Know Anything bout Canteloupe?

19 years ago

Hi,

I'm not sure on which forum to paste this, so I'm going ahead and posting on here, as well as a couple of other forums. Please forgive my duplicate posts. I have hopes that someone who is a much more experienced vegetable/fruit gardener will be able to answer my questions.

I planted canteloupe this year and the vines looked beautiful until about a week ago, thanks to the rain we got during the first two weeks of July. Unfortunately in my area during the last two weeks of July and the first of August, we've gone back to drought status.

The vines were green, but now they are turning yellow and look as though they have some kind of fungus on the leaves. They have a white-ish color on them. Since we are having a drought, could it still be a mold or fungus? Is it just time for the vines to be playing out, thus resulting in the yellowing of the leaves?

The fruit, itself, is smaller than I expected, and some of the ones that ripen have a split in them.

What am I doing wrong, and what is causing this? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Beverly

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (4)

girlgroupgirl
19 years ago
Hey Beverly,
I don't know what is wrong with the vine, but it may just be drought. The melons do like to be dry, but moist in the spring, then a gradual drying. The melons are splitting as the fruit inside grew fast with the rains two weeks ago and then the dryness is causing the rind to harden and so they crack as they grow. Just like tomatoes are doing this year.

I planted my melons late, during the drought...this does help a lot - home melons for me are always a bit smaller (and I grow small melons anyway). Next year you will need to think about the weather and choose melons accordingly. I grow small melons that are more drought tolerant and will continue to ripen as the days get shorter, which many smaller varieties do (which is why they are rated great for Northern growers). Asian melons need less water, as do middle eastern varieties. Baker Creek www.rareseeds.com has an excellent variety of them.

This is my 2nd year growing melons and home, so I tried to read some about them. Did you know there is a whole book on melons? It is actually pretty interesting!

girlgroupgirl
bevinga
Original Author
19 years ago
Thank you, Girlgroupgirl, for the information and advice. I'll certainly try to look into those things next year. I just hate seeing that pretty, lush, green die out but that is inevitable.

No, I didn't know there is a book on melons, but I'm really not surprised! There's book on just about everything you can imagine...some you couldn't imagine, too!

Again, thanks!
Beverly
Related Professionals
Cherry Hill Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Edison Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · New York City Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Selma Landscape Contractors · Fayetteville Landscape Contractors · Washington Landscape Contractors · Savannah Landscape Contractors · Hempstead Landscape Contractors · Murrieta Landscape Contractors · Twin Falls Landscape Contractors · Waycross Architects & Building Designers · Elizabethtown Architects & Building Designers · Mankato Architects & Building Designers · Reno Architects & Building Designers · Montréal Architects & Building Designers
dethride
19 years ago
I have grown French charentais'(the sweetest melons one can grow!) for a few years now. This year I fought a fungus for the first time that attacked them. It turned them gray, spotty and killed leaves. That's probably what you had. Do a goggle image search and look for "melon plant diseases" to try and pin it down. I use drip irrigation for consistent watering and put down black plastic. Hate the look, love the results! The ugly plastic warms the soil and is soon covered up by the vines. It also helps to control the watering and count your "days to maturity" and cut back on watering them in the last week to two weeks. The sugars are formed in that time and lessening the water will help concentrate the sweetness. Had my first today! Nothing better than Charentais!
bevinga
Original Author
19 years ago
Hi dethride,
Thanks for your advice. From the melons I've harvested this year, they haven't been as sweet as the ones I remember my parents and grandparents growing. I got mine as plants from Lowe's and they were all Bonnie plants. I'm guessing that you planted yours from seeds?

I put down the black plastic and mulch every year to help with the watering, and when my plants took off, I had beautiful vines everywhere! Here's a link just from 1 1/2-2 weeks ago:

This is a picture today:

I'm just sick about losing them.

Here are a couple of closeup pictures of the leaves and vines:

ICK!

Again, thanks for your advice and input. Hopefully I'll do better next year!

Beverly