Krussow,

There are two or three different issues here.

First, the sprouting (or, actually, non-sprouting) of the watermelon and cantaloupe seed.

Watermelon and cantaloupes will not sprout until the soil temperatures are warm enough. If you planted them while the soil temps were too cold, the seed likely will rot before it can sprout. If it was planted in cold soil and does sprout, the plants still may be very slow to sprout and slow-growing after it sprouts.

Cantaloupe seeds need soil temps that are staying consistently above sixty degrees and air temps that are consistently staying above 55 degrees, including the overnight lows.

Watermelon seeds need soil temps that are staying consistently above 70 degrees and air temperatures that are staying equally warm.

Do you know what your soil temperatures were when you sowed the melon seeds?

HAPPY PLANTS: The cabbage loves the current temps and moisture levels because they match what it needs.

UNHAPPY PLANTS: The other plants look sad because they are too wet and maybe too cold. All you can do is wait for the soil to dry out some, the temperatures to warm up, etc. Feeding the plants doesn't make up for the soil that is too wet and for temperatures that may have been cooler than they prefer. It could even make the plants worse by trying to force topgrowth when the roots are too wet to support it.

The exception would be if your soil is nice and warm but very wet and your plants have serious nutritional deficiencies caused by waterlogged roots. You would have discolored foliage that is not a healthy green. In that case, feeding lightly with a water soluable fertilizer might or might not help, depending on whether the waterlogged plants can absorb and use the nutrients or not. Sidedressing probably won't help if roots are waterlogged because the topdressed fertilizers won't be carried down to the roots until more moisture falls, which is one thing you apparently don't need. Also, heavily waterlogged roots couldn't take up the sidedressed fertilizer anyway. However, sidedressing likely won't hurt.

Patience. Patience. Patience. Wait for the soil to dry. Plants cannot grow when their soil is too wet and their roots are waterlogged because the water cuts off their underground oxygen supply. It sounds like your plants need for the soil to dry out more than they need anything else, and you cannot do much to speed up that process.

Dawn

Patience. I've heard of that but have never seen it in stores. Is there a place to buy online?

Diane

Try Patience'R'Us, or maybe The Patience Superstore or The Patience Factory Oulet.

: )

Diane, They likely won't sell it to you. LOL

Maybe she could just impatiently stomp her foot, act irritated, roll her eyes at the inattentive clerk, and then grab a handful of 'patience' and run out the door with it.

Okay, how did you two get to know me so well??

DIane

I think it is because we have been through so many rain overloads, floods, cold nights, hot days, late frosts or freezes, deluges of snow, droughts, hail, ice storms, sleet, tornadoes, early fall freezes, blue northers, severe T-storms and other disasters togethear. That's just a guess on my part though. If there is any gardening-related disaster that at least one of the three of us hasn't experienced in the last few years, I can't imagine what it would be.

And, for the record, I am not sure that Carol or I are well-known for our patience either. It is a lot easier to to suggest to someone else to "be patient" than to do so ourselves.

I have a sure fire cure for lack of patience.

live on 250 acre spread, run some cattle on it, bale hay off it, raise 2 pretty good size gardens, put a greenhouse up and raise plants, get some chickens, cats,dogs, open a store,sell excess veggies at farmers market, mow 2 large yards,do all the repairs on equipment and vehicles,fix fences around the 250 acres and cross fences.
Help cousin bale hay,work on his equipment, stay up all hours of the night reading garden web and county oriented sites.

plus other things that tend to occupy the waking hours. after all that, you wont have time to look for patience.

sometimes i wonder what i'm supposed to be doing, i get side tracked on my way to do whatever it was i was going to do.

I know you folks are busy too,i just seem to be a gluton for busy.

LOL thank you ladies!!! it is Just so hard to have them doing so good and now just setting there... my corn was looking great but alot of it got washed away.. on flat gound!!! GRRRR so i am just going to till it up ans replant it.... on one hand the Green beans are looking great.. i need to 7dust as i have a few bug holes BUT whats that MORE RAIN!!!!!!

GRRRRRR I AM READY FOR 80+ days and 65+ night temps and SUN SHINE!!!! i will take watering over this!!!

busy1 - My husband always tells me that death is nature's way of telling you to slow down. Do you think you might be too busy? Given enough time, age will probably slow you down...and that is the voice of experience.

Busy1,

We need to rename you "toobusy1" because you're way too busy. I'm too lazy to stay that busy. Clearly you like being busy. We have a friend like that---he has to be doing something every single minute and just can't stand to sit still.

Krussow, Some years the weather wins. Sounds like so far you're having one of those years. I hope it gets better.

Need some heat? Come down here to Marietta. We're currently 92 degrees with a heat index of 94. I'm not complaining because the veggies need the heat and sunlight.

Out west it has been as high as 107 today. That's a bit too hot for me, especially in May.

It is supposed to be hot here tomorrow too. I don't mind 'hot' but after a few weeks of really hot summer weather, I'm ready for autumn temperatures again.

One thing about the spring weather here is that whatever weather we're having usually only lasts a few days before it changes to something else.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Today's High Temps at the Mesonet Stations

Thirty seven degree difference from one corner of the State to the other. Crazy.

Crazy is Oklahoma's middle name. (Weather-wise, at least.)

Our forecast high for tomorrow is 98 degrees. How about yours?