I once had a garden in extremely deep, nearly pure sand. I had the same problem. And I couldn't fix it with fertilizer or compost. I'm guessing it's a nutrient problem, but I'm not sure.

The bland taste is most likely from too much water. It has been very rainy here, so melons aren't as flavorful as they could be. Try to limit watering the week before harvest. Only water if the leaves wilt. This will allow the flavor to concentrate more without being watered down.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kim's Garden

Thanks for the suggestion, Kim, but as stated in the original post, it's not an over watering problem. I first experienced the symptoms of too much water many years ago and quickly learned how to properly water cucurbits.

As mentioned, the bland taste of winter melon is not due to overwatering.
Asians eat a lot of Winter melons. The way to eat it is to cook it in some kind of broth(chicken , pork bone, beef bone),
add lots of carrots to give it a sweet taste.

Cyrus,

These are not winter melons. They are various forms of muskmelon, cantaloupe, water melon, and winter squash such as butternut, buttercup, sweet meet, Galeux D'eysines, etc.

I've grown them all before - many times - without problem. In the new raised beds I've built they produce extremely bland tasting fruit. There has to be some connection. I believe it to be a mineral or nutrient deficiency, but I am hoping for a more definitive answer from someone else who has experienced this same problem and possibly found a solution.

K-Mag do google search. Answer you looking for K-Mag its found at farm & ranch store that mix fertilizer in bulk sometimes you find in bag at real good garden center. I use about 300 pound year cost now 28.00 hundred on 3 acres take some 5 gallon buckets to farm center that mix fertilizer and get some weight buckets before fill them so subsract that weight from final weight. This materal very heavy per volume. Apply twice at rate 2 hand fulls (about 3 tablespoons full to melons above root zone. Its to be use on all that grow all garden all fruits all grasses. K-Mag 0.0.22.11.22 its organic as well so not harmfull. common rate per acre are 200 to 300lbs broadcast.

Tripod, the only way to find out if you have a nutrient deficiency is to have a soil test done. Even soil that looks good and has plenty of amendments in it can be lacking in some of the basic necessities. Your local cooperative extension office or a GOOD full service garden center should be able to tell you where you can get the test done. The test kits you can buy for home use are pretty useless. Send it to a good lab. It will cost very little in comparison to the pleasure of a good melon!

Other causes can be cloudy weather (or shady location) without sufficient sunshine, diseases that keep leaves from providing the sugars and other nutrients for the fruit, and as you already know, over watering during the last 3 weeks or so of ripening time. Also, picking a bit too early produces typical store-bought taste.

Are these varieties that you've successfully grown before? If so, check out the possibility of lack of sun and get the soil test results. These two things should go a long way to helping with the diagnosis.

Good luck. There's nothing much better than a good melon fresh from the garden.
Sandy

Sandy,

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. The gardens get plenty of sunlight and all of the plants have been happy, healthy, and vibrant. Not a problem of growing or producing - just the taste. I've grown these melons and squash (plus plenty others) in the past without incident, but not in these new beds.

I am sure its some sort of soil deficiency, and I'll probably have to get it tested, but I was hoping for a quick "Its a lack of xyz..." answer from someone on GW that had experienced it before. Seems like something this blatant would have already been covered by someone else. Oh well, looks like a visit to the county coop is inevitable.

Steven

Steven, when/if you find out the cause, please come back here and let us know. Questions like yours that don't get answers are the ones we all can learn from.

Sandy