Permapotes

Melon

Melon is an annual plant valued for its fleshy fruits, with sweet types offering juicy and often fragrant flesh. Its botanical name is Cucumis melo, and it belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family, alongside cucumbers and courgettes. Watermelon belongs to a different species. These crops may have similar roles on the plate without being botanically identical or developing in exactly the same way.

Melon stems are flexible and branched. They trail across the ground or grow upwards as their tendrils attach to a support. The leaves are fairly large, generally rounded and more or less lobed. The plant therefore forms a spreading leafy presence rather than a compact clump. Its vigour and the extent of its stems differ according to variety and growing conditions.

Small yellow flowers appear along the stems. Depending on the variety, plants have male and female flowers, or male flowers alongside flowers containing both male and female organs. Not every flower is therefore capable of becoming a fruit. Insects help carry pollen, while successfully fertilised flowers capable of fruiting develop into melons. The different flower types are part of the species’ reproductive diversity.

Fruits may be round, oval or elongated. Their rind can be smooth, ribbed or covered in a network of markings known as netting. Inside, the flesh surrounds a cavity containing seeds. It may be orange, green or whitish depending on the type. Charentais and Galia illustrate part of this diversity without representing all of it. The name melon includes many selections within the same species.

Firmness, fragrance and sugar content are not identical across types. Ripeness also affects texture and aroma. Some melons become strongly fragrant, while others remain subtler. Changes after picking vary between groups and varieties too. A fruit does not automatically become sweeter once separated from its plant. Appearance alone therefore does not describe all its eating qualities, even when the rind looks familiar.

In the kitchen, sweet melons feature as slices, in fruit salads, chilled desserts and sorbets. They also accompany savoury dishes with herbs or cheese. In a garden, melon is a warm-season crop sensitive to frost. Differences in earliness and development distinguish varieties suited to shorter seasons from those needing more time for their fruits to ripen.

View the cultivation calendar
Melon
Melon
Characteristics
  • Lifecycle : Annual
  • Exposure : Full Sun
  • Frost Hardiness : Frost Sensitive
  • Cultivation Difficulty : Medium
  • Mature height : 30 cm
Sowing & Planting
  • Greenhouse Growing : Recommended
  • Sowing Depth : 1.5 cm
  • Plant Spacing : 80 cm
  • Row Spacing : 120 cm
Maintenance
  • Maintenance : Moderate
  • Water Requirements : High
Other characteristics
  • Soil Type : Humus-rich
  • Soil pH Preference : Neutral
  • Pest Sensitivity : Moderate
  • Disease Sensitivity : Moderate
  • Weed Sensitivity : Moderate
  • Pollination : Insect-pollinated
  • Propagation : Sowing