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Francis Barnswallow
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Cantaloupe question

First off, Hi, I'm new here.


Within the last two months I've had cantaloupes grow to the size of about a golf ball, and then dry up and die.

I finally got one growing to the size of a softball.

Now the question. Do I let the cantaloupe mature on the ground, or lay it on top of other small shrubs for support to keep away from the ground?

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engineeredgarden
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It would be best to put something under it - like straw, cardboard, etc. to keep it from coming in contact with the ground.

EG

garden5
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The ones that dried up and died were probably never pollinated.

The one that you have now sounds like it's been successfully pollinated, so it should keep growing. I wouldn't put it up on anything like a shrub...too much of a risk it could fall off and break free from the vine.

Like EG said, just keep it off the ground, thus, keep it dry. A plastic or rubber mat would work. I don't know if I'd use cardboard, though, as it would probably just become soggy during a good rain and may lead to rot just as well as being on the ground would

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supagirl277
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Hey I am new with cantelope too. I have one little one thats like the size of a marble and fuzzy... will it get bigger? cause it hasn't so far, and I still have flowers coming up. is it too late for them to really get big before my frost?

LindsayArthurRTR
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[img]https://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac153/LindsayArthurRTR/gardenandhousestuff155.jpg[/img]

I put several layers of paper plates under mine with GREAT results. I used the kind without wax, so that when the melons got picked, I could just toss em in th compost pile.

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jal_ut
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Welcome to the forum. Have a great garden.

garden5
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Supagirl, it depends on whether or not the flower attached to the little cantaloupe gets pollinated and if the plant experiences a lot of stress due to temps or inadequate water supply. If the plant gets stressed, it will abort fruit-set in order to focus its energy on survival.

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rainbowgardener
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supagirl277 wrote:Hey I am new with cantelope too. I have one little one thats like the size of a marble and fuzzy... will it get bigger? cause it hasn't so far, and I still have flowers coming up. is it too late for them to really get big before my frost?
depends on when your frost is, but it sounds like you have some weeks or a month to go before you could get a ripe melon, if it is going to grow and ripen.

I'm down to about 5 weeks before expected frost, how about you?

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Francis Barnswallow
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I'm a moron. My cantaloupe plant is actually a watermellon plant. But I did place the 'bowling ball' sized watermellon on top of a piece of plastic that protects it from the ground.

:oops:

garden5
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Francis Barnswallow wrote:I'm a moron. My cantaloupe plant is actually a watermellon plant. But I did place the 'bowling ball' sized watermellon on top of a piece of plastic that protects it from the ground.

:oops:
Hey, I'd take a large watermelon over a medium-sized cantaloupe, any day :D.



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