The oyster mushroom gets its name from its cap which, some say, resembles an oyster. The stem of the oyster mushrooms is perhaps more distinct; it unfurls something like one of those old-time paper lady's fans. The oyster mushroom has...

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Muskmelon and Hybrid Melon Varieties: Best Bets

Full sun, temperatures at least 70°F, and about 90 days and more will give you rich-tasting melons. Muskmelons and cantaloupes are the same thing, they are known as summer melons. Casabas, Crenshaws, and honeydews are called winter melons because they come to harvest at the end of summer.

Here are flavorful best bet, easy-to-grow melons--both summer and winter melons (added days to maturity)--divided into four categories: orange-fleshed melons; green-fleshed melons; honeydew types; and others.

Keep reading to the bottom of this post and I will give you my tips for melon growing success. Also be sure to check out the Melons Archive for lots of articles on melon growing.

Orange-fleshed melons:

• Ambrosia. 86 days. Very sweet, juicy, distinctive flavor. Uniform, medium-size, nearly round fruit 6-inches in diameter, heavily netted, weighs 4½ to 5. Salmon flesh, thick rind; seed cavity small with tight mass of seeds. Prolific vines. Downy mildew and powdery mildew resistant. Hybrid.

• Burpee Hybrid. 82 days. Sweet, flavorful, firm and juicy, excellent quality. Round to slight oval fruit, 6 inches in diameter, heavily netted, distinctly ribbed, weighs 4 to 4½ pounds; deep-orange flesh, thick rind. High yielding vine; produces well in northern regions. Popular with home gardeners. Hybrid.

Continue reading "Muskmelon and Hybrid Melon Varieties: Best Bets" »

Melon Growing Problems: Troubleshooting

Muskmelons, cantaloupes, winter melons, and watermelons: they all thrive under the same cultural conditions and they all share similar growing problems.

• Cantaloupes are muskmelons: these melons have pumpkin-like ribbing, a skin covered with a netting of shallow veins, and most varieties have a musk smell.

• Winter melons (which are a type of muskmelon) ripen at the very end of summer as the weather turns cool: honeydews, crenshaws, casabas, and Persians.

• Watermelons--which are a different botanical family than muskmelons and winter melons--share all of the growing requirements.

Here is a troubleshooting list of possible melon problems with control and cure suggestions: (For a full description of pests and diseases and prevention and controls click over to the Pest Problem Solver or the Disease Problem Solver. For melon growing details click to How to Grow Muskmelons or How to Grow Winter Melons or How to Grow Watermelons. (More melon growing success tips are at the bottom of this post.)

Leaves curl under and become deformed and yellowish. Aphids are tiny, oval, and yellowish to greenish pear-shaped insects that colonize on the undersides of leaves. They leave behind sticky excrement called honeydew which can turn into a black sooty mold. Use insecticidal soap.

Leaves turn pale green, yellow, or brown; dusty silver webs on undersides of leaves and between vines. Spider mites suck plant juices causing stippling. Spray with water or use insecticidal soap or rotenone. Ladybugs and lacewings eat mites.

Leaves yellow; tiny white winged insects around plants. Whiteflies will congregate on the undersides of leaves and fly up when disturbed. Remove infested leaves and the whole plant if infestation is serious. Introduce beneficial insects into the garden.

Continue reading "Melon Growing Problems: Troubleshooting" »

How to Grow Winter Melons: Casaba, Crenshaw, Honeydew, and Persian

Winter melons are summer-grown, warm-weather, tender plants that are commonly ready for harvest in late summer, autumn, or early winter. So-called winter melons include casaba, charental, Crenshaw, honeydew, and Persian. Winter melons require 110 frost-free days to reach harvest, more days than required by the summer melons, cantaloupe or muskmelon and the watermelon. Sow winter melons in the garden or set out transplants not earlier than 2 weeks after the average last frost date in spring when all danger of frost has passed. Start winter melon seed indoors 6 weeks before you plan to set plants into the garden. Winter melons require that nearly all of the growing season be warmer than 80°F.

Learn about summer melons--cantaloupe and watermelon: click here.

Description. Winter melons come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. These melons are long trailing annuals.

• Casaba: round or ovoid with wrinkled, rough yellow-rind and greenish-whitish flesh weighing about 5 pounds (2.2 kg). Greenish tinge at stem end. Smooth-textured, creamy flesh is juicy and subtly sweet and less fragrant than other melons.

• Charental: elongated, globe-shaped melon with smooth to slightly netted grey-green rind with slight ridges and a firm deep orange, sweet flesh.

• Crenshaw: smooth yellow-green skin with pale green or salmon flesh weighing about 6 pounds (2.7 kg). A hybrid cross between the casaba and cantaloupe. Flesh is extra sweet and juicy with a sweet spicy aroma. Softer than other melons.

• Honeydew: more ovoid than round with smooth rind that changes from pale green to creamy yellow as it ripens weighing about 3 pounds (1.3 kg); green, white, orange, or pink-orange flesh.

• Persian: large, oval-to-round, strongly netted, unridged rind with a musky orange-colored flesh; similar to a cantaloupe, but larger, weighing 7 to 8 pounds (3.1-3.6kg)..

Yield. Grow 2 winter melon plants for each household member.

Continue reading "How to Grow Winter Melons: Casaba, Crenshaw, Honeydew, and Persian" »

How to Grow Muskmelon or Cantaloupe

The muskmelon or cantaloupe is a tender, warm-weather plant. Muskmelons along with watermelons are sometimes called summer melons. (Winter melons--also grown during the summer but ready for harvest later than summer melons, in autumn or early winter--include casaba, charental, Crenshaw, honeydews, and Persian melons.)

Sow muskmelon seed in the garden or set out transplants 3 to 4 weeks after the last average frost date in spring. Start muskmelon seed indoors about 6 weeks before transplanting starts into the garden. Start seed indoors in biodegradable peat or paper pots that can be set directly into the garden. Muskmelons require 70 to 100 frost-free days to reach harvest; muskmelons will tolerate no frost.

Summer melons, winter melons, cantaloupes, watermelons: click here to learn more.

Description. The muskmelon or cantaloupe is a long trailing annual plant. The melon has a rough, web-patterned rind, commonly four pounds or less in weight. Muskmelons differ from true cantaloupes:

• Muskmelon: round, yellow-tan netted rind with salmon, white, or green flesh weighing about 2 to 3 pounds (.9-1.3 kg). Very sweet taste and aromatically perfumed flesh.• True Cantaloupe: oval or globe-shaped with hard, rough, scaled or warted-rinds (not a netted skin) with gray-green, yellow-tan and orange, or salmon-orange flesh weighing about 2 pounds (.9 kg). Sweet tasting and aromatic

Yield. Grow 2 winter melon plants for each household member.

Site. Plant muskmelons in full sun. Muskmelons grow best in loose, well-drained soil rich in organic matter. Add aged compost to the planting bed before planting. Melons prefer a soil pH of 6.0 to 6.8.

Continue reading "How to Grow Muskmelon or Cantaloupe" »

Melon en Surprise

Melon en Surprise was Auguste Escoffier's title for a five line description of a tasty combination of melons and other fresh fruits in his 1903 masterpiece Le Guide Culinaire.

Of course, Escoffier was working from the notes and techniques of Antoine Carême, an earlier codifier of French Haute cuisine.

But as you will see here, it certainly would not take the minds of two of cookery's greatest to set down the terms of one of summer's most delightful fruit combinations.

This recipe--or something very like it--is probably written onto the back cover of your great grandmother's most favorite cookbook. She probably heard about it from her grandmother.

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Melons

There are two ways to eat melon: at the beginning of a meal as a hors d’oeuvre or starter for savory dishes or at the end as a dessert fruit.

As a starter, melon can be seasoned with salt and freshly ground pepper or with ginger. As a dessert, melon can be sprinkled with superfine sugar or as many would have it simply plain.

So, you see, the tasty, sweet succulent melting flesh of a melon is welcome coming and going.

And, oh yes, one other thing: whether at the start or finish of a meal, melon should be eaten with a fork, not a spoon. You see, the back of a cold spoon anaesthetizes the taste buds. When that happens, half the melon’s flavor is lost. So enjoy your melon with a fork.

Now, which melon to enjoy?

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Winter Melon

Honeydew, casaba and Cavaillon melons are classed as winter melons because they ripen more slowly than other melons and are usually not ready until late fall. After harvest, they even continue to ripen in storage.

Choose: Honeydews should have a smooth, evenly yellow rind that is slightly green at the stem end. Look for honeydews that are oval or elongated. Casabas have a rough green or green and yellow skin. Cavaillons are slightly elongated with a finely ribbed rind. Some believe they are the tastiest of this group.

Serve: Season winter melon slices with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Continue reading "Winter Melon" »

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