Exotic cantaloupe cantaloupe: review of a variety with amazing taste and aroma

Melon is a tasty and healthy product that is considered a symbol of summer and relaxation. It is popular in all countries of the world, liked by adults and children. Many gardeners dream of growing a representative of melons and melons on their plot.

Majority varieties They are capricious to care for and do not tolerate cold weather well. It will not be easy for beginners to cope with their cultivation in the conditions of our country. Cantaloupe melon is an exception. This variety is suitable for cultivation not only in the southern but also in the central regions.

Description of the melon variety

Cantaloupe is a melon variety that is more than 2 thousand years old. Its fruits were first found in India and Guinea. Now this representative of melons is grown all over the world. It is cultivated on an industrial scale in Thailand.

Cantaloupe is also called Thai, Muscat and American melon. This variety is famous for its unpretentiousness and excellent taste.

This is interesting! Culture was brought to Europe from Asia during the Crusades. This melon became the Pope's favorite dessert. He ordered it to be grown on his estates in Cantaloupe. This is how Cantaloupe got its name.

Distinctive features of Cantaloupe

In appearance, Cantaloupe resembles a pumpkin rather than a melon. Its fruits have a thick green or yellow rind, which is covered with a brown, rough, net-like pattern. Melon pulp is juicy and aromatic, has a rich sweet taste and musky smell.

The photo shows the fruits of the variety.

Cantaloupe differs from other melon varieties in its small size. The weight of one fruit does not exceed 1500 g.

This is interesting! Melon fruits are called pumpkins.

The variety is easy to care for. It has average resistance to cold weather, so it is suitable for growing in the central and southern regions of our country.

Another positive quality of Thai melon is its immunity to diseases of melons. It does not have such high resistance to infections as more modern hybrids, but diseases rarely affect it.

Useful properties of melon

Cantaloupe melon is valued not only for its rich aroma and refreshing taste, but also for its beneficial properties.

It refers to dietary products: per 100 g there are only 34 kcal, 0.84 g of protein, 0.19 g of fat and 7.25 g of carbohydrates.

Melon contains a huge amount of microelements. Its fruits have a number of beneficial properties:

• choline stimulates brain activity and improves memory;
• beta-carotene removes waste, toxins, free radicals and bad cholesterol from the body, improves vision and stimulates liver function, and has a positive effect on the cardiovascular system;
• zeaxanthin improves vision;
• potassium improves the condition of the cardiovascular system, normalizes blood pressure, and has a beneficial effect on the condition of the skin and hair;
• inosine stimulates hair growth, cleanses the body of bad cholesterol;
• Folic acid has a positive effect on the general condition of the body and is vital for pregnant women.

Main characteristics

Cantaloupe is an old and proven variety that has not yet lost its popularity. This is where beginning gardeners should begin their acquaintance with melons.

Description of Cantaloupe:

This is interesting! Based on Musk Melon, breeders from the USA have grown many hybrids. Yellow cantaloupe f1 is the most popular of them.

How to choose fruits when purchasing

Cantaloupe is one of the most delicious melon varieties. Unripe fruits have a watery taste and unsaturated aroma.

When buying this melon in markets and stores, you should adhere to three rules that will help check the quality of the product:

1. Crust. It should not have dark spots, dents or other damage. The main shade of ripe fruits is dirty white, yellow or striped. Pumpkins are dense and hard to the touch.
2. Pedicel. It should not be on ripe fruits, as in this case it is easily separated.
3. Aroma. Upon sniffing a ripe Cantaloupe, the consumer will notice a sweet musky aroma. The smell is strongest at the stalk. If there is no aroma, but there is a smell of mold, such melons are not worth buying.

How to grow this variety yourself

Melon is a heat-loving crop. The most illuminated area of ​​the garden is chosen for it. It is better if the beds are located on a hill so that water does not accumulate in the roots of the plants.

It is important to choose the right predecessors for melon. Beds on which other melon crops (pumpkins, cucumbers, watermelons, zucchini) have been grown over the past 2 years are not suitable. Cantaloupe feels best in an area of ​​the garden where legumes, root vegetables, nightshade and cereal plants, cabbage, and any greens previously grew.

Slightly acidic, loose and fertile soil is suitable for melon. It begins to be prepared in the fall.

The beds are dug up and cleared of plant debris. 8 kg of humus is added per 1 m². To reduce acidity, the soil is mixed with ash. To lighten the soil composition, sand is used.

In spring, the soil is dug up again and cleared of weeds. Per 1 m², add 30 g of superphosphate, 15 g of ammonium nitrate and potassium sulfate. Then they are disinfected by pouring a solution of copper sulfate.

Holes 25-30 cm wide are dug in rows. It is important to maintain a distance of at least 1 m between the recesses.

Landing

Melon is grown in seedlings and without seedlings. The first option is considered optimal, as it guarantees full ripening of the fruit before the first frost.

Whatever melon cultivation option is used, the seed treatment process will be the same. Preparation will accelerate the germination of planting material and increase plant resistance to adverse environmental factors:

1. Selection of planting material. For planting, choose dense seeds with a uniform color.
2. Seed dressing. To do this, they are immersed in a light pink solution of potassium permanganate for 30 minutes or in hydrogen peroxide for 15 minutes. After this, the planting material is washed under running water.
3. Growth stimulation. To speed up the germination of seeds, they are soaked for a day in a special solution (Epin) or home remedies (aloe juice). The container with the seeds is placed on a radiator or in a warm place so that the liquid does not become cold.

Advice! For growing, it is better to use seeds not from last year’s harvest, but from fruits collected 2-3 years ago. Fresh planting material will produce plants with many male flowers and few ovaries.

Seedling method

Peat pots are used to grow melon. They are used only once, so they do not need disinfection.

Seedlings begin to grow in mid-April. The plants will be ready for planting in 4-5 weeks.

When preparing soil for seedlings, peat and humus are mixed in equal proportions. Add half a portion of sand and a glass of ash to the composition.

Basic growing rules:

1. Plant the seeds in heated soil. To do this, it is kept for 2 days at room temperature.
2. The earth is scattered into pre-prepared pots. Before planting seeds, water it with warm water.
3. 2 seeds are sown in each container. They are buried 2-3 cm, sprinkled with soil, covered with film and put in a warm place until germination.
4. After the first shoots appear, the film is removed and the seedlings are moved to the windowsill. It is watered as the soil dries with water at room temperature.
5. During the entire period of growing seedlings, 1 fertilizing is applied. Use chicken manure diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10. For 5 liters of this composition it is recommended to add 2 tbsp. l. ash and 1 tbsp. l. superphosphate.
6. A week before planting in a permanent place, it is recommended to start hardening the pumpkin. To do this, plants are taken outside during the warm part of the day.
7. Before planting, pour 1 liter of water into each hole. Add 1 tbsp there. l. ash and 25 g of superphosphate.
8. Plants are planted one at a time in each hole. If both seeds have sprouted in the pot, then pinch off the weak stem. When planting, the root collar is not buried, but is left to rise slightly above the surface of the earth.

After planting seedlings in open ground, the first time it is covered with film at night to protect it from frost. In the central regions, it is recommended to grow melon in a greenhouse.

Seed method

The seed method is only suitable for the southern regions. In this case, the harvest will appear much later.

Seeds are sown in open ground in the second half of May. By this time, the soil temperature should not be lower than +18 °C (measured at a depth of 15 cm).

A layer of humus or rotted manure is poured into the bottom of the prepared hole. The same layer of soil is poured on top. The layers are mixed. The rest of the space is filled with ordinary garden soil.

2 seeds are sown in each hole as far apart as possible. They are buried 5-6 cm and watered with warm water.

The crops are covered with film until germination. The film is removed daily for ventilation. When the first true leaves appear on the plants, the greenhouse is dismantled or left until flowering begins.

When the plants grow, the weaker stems are pinched. Some gardeners prefer to leave 2 plants in 1 hole at once.

Features of cultivation

Cantaloupe is planted only if it produces a large number of shoots. To obtain large and tasty fruits, it is recommended to leave 2-3 side stems on one plant.

Watering should be frequent and plentiful. Use water at room temperature. It is not poured directly under the root, but into a prepared depression near the hole. Some gardeners prefer to pour liquid into grooves dug between rows.

After each watering, the soil is loosened. During the process, the beds are cleared of weeds.

Advice! Experienced gardeners recommend mulching melon beds with rotted sawdust, peat or straw. This layer will not only protect the roots from freezing and pests, but will also slow down the growth of weeds.

During the entire growing period, the melon is fed twice. Before flowering, use nitrogen fertilizers. When flowers are formed, potassium and phosphorus are added once.

Possible difficulties

When growing melons, beginning gardeners often face a number of difficulties. The list contains the most popular:

1. Leaves wither in hot weather. This means that the number of waterings needs to be increased, and in the mornings the bushes need to be sprayed with warm water.
2. Few ovaries are formed. Artificial pollination will help. To do this, male flowers are applied with stamens to female ones.
3. The fruits are small and ugly. Reduce the number of ovaries. 2-4 fruits are left on one plant.

Diseases and pests

Cantaloupe is immune to melon and melon diseases. According to gardeners, infections rarely affect it, but it does happen.

Most often, melon suffers from root rot and powdery mildew. To avoid plant contamination, it is important to disinfect all garden tools, follow the rules of watering and crop rotation, and do not plant other melons and melons next to the pumpkin.

As a more serious preventative measure, plants are sprayed with Bordeaux mixture or a light pink solution of potassium permanganate. These remedies will also help at the very beginning of the development of diseases. Bushes that are completely damaged by infection are removed and burned.

To protect the melon from pests, its leaves are sprinkled with tobacco. It is useful to spray the above-ground part of the plant with a soap solution (1 piece of soap per bucket of water).

Harvesting and application

The melon harvest is harvested in late August and early September. Only fully ripe fruits are picked, since they do not ripen at home.

The maturity of Cantaloupe is determined by the following characteristics:

• the stalk is easily separated from the fruit;
• a strong musky aroma emanates from pumpkins;
• If you knock on a ripened melon, you will hear a dull sound.

Cantaloupe is mainly consumed fresh. It makes delicious candied fruits, dried chips, boiling.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

Benefits of Cantaloupe:

• rich aroma and pleasant taste of the fruit;
• pumpkin portions;
• immunity to melon and melon diseases;
• ease of care;
• not prone to cracking;
• possibility of using seeds for planting.

The short-term shelf life of melon is considered a disadvantage. It can be stored for no more than 3 weeks.

Conclusion

Cantaloupe melon is one of the most unpretentious varieties to grow.It is not afraid of high humidity, is immune to various infections and is resistant to cold weather.

Ease of care is not the only advantage of Muskmelon. This variety is famous for its small but tasty fruits with a rich aroma. Gardeners should start getting acquainted with melons with Cantaloupe.