Melons rotting

jasonvanorder · Wed Aug 09, 2017 8:22 am

I'm having a bit of a problem with my melons. So far I have between 12-16 cantaloupes and who knows how many watermelons growing right now. All were doing great this weekend growing nice and big. Last night I noticed that one of the cantaloupe has rotted already. It wasnt even ripe yet. The vine is still healthy and growing. Any Ideas how I can keep it from happening to the rest? I'm in zone 6a if that helps

gumbo2176 · Wed Aug 09, 2017 8:27 am

Do you have anything under them? With that, I mean like hay, pine straw, cardboard, anything to keep them from sitting directly on the ground and inviting to rot and bugs. If not, try putting something between them and the ground to see if that helps.

Gary350 · Wed Aug 09, 2017 8:28 am

Melons get BER = blossom end rot, give them pellet lime it takes 2 days for BER to clear up. If melons set in mud or wet they rot. I put boards and bricks under my melons to keep the bottom out of wet & mud.

jasonvanorder · Wed Aug 09, 2017 8:45 am

These are sitting directly on the ground. I have a bale of old straw I will work on getting under them. Might bring some boxes home from work to put under them too. I don't think its BER since it the the rotted melon was fine except for the bottom being complete mush.

rainbowgardener · Wed Aug 09, 2017 9:41 am

Yup, you can't let them sit on damp ground. They make fancy little cradles for them:

but you don't need that. Any sheet of plastic would be fine, plastic bags from the store. But put some drain holes in it for rain and slope it away from your melon. You can just gently lift it up and slide whatever under it.

Gary350 · Wed Aug 09, 2017 10:17 am

What ever method you used under your melons make sure it is dry on the bottom where the sun never shines. The bottom will stay white color as long as sun does not turn it green. Best way to know when watermelons are ripe the white bottom turns yellow. Be careful not to let the bottom be yellow more than 2 days before you harvest over ripe melons loose their flavor. I tried sand under melons years ago but sand is expensive to buy and it can not be reused next year. Melons grow best in sandy soil roots grow 30 ft deep this makes very large melons. Rainbow has a great idea with those baskets.

jasonvanorder · Wed Aug 09, 2017 10:54 am

Ill get out there tonight and put them on little "hills" of straw. I would like to trellis my cantaloupe next year. Just didnt have the time or resources this season.

gumbo2176 · Wed Aug 09, 2017 10:59 am

jasonvanorder wrote:Ill get out there tonight and put them on little "hills" of straw. I would like to trellis my cantaloupe next year. Just didnt have the time or resources this season.

I trellised cantaloupe one year and would not do it again, but that's just me. They grow lots of vine for the amount of melons they put out, the fruit needs to be cradled in some way or it can break the stem and drop off long before ripe. I used some of my wife's old worn out panty hose to make stretchable harnesses to expand as the cantaloupes grew. I tied this off to the wire of the trellis to keep them from pulling off the stems, but as they got larger and heavier, I found they needed to be retied to not break the stems. I found it more work than needed and a bad use of trellis space.

I prefer to put cucumbers or pole beans on my trellises for maximum yield and ease of picking.

rainbowgardener · Wed Aug 09, 2017 5:23 pm

This was a reminder to me. I went out today. Cut up a 20 lb plastic jug of kitty litter we had emptied into little squares of hard plastic and slipped them under all my squashes.

jasonvanorder · Thu Aug 10, 2017 10:09 am

Melons are all sitting snuggly on nice warm mounds of straw. Found at least 2 dozen cantaloupes and a dozen watermelons. IF I don't lose anymore this will be the best melon year that I can remember.

gumbo2176 · Thu Aug 10, 2017 10:24 am

jasonvanorder wrote:Melons are all sitting snuggly on nice warm mounds of straw. Found at least 2 dozen cantaloupes and a dozen watermelons. IF I don't lose anymore this will be the best melon year that I can remember.

That's because you'll be waking up all hours of the night having to relieve yourself after eating all those melons with their volume of liquid.

jasonvanorder · Thu Aug 10, 2017 1:28 pm

gumbo2176 wrote:
jasonvanorder wrote:Melons are all sitting snuggly on nice warm mounds of straw. Found at least 2 dozen cantaloupes and a dozen watermelons. IF I don't lose anymore this will be the best melon year that I can remember.
That's because you'll be waking up all hours of the night having to relieve yourself after eating all those melons with their volume of liquid.

I can sure put a hurting on a watermelon patch. That could be its own food group as far as I'm concerned