Cantaloupe — Divergent Organic

$5.99

CERTIFIED ORGANIC! This cantaloupe / Galia melon cross matures early with its fruits close to the crown for more concentrated harvests for fresh market growers and home gardeners. This is great for growers because you can do a complete harvest with just one pass of the field. Harvest them a little bit early and they have a great shelf life. Stagger planting for an extended harvest of sweet, refined fruits. Divergent Organic melon seeds produce vines with excellent disease resistance. The flesh is bright orange, firm, and very sweet, with a small seed cavity and thin rind. The round fruits have light netting on the skin and average 2.5 lbs each.

Matures in 75 days. (Hybrid seeds)

Quick Facts:

Certified Organic
Cataloupe/galia cross
Concentrated harvest time
Matures in 75 days
Hybrid seeds

Size: 5 seeds

How To Grow: In the home garden, melons can be picked at full maturity, when they have the highest sugar content and best flavour. Their roots are delicate and require high nutrition and lots of water. For all that effort, you’ll be rewarded by the ripest, sweetest melons you’ve ever tasted. Continue reading below to learn how to grow melons from seed.

Difficulty
Easy in a greenhouse or cloche, or outdoors in long, warm summers. Somewhat challenging without these conditions.

Season & Zone
Season: Warm season
Exposure: Full-sun

Timing
It is essential to start seeds indoors or in a greenhouse 4-6 weeks after the last frost date. Transplant when the plants are 5 weeks old. Optimal soil temperature for germination: 20-25°C (68-77°F). Seeds should sprout in 5-10 days.

Starting
Sow seeds 1cm (½”) deep. Set transplants 60-90cm (24-36″) apart in rows 1.5-2m (5-6′) apart.

Days to Maturity: From transplant date.

Growing
Ideal pH: 6.0-6.8. Choose a warm, well-drained soil. Add dolomite lime and compost or well-rotted manure to the bed and ½-1 cup of balanced organic fertilizer beneath each transplant. Melons need warm growing conditions. Use black plastic mulch, cloches, or floating row covers. Success may improve in raised beds. Melons plants require 8-10 weeks of good, hot growing weather from the middle of June to the end of August. During that time, a melon vine must grow 5-9 leaves before starting to flower, then set 4 or more male flowers before making its first female flower, and then ripen its fruit before cool, damp weather sets in. Melons do not ripen off the vine. During the entire growing season, make sure to provide ample water.

Harvest
Fruit will ripen in late August to early September. Ripe cantaloupe will easily detach from the vine when light finger pressure is applied to the stem. Watermelon is ripe when the tendril nearest to the fruit withers and dries up.

Seed Info
In ideal conditions at least 60% of seeds will germinate. Usual seed life: 3 years. Per 100′ row: 60 seeds, per acre: 5.2M seeds.

Diseases & Pests
Botrytis blast and downy mildew are common leaf diseases. One starts with white spots and streaks, the other with purple-grey areas on leaves. Leaves wither from the top down and plants die prematurely. Separate the overwintered and spring crops because disease starts in older plants and moves to younger. Avoid overhead watering and plant in open sunny locations. Use lots of compost and practice strict sanitation and crop rotation.

Companion Planting

Melons are great companions for corn, marigolds, nasturtiums, pumpkin, radish, squash, and sunflowers. Avoid planting near potatoes. Melon leaves are full of calcium, so they’re good for the compost heap.

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