Can honeydew and large watermelons grow in Z6?

14 years ago

My mom lives in PA Z6. She was told that she could only grow sugarbabies in her zone as the season is too short to grow honeydews and larger watermelons. Is that true?

They said Texas or some similar hotspot is the place to grow those types of melons.

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Comments (5)

larry_gene
14 years ago
You don't have to resort to Texas, but you do need it hot. The Columbia River Basin (Hermiston, Oregon area) has major large melon production at about the same latitude as PA, but they have long, hot summers and irrigate heavily.
imred
14 years ago
you can grow both types of melons. They may not produce as well as in the south, but should do well enough for a home garden
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denninmi
14 years ago
Both are grown here commercially, at least for farm market and farmstand sales. I've seen watermelons at our local farmer's market easily in the 30 to 40 lb range, produced in SE Michigan. One county over from me, Livingston County, Michigan, is known for its melons -- although primarily for giant canteloupes ("Howell Melons") they also grow other kinds there. Almost all of the melon farmers use black plastic mulch and drip irrigation.

There are a few things to consider, though:

1) Use varieties bred for cooler conditions and shorter ripening season. There are quite a few larger watermelons that do well here, especially the Moon and Stars heirloom types. For honeydews, Earlidew is a very good one, very large melons and short season. Johnny's has some new ones for this year bred for short seasons as well, I'm trying those this year, despite the ungodly price of the seeds ($8 a packet). Burpee Early Crenshaw is a GREAT crenshaw for the north, makes HUMONGOUS melons in about 90 days.

2) You need to use season extending techniques -- start them early indoors and transplant, otherwise, the fruit will ripen too late, in September when the nights are cool, which means poor flavor generally, although it varies year to year with the weather, I've seen Septembers in Michigan that were by far the hottest month of the whole summer, strings of 90 degree days lasting into early October.

3) Probably have to be more vigilent against fungal diseases in cooler, wetter climates than in hot and dry climates, but it's probably no worse here than in hot, humid SE US regions.
myk1
14 years ago
Not true.
A little west of me is an area well known for production watermelons and cantaloupe.
I know plenty of people who grow full size garden watermelons. I've never even managed to grow a good sugar baby but I have had some great years with cantaloupe.
franktank232
14 years ago
They sell Iowa grown watermelons at the grocery store here later in the season. They are more basketball shaped, not any striping and dark green... AWESOME tasting. PRobably some of the best melon i've had.

I always regret not growing watermelon.

Start early and use plastic and you can get a big jump on the season so by this time you've got a nice plant going.

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Can honeydew and large watermelons grow in Z6?

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