With spring’s warming temperatures comes the melon-growing season and the sweet aroma and flavor unmatched in homegrown varieties. Sowing seeds now, we can enjoy them after a long growing season at peak ripeness—sugary, juicy, and refreshing. Join gardening expert Katherine Rowe in growing the sweetest, most flavorful melon varieties this season. Spring’s warming soils mean it’s time to plant a variety of heat-loving crops, including many types of melons, from watermelons to cantaloupes to honeydews. Homegrown melons harvested at peak ripeness are so much more flavorful than those that travel to the grocery store. Some are delicacies with tender skins or flesh that are not well-suited to commercial shipping, but in our own gardens, we enjoy them fresh off the vine.
Melons take a relatively long time to develop, soaking up the long, sunny summer days and seasonal moisture. Seeds do best with direct sowing as soon as the soil is warm enough (60°F/16°C or warmer). In cool climates with short growing seasons, start melons indoors two to four weeks before you plan to transplant.
To get the best return on our garden investment and wait time, choosing melon varieties with the best flavor is a priority. Quality flavor often overlaps with disease resistance and ease of growth. Enjoy tasty, sweet, and juicy melons right off the stem this summer and fall by sowing seeds this spring.
Melons are in the cucurbit family (Cucurbitaceae) with other favorite crops like cucumbers and squash. The melon group includes watermelons, muskmelons, cantaloupes, and winter melons like honeydew. They mature in about 80 to 100 days, and dwarf varieties sometimes mature earlier.
Melons are frost-sensitive annual crops with optimal growing temperatures between 70-85°F (21-29°C). Direct sow seeds after the final frost and when soil and air temperatures warm to the sixties (around 16°C). Direct sowing is an advantage as it reduces transplant disturbance to sensitive roots. But, to get a jumpstart on the lengthy growing season, start seeds indoors in biodegradable pots or soil blocks.