Melon Muskmelon/Cantaloupe Minnesota Midget Organic HEIRLOOM Seeds

Cucumis melo var. reticulatus

Item #3141

60-70 days. A delightful little melon! Short vines require less garden space to produce sweet, 4-inch melons. Can be grown anywhere but specially suited to areas with a short growing season. Great in containers. Plants are fusarium wilt resistant.

This packet sows 9 mounds.

Seedling Image

Days to Emerge:
5-10 days

Seed Depth:
1/2"

Seed Spacing:
3 seeds
per mound

Mound Spacing:
2'-3' apart

Thinning:
Not necessary

When to sow outside: 1 to 2 weeks after average last frost, and when temperatures are warm.

When to start inside: 4 to 6 weeks before average last frost. Transplant seedlings with care. To reduce stress, use paper or pulp pots and transplant pots directly into soil after gently removing the bottoms.

Harvesting: Harvesting at the right time is very important with melons. Commercial growers harvest before melons are ripe, forcing them to ripen off the vine, but, the last few days of ripening on the vine put a lot of sugars into the melon. Bottom line is that melons taste significantly better when vine ripened. How do you know when melons are ripe? These indicators: 1) The color between the surface netting is brown, not green. 2) A ripe melon will have a pleasant, fruity aroma at the blossom end. 3) A crack will form on the stem right near the point of attachment. This is called the "slip stage", and in a few days, the melon will detach from the vine with little effort and pressure. If it is somewhat difficult to detach the fruit from the vine, the melon is not ready yet. Do not allow to over-ripen.

Artist: Marjorie Leggitt