WATERMELONS, OTHER MELONS, AND CUCUMBERS THRIVE IN IOWA AND ILLINOIS! Around here, MELON AND CUCUMBER OVERALL YIELDS AND DIVERSITY CAN BE IMPRESSIVE! HONESTLY, SOME MELON SIZES MAY BE PRETTY SMALL, I FOCUS ON THE GOOD MELONS, AND IF THEY ARE LITTLE, SO WHAT! IT SEEMS THEIR NATURE TO GROW WELL HERE AND TO OFTEN GROW SMALL AND IN NUMBERS! WOW! This information mainly regards the Quad-Cities area, specifically Davenport, Iowa. The Quad-Cities area also includes a lot of Illinois, including cities such as Rock Island and Moline. This section of reading mainly deals with watermelon. I encourage one to plant from seed. Results seem to vary a lot, particularly from year to year. I encourage planting very early and ensuring plenty of sunlight and water, good and FERTILE soil helps too. Roots can access deeper water in the soil. I let soil dry out on the surface fairly regularly,I do not think a constantly wet surface is healthyfor watermelons and other melons and cucumbrs. ALSO, MELONS AND LIKELY CUCUMBERS TEND TO GET LEAF DISCOLORATION AND DISEASE OR RELATED WHEN IN CONTACT WITH GROUND OR CLOSE, GRASS DOES NOT SEEM TO HELP! I HAVE SEEN THIS HAPPEN MANY TIMES, MELON LEAVES DISCOLOR AND PLANT SLOWS OR DIES EVENTUALLY. BEING UP OFF THE GROUND HELPS A LOT, EVEN THIN BLACK PLASTIC “MULCH” HELPS, OVERALL HIGHER OFF THE GROUND SEEMS TO HELP, PERIOD! AND SAND? The scientific name of watermelons even includes SANDin it! Watermelons just need GOOD, FERTILE soil to thrive; SAND is not REQUIRED. SANDmay help a bit, so long as the soil is still GOOD and FERTILE. SANDYCOMMENTS apply to other types of melons as well. I have had particular success is areas where water naturally collects just below the soil surface, where deep roots can access it. In general, this also applies to other melons and cucumbers. They seem to be pressed for time, so allowing them to stall due to lack of wateror other issue is not a good idea. Melons do well in the sunnyand WARM and long days of summer. The longest, and also sunniest days, being around the summer solstice, about or on June 21. So, long vines at this point are desired and in many ways essential, as is an early planting to allow for this. Often I have harvested green ones, meaning unripe, just before or after a frost. These unripe melons have been pretty well useless, except as garden compost.

Did one grow little watermelons? I would not worry. If it is the size of an apple, so what? They are often still very sweet and better than nothing. I think better than an actual apple! And, 5 little melons can be A LOT MORE MELON, than one big one! I have had good luck growing very sweet SMALLER MELON VARIETIES geared to shorter growing seasons, that also work well on a trellis or growing up a fence. I have GROWN LARGER and longer season melons, but getting a really ripe melon has been more challenging. My grandparents grew pretty large melons, in open fields, free of trees and other shade sources common in home gardens, in the Walcott and Maquoketa Iowa areas. WHEN IT GETS COLDER, MELONS GROW LITTLE AND RIPEN LITTLE! AND, I HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO RIPEN A GREEN MELON INSIDE! One should not be picking unripe melons! Generally a ripe melon has a less intensely growing green exterior, will be a creamy white/yellow color where it rests on the ground, will have a tougher outer skin, will have a dried tendril closest to it, and also will have stopped growing for a time. I believe a yellowish color is desired most, where the melon touches the ground, however I do not remember every melon I have picked having this coloration. In all the years, I have only had one melon apparently go bad on the inside, with no apparent damage/decay on the outside; possibly due to being too ripe. But, I may have missed outside decay/damage. In the past my issue has been picking melons a bit early, before they reach maximum sweetness. I have noticed that watermelons typically can be stored for some time, at least several days in a cool basement. SOME OF MY SWEETEST WATERMELONS HAVE BEEN THOSE SO RIPE, THEY WERE JUST ON THE VERGE OF GOING BAD! THESE ARE MY BEST PROOF SUPER SWEET WATERMELON CAN BE GROWN AROUND HERE! AS WITH OTHER FRUIT, OFTEN THE SWEETEST JUST BEFORE TURNING BAD! Melons can also crack from excessive water, usually around maturity. On a postive note, I have salvaged some CRACKED melons, as often they are ripe or close. I have tried picking off the first tiny melons the vines produce. This should encourage more vine and bigger melons. I have had some success with this. But, results are still unclear. Most years I have not done this, and still had successful watermelons. I have issues picking off the initial fruits of a plant that is squeezed for time to produce ripe fruit. Often I dab pollen from flower to flower on melons, to aid in pollination and early melon formation, but not always. I have had some success growing watermelons in buckets or other containers, as protection against pests and mild frosts. One must keep the bucket or container bottoms dry. I have had a lot of apple size melons, I believe my biggest was over 30 lbs, and all sorts in between.

I usually plant the 1st of April, not April Fooling anyone! I plant about everything on or around April Fool’s Day! But, melons and less so cucumbers, don’t like it cold! Often I plant a few melon and cucumber seeds around April Fool’s Day. Then, I typically plant a larger number of seeds in the middle of April, along with some seeds for later, around the start of May. I have found planting melons in an OUTSIDE POT, in a warm and sunny location, results in faster and better germination, but direct garden planting works too. I typically do POTS (planting times as above) and DIRECT PLANTING (usually starting around late April) to increase my odds of success. I use decent size POTS, where 20 or more seedlings can grow; often in a warm and sunny spot, such as the south side of a building. The many seedlings in the POT can be separated later as desired. Often melons need a second planting a couple weeks or so later, depending on weather. Often a lot of stuff needs REPLANTING. But, a lot of this early planted stuff gets a very early start and succeeds and actually dominates! Typically, in WARM and MOIST conditions, melon and cucumber seeds take around a week or two to come up. Mainly hit spots where stuff did not come up or died. Advantage to one saving your own seed legally, do not violate patents and related. You should have plenty of seed to cover seedling gaps out in the garden. ALSO, I WATER THE LITTLE PLANTS, just because it is cold does not mean plants don’t need water. Please see general commentary page regarding details.

In general most of this also applies to growing other melons and cucumbers. I have had real success growing cantaloupe and honeydew related melons. Overall, I have grown normal to large sized cucumbers. I have had particular success with other melons and cucumbers in areas where water naturally collects below the soil surface, where deeper roots can access it. Melons and cucumbers have thrived when growing on a fence or trellis! Many plants grow better off the ground, one reason being more light, please see the general comments page for more about this. I have also sometimes let melons grow in buckets or other containers, with some success, as protection from pests and mild frosts. One most be certain to keep the buckets or containers dry on the bottom. I have found them easier to grow than watermelon. I have also found cantaloupe easier to grow than watermelon, generally fruit is on the slightly small side, but not always, I have harvested many big ones. I have also noticed dogs like cantaloupe, and will make them disappear from the garden! Based on my experience, cantaloupe are funny, and must be harvested at a perfect time. I generally pick just as they start to go from green to yellow, you can even smell a ripe one. The green ones are still ripening, generally the darker the green shade the less ripe it is. And, a totally yellow melon is likely close to going bad already. The ripe melons also attract pests quickly, so best not to let them sit in the garden long. They also do not store long, often I freeze melon chunks to preserve. A lot of this also applies to honeydew related melons, based on my experiences. As one example, I have noticed similar, but different, color changes, in honeydew related melons, as they ripen. All these plants grow best in fertile soil, where adequate water is available. Do not expect these plants to fair well in a freeze or even a frost. Overall, I find these plants to be picky, and in need of a fair amount of attention. I find cucumbers to be the least picky. In particular, watermelons grow best in warm weather with a lot of sun. WATERMELON ARE AMAZING AND CAN TAKE EXTREME HEAT AND A LOT OF SUN! Do not count on much growth period in cooler weather or in shady conditions!!!!This also applies to cantaloupe and some other melons, to a lesser extent. And, to cucumbers, to an even lesser extent. This pickiness about temperature and sunlight has a lot to do with these plants being time pressed to grow properly.THESE LIFE FORMS HAVE AN ACUTE NEED FOR LIGHT AND HEAT! SO MUCH SO, I HAVE DABBLED WITH LIGHT ABSORBERS TO WARM THE SOIL AND LIGHT REFLECTORS TO PROVIDE MORE RADIATION, SOLAR THAT IS. Results of the experimentation have overall been positive, but still an unclear work in progress. Typically the vines I have grown have taken up a large amount of space, with watermelon generally taking the most and cucumbers the least. Based on my experiences, these plants struggle to grow over even grass and struggle more with other plants around. Again, a lot of my comments and information in these pages is based on my personal experiences in mainly the Davenport area. Please review the general page, as a lot of relevant details on growth are covered. Again, please make use of the little ones, they all will not be giants!