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Vegetable Gardening

How long do cantaloupe plants keep producing?

TooMuchDoggies-SoCal9B

3 years ago

I've been trying to do my own research and coming up empty. This is my first year planting cantaloupes (or any vegetable). I'm in Southern CA, Inland, 9b. 4 plants in raised beds, spaced about 3-4 feet apart. Full sun. I went with "Honey Rock" from seed. The first generation I got 1-4 melons per plant (the 4 melons from the same plant were predictably small but still very sweet). Then the second generation came up, and it was fascinating to see that the developing melons would self-destruct until the first gen reached a certain stage. Of the 8 "potentials" only 4 made it to the finish line...2 self destructed, and 2 were lost when pill bugs chewed up the vines connecting them to the plant. The 4 did not taste quite as sweet as the first gen. Now, only 1 has popped up and is starting to vein up. The aphids didn't show up till maybe a couple of weeks ago, and they have been impossible. Initially they attacked the vines that were in the Eastern side shadow of the raised bed, now they've spread to the rest of the vines. I've read they don't do that well when it gets over 100 degrees and I've gotta chuckle, bc that's all we've had for almost a month now and it doesn't phase them. I've tried to spray them off and it may have resulted in overwatering (though I turned off the drip when I did that) and a couple of melons cracked. I've tried soap and if that slows them down I haven't noticed. I ended up pulling 1 of the 4 already and am contemplating what I'm going to do with the rest (again, only 1 melon in the oven right now, and it's in the veining stage).

So, my question is, what is the natural history of melon plants? I'm reading that commercial growers pull the plants after the first batch of melons, but I'm not getting a lot of information beyond that. What are home gardeners in climates similar to mine doing? Any advice for aphid management? Once those beautiful new leaves curl I'm reading I must remove them since the aphids hide there, but that doesn't leave a whole lot of healthy new growth. I have yellow sticky traps for leafminers, but they don't seem to attract the aphids at all!

I'm contemplating putting them up on trellises next year.

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Comments (3)

vgkg Z-7 Va
3 years ago
Here in my garden (Va) I plant them outdoors around mid-May and they'll last until late Aug or early Sept (like now) before the vines get old and weeds and disease takes over. The last of the melons (Ambrosia) are ripening up now and are a bit smaller and most likely not as sweet as the earlier ones. Pests and diseases in one's own area usually determines the life time of the production line.
TooMuchDoggies-SoCal9B thanked vgkg Z-7 Va
daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
3 years ago
Here in Texas, my growing season is February-July. Lots of melons in May, June, July. The heat (over 100F, we had 25 such days this last August) kills the plants. Every year. Doesn't help that they are adjacent to some black pavement, which makes the heat worse. But they are right next to cukes and peppers, which seem to do OK in the heat. So yes, cantaloupes are sensitive to heat.
TooMuchDoggies-SoCal9B thanked daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
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TooMuchDoggies-SoCal9B
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks for the replies. I think that's what I'm seeing with my plants now..... They're getting older, the heat and pests are getting to them, and the quantity and quality of the melons are both fading.

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