i planted cantaloupe and watermelon, i have a few tiny cantaloupes, and a few tiny watermelons. i think i sowed too late this year. even with decent rainfall this year, its just been very hot. some of my plants(vines) are getting long, a bunch of them are still short.

How large are you letting the squash get before you pick them? If you let them get too big, they tend to toughen up. Mom is picking hers just as they fully yellow, about five to six inches, and they are tender enough to use raw in salads.

As for winter squash....I can't help with that one. Good luck.

I started watermelon last year in June and got small ones that were eaten by varmints (probably possums)...and not that many of them. I should have started earlier. My other problem was that I was having to hand pollinate because I just did not have enough bees....I mean I saw maybe one or two all summer.

can't help you much with the winter squash. We planted the heirloom Kushaw and it sent out vines 30 ft long. The squash itself is enormous: about 10 pounds+

Did you know that cantalope are not sweet unless picked in the sunshine? Yes, wait until they crack around the base of the stem where it is attached to the fruit. But do not pick in the dark or in cloudy weather!

let us know how it goes.

Something broke my crookneck plant and it turned to toast with many baby squash hanging on. So sad.

I'm eagerly an eggplant but it and the mater plants all have some sort of nasty fungus. And we haven't had even 1/10th of an inch of rain in weeks....errgh. Why do we do this? Grins...I guess were are learning and optimists!

So it goes....
c

You might have gotten some funny variety, but I've had bumpy crookneck before...as another response said, just don't let them get bigger than about 6-8 inches.

As for winter squash, I recommend Waltham butternut...I have a squash vine borer problem here (central texas) and apparently this one is somewhat resistant...at least that's what the guys at the seed-n-feed tell me.

There's a yellow bumpy crookneck that I've grown before. It does get hard if left to long. Pick them before they get dark yellow. You'll notice they start out rather light yellow and get darker. That's when the skin get hard.

All those squash you named are indeed winter squash. Last year I planted about 10 different kinds of winter squash. A couple succumbed to the squash vine borer but I got something off all the rest. By all means try some, it was fun.

The cantaloupe will get there. My cucumbers are just now making cukes so hang in there.

Thanks for the words of advice! I'll pick the squash when they're smaller, now. I'll try that butternut, too. That's funny about the cantaloupes! I definitely won't chance picking any I might get in cloudy weather or in the dark.

On the bright side, my tomato plant is taking over the world, but no red ones yet. On the downside, I hate tomatoes. But my hubby likes them.

Plant zuchinni with your yellow squash. I think they cross pollinate and you get BIG yellow squash that are tender all the way though. My melons are just starting to set fruit. Found afew more promising watermelons today. The cantelope are starting to take off. I planted feed store seedlings. They seem to do the best. The squash I used seeds.

Curlietop--I will try that next year. I hear squash bugs (which I evidently had) don't like zuchini as much, so maybe that would help. I did find the smallest baby cantaloupe today! I'm so excited. Oh, and three baby strawberries. My 3 year old is really excited about that one.

Oh, I miss cushaw from Louisiana. They make the best dessert like a pumkin pie with no crust. Yumm. Do you know where to get the seeds?