You can snip the extra plants off if you don't want to separate them. I'd leave only 2-3 plants together.

For your other question about cross-pollination, you don't need to worry about that if you just plan on eating the melons. You only need to prevent cross-pollination if you plan on saving seeds. And the only one you could save seeds from is the Hale's since it's an heirloom. With the other one being a hybrid there is no telling what kind of fruit it would grow from the saved seed.

Rodney

I was thinking maybe I could slice the rootball down the middle so I could grow more. I know it works for geraniums but I didn't know if the cantaloupes would survive it.

I do plan on saving seeds, and I already know that about the hybrid, especially since hybrids tend to be sterile or at least prone to mutation. I guess I should have mentioned that. I was thing of taking the hybrid back but I sort of wanted to try both since I don't know which I'll like. Would the other side of the house be okay, about 50ft away?

The reason I suggested snipping the plants instead of separating is because cucurbits don't much appreciate having their roots messed with.

I'm afraid you're going to resort to hand pollinating the Hale's to prevent cross-pollination. Luckily you only need to save seeds from one or two melons so hand pollinate a few of the blossoms, mark them for seed saving, and just let the rest do what they want.

And it's not that hybrids are sterile or prone to mutation, it's just that a hybrid is a controlled cross. When the seeds are saved and grown out it won't be the exact same. It could be similar, it could be better, or it could have the qualities of one of its parents.

Rodney

This post was edited by theforgottenone1013 on Sun, Jun 15, 14 at 12:03

Yeah the wind snapped off one of my only two watermelon plants and I need to replace it with a store-bought one. They come 4 to a pot, and it kills me to have to snip off 3, but like was already mentioned, if I try and separate them, all 4 might die. Cucurbits are not like lots of other plants that can be roughed up and survive.

Raptor666: I have separated them before without problems. I in fact look for pots at the store that have more than one in it but they should not have grown too large so the roots are not wrapped around.

Here is how I do it: Cantaloups and watermelons are generally sold at the seedling stage with just one or two sets of true leaves. Water the pot well so the soil medium (which is usually peat moss or some thing else really porous and falls apart easily) is well soaked. Take the plant out of pot. I take a thin sharp nail or similar wire. Poke the ball vertically and just separate those roots. If the roots are already going around in the pot then first take a sharp blade and make a few vertical cuts only on the outside of the root ball so to divide those wrapped up roots. Plant each one individually directly in the prepared garden soil.