Technically, melons are vegetables. Compared to cucumbers, melons are easy. They all have separate male and female flowers on each plant (monoecious), and they all need about 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.4 m) of space to vine. Many different types of melons with many unique flavors are available. You can harvest a number of melons on the unripe side and mature them off the vine. Most gardeners are familiar with the two most popular types of melons: muskmelons (also known as cantaloupes) and watermelons. But more and more exotic melon types continue to show up in produce markets and seed catalogs. Melons tend to weigh between 2 and 5 pounds, but watermelons can run from 8 pounds to between 20 and 30 pounds.

Like all cucumber-family crops, melons need warmth, water, space, and sun. For those reasons, they grow well in the Southeast and the Southwest United States. But with the right variety selection and some growing tricks, cool-climate gardeners can also enjoy these sweet, juicy fruits The days to maturity are from seeding in the garden until first harvest. Here are some popular melons:

• Muskmelon: The round, netted, tan-colored, orange-fleshed fruits that you see in grocery stores usually are sold as “cantaloupes.” However, true cantaloupes are tropical fruits that have green flesh and hard skin and are rarely seen in this country. What people from the United States refer to as cantaloupes technically are muskmelons. Here a few of them:
  • ‘Alaska’: Early hybrid muskmelon variety grows well in areas with short growing seasons, producing 4-pound (1.8-kg) fruits in 70 days.
  • ‘Earliqueen’: Hybrid 3- to 4-pound (1.3- to 1.8-kg) muskmelon variety has thick, orange flesh and matures in 70 days.
  • ‘French Orange’: Hybrid 2- to 4-pound (0.9- to 1.8-kg) melon has aromatic, deep orange flesh, good disease resistance, and matures in 75 days.
  • ‘Passport’: Widely adapted, hybrid Mediterranean-type, 5- to
    6-pound (2.2- to 2.7-kg) melon has light green flesh, good disease resistance, and matures in 73 days.
• Watermelon: Seedless watermelon varieties may germinate more slowly than other varieties, especially in cool (below 65°F/18°C) soils. Following are popular watermelon varieties:
  • ‘Crimson Sweet’: Oval-shaped variety produces sweet, red-fleshed, 25-pound fruits, (11-kg) has good disease resistance, and matures in 90 days.
  • ‘King of Hearts’: Hybrid, seedless, oval-shaped variety produces 15-pound, (16-kg) oval-shaped fruits that mature in 82 days.  ....read more