flavorful Harvest

Growing cantaloupes can be a rewarding experience, especially when you enjoy the sweet, juicy fruits of your labor. To ensure your cantaloupes are sweet and bursting with flavor, it’s crucial to follow a few key practices. From choosing the right variety to perfecting your soil and watering techniques, this guide will help you grow cantaloupes that are deliciously sweet and ripe for the picking.

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Choose a cantaloupe variety suited to your climate and growing conditions

Each climate and garden is different; luckily, there is probably a type of cantaloupe that will grow well where you live. Check with local growers or seed companies for their suggestions. You can also use these ideas to help you find the best cantaloupe for your area. If you have a short growing season, look for shorter days to harvest varieties.

* = My favorite varieties to grow in the low desert of Arizona.

When to plant cantaloupe

Cantaloupe prefers warm weather, so don’t plant it before temperatures have warmed in the spring. Cantaloupe does best when direct sown. Sow seeds outside about 2 weeks after the last frost date when soil temperatures are about 65℉ (18°C). In the low desert of Arizona, the best time to plant cantaloupe is from February 15 through July. 

In cooler zones, transplants are probably a good idea. Start seeds indoors about 3 weeks before planting outside. Transplant cantaloupe seedlings 1-2 weeks after your last frost date or when the soil is at least 65℉ (18°C) and nighttime temperatures are above 50℉ (10°C). Be careful not to disturb roots when planting to avoid transplant shock.

How and where to plant cantaloupe

Cantaloupe prefers a sunny location with well-draining soil rich in organic matter. Prior to planting, amend the soil with compost and a balanced organic fertilizer. Rich soil produces sweeter cantaloupes.

• Plant 2-3 seeds 1/4″ (.6 cm) deep.
• Thin seedlings and keep only the strongest seedling in each group. 

Spacing:

• Space plants 24-36″ (60-90 cm) apart if left to sprawl on the ground. 
• Space plants 12-18″ (30-45 cm) apart if growing up a trellis. 
• If using square-foot gardening methods, allow 1-3 square feet for each plant if grown at the end of a bed or on a trellis. Allow more room for other areas. 

Looking for ways to add vertical space to your garden? This post shares 10 of my favorite ideas. Find even more ways to add vertical space to your garden in this blog post.

How to care for cantaloupe throughout the season

Cantaloupe thrives in warm weather and grows best when it gets regular water and plenty of sunshine.

• Water plants deeply to encourage strong root development. Allow the top couple of inches of soil to dry out before watering again.
• Mulch cantaloupe plants to help retain moisture, regulate temperature, control weeds, and keep fruit clean.
• Male flowers will appear first, followed by female flowers. If female fruit withers and dies, consider hand-pollinating future blooms. 

For troubleshooting tips for common cantaloupe growing problems, read this article.

Should you prune cantaloupe plants?

Generally, allowing more leaves to remain on the vine sweetens the fruit, so pruning cantaloupe isn’t necessary. However, there are situations where it’s helpful.

• Pruning about one-third of the suckers (side shoots that form along the vine where a leaf, tendril, and flower meet) can help with airflow and disease prevention and make plants easier to the trellis.
• Pruning damaged, diseased, or infested leaves can help prevent the disease from spreading to the rest of the plant.
• Pruning off excess fruit helps you grow larger, sweeter melons. For the most flavor, allow only 1-2 melons per plant.
• If you live in a cold climate, remove blossoms that will not have time to develop before your first fall frost. This will allow the fruit already growing to ripen.

Tips for growing sweet cantaloupe that is full of flavor

• Don’t overwater while the fruit is growing. Too much water (or rain) produces bland-tasting fruit.
• Remove additional fruit once several fruits have formed. Ripening only one or two fruit at a time maximizes sweetness. The more fruit ripening on a vine at the same time, the less sweet it will be.
• Do not prune off leaves or shoots. The leaves produce the sugars that sweeten the fruits. 
• About a week before melons are ripe, cut back watering as much as possible to concentrate the fruit’s sugars. 
• Harvest cantaloupe at the right time (see chart below). 

When to harvest cantaloupe for the sweetest flavor

Once picked, cantaloupe will continue to soften, but it won’t get any sweeter. Leaving it on the vine as long as possible gives it the sweetest flavor. When you grow your own cantaloupe, you can pick it at the peak of sweetness. It is so good! 

Melons last 3-5 days if left at room temperature. Uncut cantaloupe stored in the fridge lasts up to 2 weeks. Once the fruit is cut, it will keep for about 3 days in the refrigerator.

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