Yes! In fact, that's the best way to get a good crop of melons in your zone! However you must be careful not to disturb the roots. Any set back will lessen your chances of getting your best melons.

Start by getting a plastic mulch and or row covers to warm up your soil in the place you want it to grow. I grow mine close to the south facing foundation of my house. Anything to get the warmest soil possible.

Sow your seeds 3 weeks before last frost in biodegradable pots. Harden off as usual. Try to find an evening before a good soaking rain before you plant. If you can find that evening, water your pots well a few hours before you plant.

Prepare your hole first, with compost in the bottom and a good water drench, then, tear off the bottom of the biodeg. pot and plop the plant in, water a little more and you're done.

The good soaking rain the next night or day will further minimize any transplant shock.

I use this to grow many plants that are transplant sensitive, like squashes and cukes.

The biggest problem for transplanted melons is both cold AND wet weather until the roots get established. Rain often brings that cold weather. I like no rain for several days.

While it is true that melons need warm weather to thrive, a rain after transplanting has been my only surefire way to avoid transplant shock. Now if the rain is going to bring temperatures below 60F at night, it would make sense to wait to transplant.

By the time I'm transplanting melons, rainy evenings are in the low to mid-70s, not enough to bother the melon transplants as, say a rain in the upper 50s or low 60s.

If a soil warming mulch is used, the soil remains warm even if the air temperature is cool. If you're still concerned about temperatures, use a row cover or cloche to further warm your seedlings.

I make soil blocks to start my melon plants. When planted out they must be irrigated like all other transplants.

Clumsygrdner, I tried to start with plastic mulch last year, but I was worried that the ground underneath would get no water, so I pulled it off again. The IRT plastic I have is embossed but not water permeable. It is about 40" wide. If I covered a raised row with this plastic, would water come in from the sides and wick up to the plants in the center? Or should I cover a flat row with depressions where the plants go in, so water will drain into the planting openings?

I wouldn't put depressions in the ground where your mulch is going to be. Reason is that the mulch has to be in tight contact with the soil to get the best effect of warming it. With the depressions, the soil-mulch contact would be reduced.

Most people I've seen use drip irrigation with plastic mulches. Lay out your drip hose along where you want your plants, put some soil to cover it a little, leaving the garden hose attachment end and a little bit of drip hose sticking out at one end of the bed. Then put down your IRT mulch. Make sure to mark it carefully so you don't accidently damage the hose as you work with your bed. A paint pen works well for that.

That way, any time you need to water, just attach your garden hose to your drip hose and let it run for a bit. Place a pie pan under the exposed part of your drip hose to monitor how much you're giving.

It's important to remember that plastic mulches do not let water escape quickly so you can over water your plants if you're not careful. You can use a moisture monitor to help you decide if watering is needed or not.

Absolutely! I started mine indoors last year, 16 different varieties and only had one die after transplanting (not sure why). I use 'Wall-o-Waters' as a hardening off tool in my garden and have excellent results. I start mine indoors about 3 weeks ahead of last frost and use a flourescent lamp 16 hours/day and try to transplant outdoors in my black mulched garden on an avg. temp. cloudy day with plenty of water, and keep the 'waters' on for 2-3 weeks. In my "opinion," and that's all it is....there's no need to worry too much about disturbing roots, etc.....for example, my wife started some muskmelons 2 years ago on a window sill and couldn't have treated them worse. The ones that did come up (about 1/3rd germ. rate) almost always looked like they were about to die from lack of water and light. I took the pathetic things to the garden and stuck them in the ground with my usual wall-o-water routine and they all lived. We got 50+ melons (all Hearts-of-Gold) from about 18 plants.

Thanks for all the good info!!!!!

Clumsy, I should have mentioned that I have an isolated garden that a water hose cannot be run to, so I need a rainwater solution.

Thanks for the answer...good point about keeping the IRT in contact with the soil. Otherwise if there is too much of a gap, it may actually shade and cool the soil.

I read in another post that some people just poke holes in the mulch where the water puddles to allow it to drain through.