Those are the group of plants that handle transplanting the worst, so it is better to plant them while they are very young. I think it is because they send out those super fine roots that are just too easy to damage.

Personally I think we are done with cold weather but melons like warm soil so if you can find out what the soil temp is in your area you should be able to determine if they will just sit there and barely grow, or take off like a rocket.

In my entire long life of gardening I have NEVER gotten a watermelon or honeydew to taste like they do in the grocery store. They look the same but barely have any flavor. My father's garden had the same track record and he lived in an area famous for its watermelons. I read somewhere about very specific pH and mineral requirements in order to get peak flavor... I don't remember what those were but I plan on googling it again and taking action this year.

i grew mine froom seed last yr & used peet pots,then just planted the whole thing-w/ exception to the cukes. those i sowed about this time of year directly in ground. they all grew great here in mooresville but i agree w/ triagnle john the taste in the melons werent the same. trying again this year w/ different varieties so i guess we'll see.

I have been following the recommendations from Quarels sp? seeds, a listing that I get from the Farmers Alliance old time store in siler City. It says the mellons and cucs should be seeded from April 20 thru May. I have not had great success with mellons. They have been small and sometimes tastless but sometimes they have had good flavor.

I have had great success with both Sierra Gold and Ambrosia cantelopes. The key is to cut back on water when they get close to ripe. Excess water will dilute the flavor of the melons. This is true of watermelons as well.They also taste better if they ripen in cooler night temps, not much we can do about that around here except to plant a second crop timed to mature in late Sept. I think you are best off planting melons from seed as they don't transplant well and by the time they start growing after transplant the ones grown from seed will typically have passed them by.

digger is so right. One rain can mean the difference between sweet,fragrant melons and strawberries and tasteless but beautiful fruit. Waiting til the soil dries and the plant builds up sugars again could mean they quickly rot if they were full ripe before they got rained on.
Something different every year, isn't it.
The key to controlling the water is to plant the fruit/veg in a hill for perfect drainage.

now I feel better about my last year failed is not easy to grow my fave summer fruit watermelon.Thank you guys.

mmmm-that is intersting about the water thing. i didnt know that. thanks for the info