You idiot. There are no GMO melons.

Ha - Saw the double post. I figured I should move my reply here to make it a little less confusing... I'll be happy to make a trade with you. I have five items on your want list: Ugly Ripe, Red Calabash, Jelly Bean, Chives, and I can go with 10 Black Krim seeds too. I'm interested in: 1. Green zebra 2. Copia 3. Old Ivory Egg tomato 4. Amur Tiger tomato 7. Cantalope - Hale's Best 8. Arugula - Roquette 9. detroit red beets Check my list to see if there is anything else you'd like. Thanks!

Melons like loose sandy soil and lots of room, and full sun. I till my patch every year and add whatever a soil analysis says that it needs. I direct seed around the 1st of May, and when the plants start to run, I give them a high nitrogen fertilizer, and feed them nothing else. Since i have limited space, I plant mine fairly close(4ft. centers), and keep the plants well watered, if there is no rain. I don't remove any flowers at all, nor do I prune the plants or remove any fruit. I leave them alone. Don't worry about the wasps, because they help with pollination. I don't hand pollinate. You should have ample, bumble bees, honey bees, and wasps to do the job for you. The ones that you've lost because they turned brown and mushy, were lost because they were poorly pollinated, and are naturally aborted by the plant. Once the melons have started to develop, and nature does not provide any rain, I water the plants at the base in the morning only. Watering melons in the afternoon will tend to cause them to split in the field. I also limit my selection of melons to ones that I personally like to eat and I know will grow well for me. I find that variety selection is one of the most important factors as to how successful you will be.

Larry, bring the melons to me when they ripen so I can sample a few to make sure you don't get sick eating them! Your plant looks great. Did you add any manure to your soil or compost? Sometimes urea will show up on the soil like that, and I have had an occasion or two, where it also showed up on the leaves. Just keep them watered is my advice, as they really do look healthy. Mary