# Why can't I grow good tasting cantaloupes?



## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

Two years ago I grew big beautiful cantaloupes that tasted nasty. So I asked around and got suggestions for good cantaloupes and this year I planted Rocky Ford and Hale's Best. They aren't good. They LOOK good, but the Rocky Ford has a sour taste and the Hale's Best doesn't have hardly any flavor.

What am I doing wrong? My mom thinks it's because I use aged horse manure for fertilizer!!!


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## Guest (Aug 25, 2008)

I don't know, but I've been buying these cantaloupes at the supermarket called ambrosia something-or-other. They are wonderfully sweet!

They're organic, and cost about the same as the non-organic no-flavor cantaloupes. I find it amusing that people pass up the organic corner of the produce section just because it's organic (I guess they assume it will be more expensive but they don't even bother to compare), and buy the flavorless stuff that costs about the same to only a little less.

Sorry, I'm highjacking, but see if you can find a variety with "ambrosia" in the name.


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

I have only had ONE good cantaloupe this year and it came from Wal Mart!!!


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I grew several different types of cantaloupes this year. I found that some were good and some were not. I think each might be specific to the soil and growing conditions available. We had little rain this year - and all at the wrong time for my melons. The best ones were actually honey dews. Keep trying different varieties - look for heirloom ones from your area also. They won't store well or keep well, but they will have a better flavor and be ones what will do better in your area. A lot of it still depends on the weather, timing of the rain, etc. One year they will be bad and another they will be great. And I think they like composted manure - down below but not touching the seeds in the planting hole.

My favorite for the year were Old Time Tennessee - a watermelon-sized cantaloupe. I almost let them get too ripe. They were huge! And the green fleshed that I enjoyed the best was Golden Perfection. Lots of nice, large melons - takes a lot longer for them to ripen than you would expect!


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## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

Ambrosia is what we have been planting. They sometimes need to set a day or two after picking to rippen a bit more.


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## Guest (Aug 25, 2008)

Allen W said:


> Ambrosia is what we have been planting. They sometimes need to set a day or two after picking to rippen a bit more.


Are yours real sweet?


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## T-Bone 369 (Jan 18, 2007)

We plant mostly Athena and Aphrodite. Both are very sweet. Here is a link that explains about when to pick mellons - it does a better job than I would and I save typing. 

http://www.ext.vt.edu/news/periodicals/commhort/1995-08/commhort-39.html

Another thing that we think helps is when the fruit get close to full size we cut back on the irrigation - suposedly that improves the sugar content and this the sweetness.

T


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

Thanks for the link. I knew about watching for the stem slip, etc. I think the problem is the rain we've been getting lately...got three inches just the other day and we've had showers nearly every day. Probably too much for the cantaloupes which is why they taste so bland.

Might have to try Ambrosia, Athena and Aphrodite next year!


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## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

Yes lady cat they are sweet. Best when the flesh is just a little soft. They will slip easily off the vine, sometimes by their selves when close to ripe. Something has been liking them its been getting about half the melons off the vine.
think about any melon will be sweeter if it ripens when it is sunny instead of during cloudy overcast weather.


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## Randy Rooster (Dec 14, 2004)

Ambrosia is the best and sweetest melon Ive ever grown. They are almost too sweet.


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## didaho (Jan 22, 2008)

I grew ambrosia last year and they were wonderful. This year I though I'd try Hale's but none are ready yet so I don't know how they will be.
I do know Hale's don't get half as big or have as many fruit as the ambrosia and they take longer to ripen too.
I think I will go back to ambrosia next year.

Debbie


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## Guest (Aug 25, 2008)

Randy Rooster said:


> Ambrosia is the best and sweetest melon Ive ever grown. They are almost too sweet.


Yep, very sweet. They nearly melt in your mouth. I can only eat a couple slices at a time. But those are big slices because they are big melons!


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## MaineFarmMom (Dec 29, 2002)

Ravenlost said:


> Thanks for the link. I knew about watching for the stem slip, etc. I think the problem is the rain we've been getting lately...got three inches just the other day and we've had showers nearly every day. Probably too much for the cantaloupes which is why they taste so bland.


You're right! Too much water leads to tasteless melons.


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## jnap31 (Sep 16, 2005)

Callieslamb said:


> I And the green fleshed that I enjoyed the best was Golden Perfection. Lots of nice, large melons - takes a lot longer for them to ripen than you would expect!


I grew the golden perfection and 10 others this year I could not eat them or sell them they were picked when they slipped so they were ripe but they just were not sweet and did not have a good flavor, tigger sells well and smells good but again no taste the catalog said it was an armenian heirloom and is sweeter the drier it is we had a wet spring so maybe that is why, anyway the Boule de or was the best honey dew my customers and I have ever tried so sweet also sakata sweet was a hit (these dont slip when ripe) my favorite cantelope and ai have grown lots are the petit des renees, I have seed but will not sell it as it has crossed most likely.I bought most of my seed from baker creek for the melons.


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

Well, we've gotten so much rain the first of the week that the cantaloupes are splitting open and souring. The dogs and chickens still like them though!


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## Txsteader (Aug 22, 2005)

Water definitely impacts the flavor. We learned this with watermelons. We've grown the same variety for 3 years, sugar baby. The 1st two years, they were fabulous, this year it rained the last 2 weeks before harvest and the melons were bland, yuk. The amount of water was the only difference. Melons like hot and dry conditions during those final few weeks.


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## Windy in Kansas (Jun 16, 2002)

Hales Best is an old variety that should give excellent results. I have grown it many times in the past but started having problems with them splitting up so I switched to a variety with heavier netting. The ones I grew always had fantastic flavor.

Growing conditions and soil nutrient levels would be about the only thing I can think of that would yield poor tasting ones. I would tend to think that the manure would give greater flavor than a less desired one. I have used some horse manure in addition to chemical fertilizers with good results. 

I don't know if you still have growing plants with any fruit set on, but I would be inclined to get a fertilizer that contains micro-nutrients and apply it through foliar application. 

Sorry to learn that Hales Best certainly wasn't your best this year.


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## Whip Hussmann (Nov 9, 2005)

I would think that with too much rain, you get a whole lot less sunshine. Plants need sunshine to make sugar. No sun no sugar. As far as I know thats what you need.


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