Hi. I have a Minnesota Midget that was doing great. It had 3 fruits nearing maturity, about tennis ball size. They were starting to form netting then all of a sudden, one by one, the fruits began to turn yellowish and the fruit dropped off the plant. The vines look fine - no sign of insects or disease. I've read that a melon plant will only support so many fruits at one time and will abort new fruit until the present fruit is ripe. I do see a couple of new fruits forming on the plant, but it was the mature fruit that dropped.
Any ideas or suggestions would be most appreciated. This is my first time growing melons of any type.
Thanks - Kelly
Cantaloupe Problem?
When cantaloupes are ripe, the fruit separates from the plant. If you believe the fruits were mature, they may just have been ripe and ready to eat.
Like L Tilton said, they were probably ripe. The netting doesn't always form completely.
Thanks. I'm going to cut it open and eat it and see if it is ripe.
Kelly last year when mine fell off by themselves they were over ripe. I tug on my every day. I have one that is ready any day now. The minute that puppy slips off I'm eating it.
Thanks rtl. Did they turn from green to a pale yellow? Mine were that color with just a hint of netting. I was waiting for them to look like the cantaloupes you see in the store - lol.
Yep, they sure did. Actually I went up to Parks for a 4 day weekend and when I returned they had slipped the vine and were yellow looking. This photo is of the one I am watching.
Looking in Plantfiles http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/232061/ you can see that the ripe fruits turn yellow and they aren't very netted. Apparently this gardener had some that fell off the trellis prematurely.
Cantaloupes pick themselves. ;) Not to mention you should be able to smell them from at least 20 feet away. The hard part is withdrawing all water and shielding them from any rain for approx 1 week before you pick for best possible flavor.
The tough ones to figure out if they are ripe are watermelons.
This message was edited May 26, 2009 12:18 PM
Thanks everyone!!
You know feldon, we actually got rain here in Phoenix for not one but TWO days last week. Very unusual for this time of year but welcome nevertheless!! Guess my cantaloupes didn't feel the same . . .
With watermelons, I've heard you can tell if they are ripe because the side that touches the ground turns a different color. As this is my first year growing melons of any kind and my watermelons are nowhere near that point, I guess I will have to wait and see if that theory is correct . . .
Kelly
What works for me with watermelon is checking the status of the short, curly vine-like growth just opposite the melon on the main stem. If that's dry and brown, the melon is ripe.
I find that the tendril test doesn't always work - sometimes the melon is still not ripe.
When checking the tendril, be sure it is completely brown all the way to the stem, not even a little bit of green at the bottom where it joins the vine. Then turn the watermelon over and if the bottom is yellow, not white or creamy color, the melon is ripe. Also, it gets a powdery look to the rind, no longer shiny. This is for watermelons.
Good information!!
Tendril - ah, yes! Why couldn't I think of that word! Anyway, it works for me but I do make sure it's completely brown and dry looking. Thumping has never felt especially conclusive for me - I mean, what's a hollow sound and what's a not-hollow sound on a continuum of ripeness? And the color of the underside is sometimes misleading. But all of those indicators together seem to do the trick.
I check the tendril, do the thump test, look at the bottom of the melon, and still wait 3-5 days even after all signs point to it being ripe.
I really liked Mickeylee in 2008. I got 50 melons slightly smaller than a volleyball from one 4' x 8' bed. I compared it side-by-side to Sugar Baby (I had 2 vines of it and like 4 vines of ML) and Sugar Baby was consistently mushy for me. Mickeylee was fantastic.
An old farmer once showed me a trick for checking watermelons. Take a piece of straw or dried hay about six inches long, lay it crosswise on top of the melon. If it turns a full 180*, the melon is ripe. It really works. My daughter loved to watch the straw turn on the melons. I can't use that method in south Texas, the wind doesn't stop blowing long enough to put the straw on the melon!
There is a farm close by here and they have a little grandson. He can pick a good melon every time. He just puts his hand on the melon and can tell if it's ripe or not. He's got quite a reputation and as far as I know hasn't missed yet.
The problem with watermelons is you can't -smell- them ripe!
What an educational thread! Thanks for all the tips!
I forgot some other tips. The skin of the watermelon changes texture slightly. You can't dig a fingernail in. Also it goes from very shiny to somewhat dull.
So locakelly - how did they taste?
Yeah, I've been waiting to hear the answer to that one, too! After all, that's what started this thread.
Curious minds want to know!
OK - the report is this . . .
The cantaloupes tasted really good in fact. I think the unusual rain we had caused them to drop and had they stayed on the vine a little longer they would have been even sweeter!!
Thanks again for all the great info!! The vine appears to have 4 more babies, so we'll see if these stay on until they are fully ripe...
Kelly