Cucumis melo var. inodorous
Common Name(s):
- Phonetic Spelling
- KOO-koo-mis MEL-oh in-oh-DOR-us
- Description
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Honeydew melon, is a warm season annual vine that produces large, edible, green-fleshed juicy fruits including casabas, crenshaws, honeydews, and other late-maturing winter melons. The fruit are generally smooth, about 8 inches in diameter, weighing 5 to 8 pounds with a greenish-white rind that turns creamy when ripe. The flesh is light green, orange, or white and sweet. Melons are probably native of Asia, although it has been in cultivation for so long that its native habitat is lost in time.
Avoid using fields in your rotation in which muskmelons, watermelons, pumpkins, squash cucumbers or other cucurbits have been planted the previous season. Direct seed melons when soil temperatures exceed 65 F. Set transplants after all danger of frost has passed. This annual vine needs full sun and well-drained, loose, moist, high organic matter soils. It will grow in clay, but likely will need organic amendment to thrive. Consistent soil moisture and warm, sunny conditions are essential for this frost tender plant. Melons are typically supported by cages or trellises, but if there is enough space, they can be allowed to trail along the ground. Pick fruits when young (older fruits toughen as they mature).
Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: Cucurbits are subject to many insect pests and diseases problems including cucumber beetles and wilt caused by cold weather stress.
VIDEO Created by Homegrown featuring Penny Perkins-Veazie, Professor and Postharvest Physiologist at NC State's Plants for Human Health Institute
Profile Video:
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- See this plant in the following landscape:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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Attributes:
- Genus:
- Cucumis
- Species:
- melo
- Family:
- Cucurbitaceae
- Uses (Ethnobotany):
- Edible fruit.
- Life Cycle:
- Annual
- Recommended Propagation Strategy:
- Seed
- Country Or Region Of Origin:
- Africa and Asia
- Distribution:
- worldwide
- Play Value:
- Attracts Pollinators
- Edible fruit
- Climbing Method:
- Scrambler
- Tendrils
- Edibility:
- Eaten fresh, wrapped in prosciutto, in salads, or as a dessert. Delicate, flavor.
- Dimensions:
- Height: 6 ft. 0 in. - 9 ft. 0 in.
- Width: 1 ft. 0 in. - 3 ft. 0 in.
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Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Annual
- Edible
- Vegetable
- Vine
- Warm Season Vegetable
- Habit/Form:
- Climbing
- Creeping
- Horizontal
- Spreading
- Growth Rate:
- Rapid
- Maintenance:
- Medium
- Texture:
- Coarse
- Appendage:
- Tendrils
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Cultural Conditions:
- Light:
- Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
- Soil Texture:
- Clay
- High Organic Matter
- Loam (Silt)
- Soil pH:
- Acid (<6.0)
- Neutral (6.0-8.0)
- Soil Drainage:
- Good Drainage
- Moist
- Available Space To Plant:
- 12 inches-3 feet
- NC Region:
- Coastal
- Mountains
- Piedmont
- USDA Plant Hardiness Zone:
- 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b, 11a, 11b
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Fruit:
- Fruit Color:
- Cream/Tan
- Gold/Yellow
- Green
- White
- Fruit Value To Gardener:
- Edible
- Fragrant
- Display/Harvest Time:
- Fall
- Fruit Type:
- Berry
- Fruit Length:
- > 3 inches
- Fruit Width:
- > 3 inches
- Fruit Description:
- A musky-scented, spherical to oblong berry with a rind (pepo), often furrowed with yellow, white or green flesh and many seeds. The rind may be green, yellow, tan, beige or white and the surface may be smooth, rough, warty, scaly, or netted. Seeds white, about 1/2 inch long, narrow.
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Flowers:
- Flower Color:
- Gold/Yellow
- Flower Inflorescence:
- Cyme
- Solitary
- Flower Value To Gardener:
- Showy
- Flower Bloom Time:
- Summer
- Flower Shape:
- Saucer
- Flower Petals:
- 4-5 petals/rays
- Flower Size:
- < 1 inch
- Flower Description:
- Male or female, borne on the same plant (monoecious), often having some bisexual flowers, 1/2 to 1 inch across, with a five-parted corolla that is flat and circular in outline. The male flowers are usually borne in clusters, while the female flowers are usually borne solitary.
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Leaves:
- Leaf Color:
- Green
- Leaf Feel:
- Rough
- Leaf Type:
- Simple
- Leaf Arrangement:
- Alternate
- Leaf Shape:
- Elliptical
- Leaf Margin:
- Lobed
- Hairs Present:
- Yes
- Leaf Length:
- 3-6 inches
- Leaf Width:
- 3-6 inches
- Leaf Description:
- Stalked, 2 3/4 to 4 3/4 inches across, rounded to egg-shaped or nearly kidney-shaped with a rounded tip, often five-angled, sometimes shallowly three- to seven-lobed, wavy-toothed, hairy to somewhat rough.
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Stem:
- Stem Color:
- Green
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
- Stem Cross Section:
- Angular
- Stem Form:
- Straight
- Stem Surface:
- Smooth (glabrous)
- Stem Description:
- Grooved to angled, softly hairy to hairless.
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Landscape:
- Landscape Location:
- Vertical Spaces
- Landscape Theme:
- Edible Garden
- Attracts:
- Bees
- Pollinators
