The inodorus group which includes honeydew, canary, casaba, Spanish melons are noted for keeping on the vine for a long time. Honeydews are famous for their flavor when fully ripe. most of us are too impatient. By the way there are several honeydew varieties that slip.

Thanks. My honeydew doesn't slip. The question is whether keeping them on the vine past color-ripe (green turns to yellow) increases sugar. Is there a better way to assess full ripeness? This one, picked several weeks after color-ripe was surprisingly sweet.

I find that allowing just about any fruit to fully ripen on the vine results in more sweetness. Timing is the key to pick them before they reach the ripe/rot stage. They may not store for as long as the earlier picked ones.

My best call is when the blossom scar is springy when pressed. Most of the varieties that I grow color change is not obvious.

OK, that makes sense. The color changes that I'm seeing in my variety are quite striking. I mean the immature melon is green, and a reasonably mature one is quite yellow. The directions say the color change is a measure of ripeness. But that may not be the best ripeness gauge, and wouldn't be a good discriminant for non-slip melons that simply don't change color much. Certainly once the blossom scar is getting soft, the melon isn't going to last a lot longer on the vine. The goal then is to maximize time on the vine, and blossom scar softening is kind of a line in the sand.

It's easy to say that you should pick them before they rot, but that's not very practicable. As in, once it rots, you can only say, yep, I should have picked it last week.

I have a number of immature melons, and my growing season lasts for another few months, so I'll have a good chance to try that this season. I like these non-slip honeydews very much, but melons that slip are sure handy.

Somewhat off-topic, but last year I asked about fragility of netted melons like conventional canteloupes. In that you had to keep them off the moist ground. You, farmerdill, pointed out that honeydews weren't like that, and that has turned out to be exactly right. They are rock solid, and can sit in moist soil without any degradation. Canteloupes are pretty needful in that respect. Next year, I can go for the best of all possible worlds and grow some honeydews that slip! Recommendations?

To help prevent bottom rot on my catalogues I'll place a handful of pine needles under each one as they get close to turning orange, a slight 1/4 rotation helps too.

I use tuna fish cans. But sitting on mulch always fails for me. I don't have pine needles. But again, you need to do NOTHING with honeydews.

I use the little, plastic, green baskets that berries come in to raise fruits and vegetables off the ground.

TAM Dew and Earlidew are two that come to mind as varieties that slip.

The online writeups for TAM Dew refer to cutting it off the vine to harvest. Earlidew is, however, advertised as slipping. A hybrid. Earlidew is a fast-maturing melon, which isn't that relevant for me, though. I see hardly any reviews for it. Is it a recent development?

The photo above is Earlidew. Not a big melon but good flavor.Been growing it since 2004 and it is my most dependable honeydew. Good flavor but no match for 110 day variety. That old antique is delicious, but iffy production in my climate. TAM Dew. This is an open pollinated 100 day melon running around 5 lbs.

Thank you. That's what I was worried about. Early production is often a tradeoff for something else ... like flavor. I'm actually growing Orangeflesh this year. Very nice but it's like a slightly sweeter canteloupe. I'm also growing canteloupe so ... lots of orange flesh. You have to look at the rind to remind yourself what you're eating!

Slip or no slip, what's your fave honeydew for a long-season hot summer climate? I was a tomato enthusiast for along time, but now I'm starting to lean towards melons. My tomato season is just too short, and the melons are just too good.

Farmerdill, I got a chance to harvest a honeydew when the blossom end bottom was starting to get soft. It's getting a little late in the season for honeydew harvest, but I was regularly feeling the bottom of one. Yep, it's subtle, but noticeable. The unripe ones are completely hard. The ripe one had just a bit of "give" at the bottom. Thank you for the good advice! As it turned out, the stem was starting to dry up as well.