I can't seem to grow a sweet melon. Help?

ac21686 · September 15, 2023

Well, the melon patch this year was awful.

I’m not sure we could’ve done that much this season…too much rain during late July and throughout August. Did not have a single good one. The plants stayed quite healthy, we picked them at full slip, near slip, etc…didn’t make a difference. Sunlight compared to last year must’ve been awful. I don’t know what to try anymore. Maybe make the entire section black tarp (right now it was just maybe a 3’ wide tarp) to heat the soil more, prevent weeds. We don’t amend the soil too much…this area used to be all tobacco fields and good farm land. Everything else seems to grow just fine. Maybe they need more fertilizer and nutrients than I originally thought…my dad always tells me they grew in basically sand in southern Italy and they were always good! How maddening.

September 15, 2023	#32
ac21686 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: CT Posts: 68	Well, the melon patch this year was awful. I’m not sure we could’ve done that much this season…too much rain during late July and throughout August. Did not have a single good one. The plants stayed quite healthy, we picked them at full slip, near slip, etc…didn’t make a difference. Sunlight compared to last year must’ve been awful. I don’t know what to try anymore. Maybe make the entire section black tarp (right now it was just maybe a 3’ wide tarp) to heat the soil more, prevent weeds. We don’t amend the soil too much…this area used to be all tobacco fields and good farm land. Everything else seems to grow just fine. Maybe they need more fertilizer and nutrients than I originally thought…my dad always tells me they grew in basically sand in southern Italy and they were always good! How maddening.