Starting cantaloupe inside

[Rairdog]

Is it a good idea? It seems by the time it's warm enough to get them going there is not enough time to grow it out in my garden. I usually avoid starting vine crops indoors because they don't like the shock. This year I'm going to try it. I could not find any degradable 4 in containers for cheap so I just made some out of newspaper that will fit inside a good supporting tray. I put packing tape in a loop so they could be lifted out without blowing out the bottom. Then I can just slice the bottom hopefully without disturbing them much. I plan on some black material to help warm the soil also.

[tomc]

I think your season is long enough. Put some black plastic on your hills and let the soil warm a little. Say first week in May, plant to field 3rd week in May, through black plastic mulch.

[Rairdog]

I have tried newspaper or black fabric but never plastic. They always take off real well but from 6 to 8 plants I get 2 to 3 melons and they never fully ripen. Toms and cucs do well in same spots. Maybe a bigger patch would help.

[Rairdog]

The are climbing out of the bugs! The GF is excited and bringing home onion bags from work in anticipation! The black plastic saved them from a cold wet spell. Thanks for the tip Tom.

[Gary350]

This is one plant that does very good outside planted from seeds. Old timers use to plant 5 to 6 seeds in a hill, this is not the best way to grow melons. Plant 1 seed every 1 foot in rows. Remove weeds and grass so the vines can root every place they tough the soil. The more roots the plants have the better they produce. The less competition the plants have from weeds and grass the better they produce. 10 to 12 hours of full sun and lots of water you will have great melons. Full sun means no shade trees and no cloud covered sky.

I grew over 60 melons last summer from 6 seeds.

[Rairdog]

I usually plant in rows and let them sprawl. By the time they start growing well it turns cold and they only give me a couple melons between 6 or so plants. I also started a row from seed 1 ft apart in front of these as a comparison. The row is Minnisota Midgets so they should do better with a shorter season. They are only a couple inches so the head start with the Hales best gives a good 2 months more growing . They are in full sun for close to 8 hrs. I also planted another mound of MM with cage that will be shaded from late afternoon sun for comparison. Maybe they don't get enough sun. I probably need to give them more room. I usually crowd them around the tomato cages in full sun. I also have much so they never rooted.

[digitS']

. . . Full sun means no shade trees and no cloud covered sky.

I grew over 60 melons last summer from 6 seeds.

I think you have been getting good advice altho' I haven't used black plastic as a ground cover. Maybe I should, the soil here sure starts off cold!

No cloudy sky, Gary? Ha! I'm just hoping that this month doesn't turn into another Junuary! Spring warmth will make all the difference for my garden.

There are several melons beyond Minnesota midgets that you should research for a melon-challenged garden. The University of New Hampshire has developed a number of them over quite a few years. Goddess may be a good choice for a cantaloupe, it has done well for me. Passport is a Galia melon and has come through in my garden year after year. Even through Junuaries that have been melon killers!

Just do a Google search for the U of NH and melons. Type site:.edu in and you can see a little of their history and a number of melon varieties that they are responsible for.

Steve