Melon Problems

[vfem]

Yes, generic title for a generic problem.

I planted a TON of melons this year. I have 6 vines of watermelon going, all with baseball size melons that have been this size for a good month now. (Some of the melons are feeling soft and I can squeeze them and they have give.) I also have honeydew type melons, and musk melons. ALL of them have tiny melons that have been set for weeks, with no sign of growth what so ever. The honeydews took off like a shot, now the leaves are starting to yellow. I added more fertillizer to all of them today. The musk melon vines however look extremely healthy, very green and lush. They are still flowering male and female flowers like crazy and are even pollinating new melons just fine. They just get to the size of a quarter and then don't grow anyone. There was 1 melon that was twice as big as the rest, then I looked today and it has yellowed and is soft to the touch.

We've had a ton of rain... and I mean TON! We had another 3+ inches drop on us the night before last and a good portion of my garden is a swamp, but that is at least 10 feet away from where my melons are. Do you think its just all the rain? Do you think I should replant and try again? Do you think after it dries out a bit maybe they'll resume growth? Or is all lost?

 

[897tgigvib]

Sounds like a pollination problem!

That'd be my best guess, but also other things like soil ph maybe?

With all that rain maybe the flowers are not getting fully pollinated.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Do you think it might be something related to blossom end rot? If you have a lot of rain, the nutrients are so diluted not enough calcium can get to the fruit, which can cause BER. Maybe something like that? A lack of nutrients because of the rain?

I don't mean that it is BER, just maybe something nutrient related due to all the rain.

 

[MontyJ]

Sounds like a soil imbalance to me. The fruit are aborting. Excess Nitrogen can cause what you are describing.

 

[vfem]

Some of the melons have fallen off and shriveled up off of the cantaloupe vines. Maybe that one is indeed an issue with pollnation. I'm surprised they just hung there green for so long.

The honeydew style melons haven't grown either. The largest one, larger then a baseball, at full size these should be 3 lbs. I looked at it yesterday and there are nibbles taken out of it now so its done for. Either a rabbit or a squirrel got it. (The squirrels took all but like 5 apples this year, its so not fair!)

Anyways, just to try I popped a few more melon seeds into a raised bed to see what comes of it. Either I have melons in October or not. My second planting of pumpkin and butternut squash has taken off. The pumpkins already have flowers and no signs of vine borers! Those things were NASTY again this year. I'm seriously considering Sven!