I'd advise against it. Cantaloupes slip from the stem and go splat, often w/o warning.

There are lots of mini watermelon varieties and some smaller honeydews that will work better on a trellis.

prachi, a womans bra attached to the trellis works well to cradle the fruit. Saw a video on that awhile back.

Ha ha yes "dirtyguy50" I was planning on giving my cantaloupes extra support. I've looked through many youtube videos ... I can find only one that actually showed grown cantelopes trellised and each fruit had its own support. (I noticed that even John Kohler on Growing your greens never actually showed mature cantelopes on his youtube channel... or if he did I can't find the video).

However Pat Lanza from the Lassagna Gardening book shows does show how she's done this where she gave individual fruits their own support.

It just may be an experiment... maybe I'll try one trellised and I'll try and find place for one grown on the ground (to ensure I get some)

No idea how they'll grow in New Jersey, but I grew Hearts of Gold last year and they were fantastic. Incredibly sweet and flavorful, juicy, and smaller than your typical modern cantaloupe... 2-3 pounds, 6-8" diameter. They also have a cool-looking deep ribbing many newer varieties lack.

You'll definitely have your work cut out for you supporting each fruit! Most of the smaller varieties are ridiculously prolific, so if you get good pollination and don't thin the set blossoms out, you'll have a lot of fruit to support.

The only smaller variety I can think of off-hand is Minnesota Midget (~1 lb, 4-6" diameter), and they're even more prolific than the HoG.

As a rule the Charantais class is small and don't slip. Sugar Cube, Lil' Loupe, and Tasty Bites get good press as personal size melons. Among the antiques, the old Netted Gem is quite good.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cucumis melo

The best of all is Charentais. Once you eat that you don't want any other. It is early, small and easy to grow too. It doesn't slip but it will smell ripe.

I recommend Tasty Bites. They are 1 to 2 lbs and full of flavor and the aroma is unbelievable, they sell themselves.

Minnesota Midget. I think that may be the one you want.

This may seem like a dumb question but is this thread about muskmelons or actual cantaloupes? Not that I have any experience with either of them, I'm just trying to figure it out.

Rodney

Thank you everyone for the suggestions... Rodney... actually I can go either way Muskmelon or cantaloupe... My only issue is that it needs to look like the "orange melon" my son eats in preschool :) otherwise I can go either way cantaloupe or muskmelon. He's never had "garden fresh" melon so I either way I know he is going to be in for a real treat.

In North America muskmelons are better known as cantaloupes and most vendors will list them as such. The charantais type is considered the true cantaloupe, but only a handful of varieties are available. Both types have varieties with orange flesh. That rules out the Netted Gems which have green flesh.

If powdery mildew is a problem for you, I'd find a resistant variety.

They use to use panty hose as the support product. They can be cut up and secured to your tresses