I hope this is helpful. Let me know if you have any further questions. Happy Gardening!!! --Robby

Finally, cantaloupes do best with full sun. The more sun the better that fruit will taste. Just be sure to provide plenty of water during hot, dry periods. The soil should dry out a bit in between waterings, but should never completely dry out. Think about how much water goes in those melons. They are thirsty plants.

When the fruits are developing you can place them on cardboard or an inverted pot to keep them off the ground if you wish. Warm temperatures promote quicker fruit development. If you wish you can place the developing fruits on aluminum foil wrapped cardboard pieces to reflect more sunlight at the fruit to heat it up slightly.

Cantaloupes like other melons and cucumbers have separate male and female flowers. The male flowers produce pollen whereas the female flower will develop into the fruit. You can tell the difference between the two types of flowers because the female flower will have a tiny fruit underneath the petals. The male flowers will not have that little bulge underneath the petals. Melons are notorious for being under-pollinated if there are not enough pollinators to do the plant's dirty work. This is why windy areas aren't all that great for melons since insects tend to lay low when it's extremely windy. If you live in an area where you think that your melons are not getting pollinated sufficiently, you can take the place of the insect and pollinate the female flowers yourself. You can do this by removing either the whole male flower or just the pollen producing parts of the male flower (these are called the stamens). The female flower has a receptacle that will accept the pollen. It should have 5 lobes at the tip of this receptacle, called the stigma. Be sure to completely coat all 5 lobes with pollen. This will ensure a complete fertilization of the plant's eggs in the fruit, and therefore you will have full development of the seeds. I know you may think that seeds are a bad thing, but without them, most melons don't develop their fruit fully. (Of course seedless varieties are exceptions to this rule). Sometimes the male flowers will develop before the female flowers do, so be sure their are female flowers that are open and fully developed before you dust them with pollen.

You should also fertilize your melon 3 different times during its life cycle. I would fertilize once when you transplant or just when the seedling emerges from the soil; then again when the vines really start growing quickly; and then finally when the fruits begin to set. Melons are susceptible to both boron and magnesium deficiency, so be sure that the fertilizer you use has both of those nutrients. A fertilizer such as a 5-10-10 should suffice. (Those numbers signify the percentages of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the fertilizer, respectively). I would also lay down a layer of compost before planting the melon to give it a boost.

Hey Ellen...I'm sorry to hear about your loss. It sounds like growing tasty cantaloupes would be a great tribute to your dad. I do believe I can give you some tips to grow great tasting melons though. First off cantaloupes, like other melons, really do best with warm temperatures. If there are days that go by where it does not get above 70F, you may want to do something about it. What you can do is lay down some black plastic sheeting before you plant your melons. Put some soil or rocks along the edges so it doesn't blow away in the wind (in all honesty wind is not the best for melons anyway; I'll explain why later). When you plant the seeds or seedlings, poke holes in the plastic where you are planting so the shoots of the melon can get plenty of light. You will also want to poke holes in the plastic around the rootzone of the melon. This is to ensure the plants get plenty of water. Melons also like deep waterings. As you already know, melons grow along the ground. The melon's stems and leaves will grow on that black plastic and it will warm up the plant. If you live in a climate that has long warm summers, you won't have to worry about using the black plastic.

I hope this is helpful. Let me know if you have any further questions. Happy Gardening! --Robby

The above advice was written to address fungal diseases, which is what I assume your watermelons are suffering from. Watermelons are also susceptible to viral diseases. The viral diseases are spread via insects that bite into your watermelon. Beetles and aphids should be removed from the plant if you fear that your watermelon may have viral problems.

There are some fungicidal sprays/oils that you can purchase, but it has been my experience that these have limited effect. You may have heard how when you see a mushroom, you can rest assure that 99% of that fungus is underground. That mushroom is just the sexual body of the fungus that is there to release spores. Same goes for the fuzzy stuff you see on the leaves. Those are just the spore forming bodies of the fungus. A majority of the fungus is inside the leaf, so using those sprays may not even reach the heart of the problem.

When I was doing my research in grad school, I did almost all of my work in greenhouses. Every night we would burn sulfur to decrease the outbreak of powdery mildew. (Powdery mildew is a fungus that looks like that fuzzy, grayish-colored stuff growing on leaves of plants. Watermelons are especially susceptible to it). This practice worked fairly well, but it was done in an indoor setting. I don't believe that it would have the same effect in an outdoor setting. Not to mention, it may be difficult to find sulfur to burn anyway.