🍈 Melons

Vegetable Garden · growing reference

Days to maturity	80 days – 105 days, by type
Germination	5 days
Direct sowing	+5 days vs transplants
Spacing	24″ in the row × 60″ between rows
Planted as	seed
Expected yield	6–14 lbs per plant
Water	~1–2 in a week

When to plant

In USDA zone 6, for example: Plant around Apr 29, once the soil has warmed — sown into cold ground it just sits.

	Spring
Zone 3	May 29
Zone 4	May 21
Zone 5	May 10
Zone 6	Apr 29
Zone 7	Apr 15
Zone 8	Mar 29
Zone 9	Mar 6

Dates are the typical window for each zone's average frost dates — your own last frost can differ by a couple of weeks. Zone 10 and warmer is effectively frost-free: plant to the season, not the frost. Southern Hemisphere: shift six months.

Melon Types

Cantaloupe · 80 days · 6–14 lbs/plant — The netted muskmelon — slips off the vine at full ripeness (Charentais, the French original, is a variety here).
Canary · 90 days · 6–14 lbs/plant — Bright yellow rind, crisp pale flesh — an easy keeper on a mid clock.
Honeydew · 95 days · 6–14 lbs/plant — Smooth pale rind, no slip — cut when the blossom end gives; stores the longest.
Crenshaw · 105 days · 6–14 lbs/plant — The big late specialty — salmon flesh; wants the longest, warmest run.

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