What’s better than a cold slice of fruit from a cantaloupe plant in the heat of a summer afternoon? A homegrown cold slice of sweet cantaloupe! If you live in a warm climate and have ample room in your backyard, I might have just found your next favorite hobby.
With a little patience, love, and care, anyone can grow their own cantaloupe plants! Keep reading to learn all you need to know.
Growing Cantaloupe
The first step in learning how to grow a cantaloupe plant, is planting and caring for it, including harvesting season, and beyond!
Growing Cantaloupe
This guide walks you through how to grow a canteloupe from seed. If you’d rather skip the seed part and take a shortcut, you can purchase cantaloupe plants at your local nursery, and skip to the “transplanting” section in my post!
One of the best parts about growing cantaloupe plants is, undoubtedly, when harvest season comes around and you get to reap the rewards of your hard work! Learn how to tell when a cantaloupe is ripe enough for the picking, and how to harvest your fruit without damaging them or the plant.
Cantaloupe in the Kitchen
Now that you’ve got yourself a bunch of cantaloupes, it’s time to learn why and how to use them in the kitchen. Whether they’re the fruit of your harvest or store-bought, this information is important!
How to Tell if Cantaloupe is Ripe
If you’re not in the business of growing cantaloupes yourself, it’s hard to tell the difference between all the cantaloupes at the grocery stores. And yet, there’s a way—find out how!
In addition to reviewing all the factors that indicate cantaloupe ripeness, this post also lets you know the advantages of eating a ripe cantaloupe as opposed to one that is too young or too mature.
Cantaloupe juice is by far one of the most underrated juices out there, and I’m here to change that. Cantaloupe juice is a delicious and healthy drink! Find out why, and how to make it for yourself.
Fun Facts About Cantaloupe Nutrition
Take a deep dive into the micro-functioning of a cantaloupe. Exactly what is going on beneath its tough rind?
The Health Benefits Of Cantaloupe
What could be better than discovering that your favorite fruit is healthy for you? Discover what the nutrients in cantaloupe does for your body.
Storing Cantaloupe
So you either over-bought at the store, or couldn’t keep up with the fruit production of your cantaloupe plants. These things happen!
Does that mean you have to toss them out? Certainly not. Learn how to store cantaloupe for future enjoyment.
There are several ways to store cantaloupe, which extends its shelf life for different periods of time. Discover which method works best for you, and how to do it!
Already know you’ll be having cantaloupe cravings in the middle of winter? Instead of resorting to out-of-season cantaloupes at the grocery store, learn how to freeze your fresh cantaloupe.
Cantaloupe Varieties
Cantaloupe varieties have been the subject to much scrutiny and deliberation. Why? Because there are several other cantaloupe-like fruits and varieties whose similarities make it difficult to build an accurate understanding of their relations.
While there are still some disagreements, the information listed below is what is accepted by most experts in the field
Common Confusions
Let’s straighten out the facts regarding cantaloupes, honeydew, and muskmelons.
Honeydew vs. Cantaloupe
Broad Categories
Now that you understand the difference between other types of melons, take a look at the broader cantaloupe categories, plus a selection of my favorites!
Japanese Cantaloupes
Asian Cantaloupes
Cantaloupe Types You Need To Try
Varieties
Take a closer look at some of the cantaloupe varieties I have highlighted individually.
Cantaloupe FAQs
Can my pets eat cantaloupe?
The answer is yes! Plus, for reasons still unknown, cats and dogs seem to actually enjoy the taste of canteloupe, instead of just tolerating it.
Just like humans, however, every pet is different, and yours might have a canteloupe allergy that you are unaware of. Thus you should monitor your four-legged friend closely the first time they eat canteloupe.
For more information, check out my posts on pets and canteloupe:
Can I grow cantaloupes at home?
You certainly can! If you live in a warm climate and have plenty of room in your backyard (canteloupe plants like to grow far and wide) then with a little care and patience, you can soon be on your way to harvesting your first batch of cantaloupes.
Check out my growing canteloupe section for more guidance!
How can I store cantaloupes?
There are a variety of ways to store canteloupe for future enjoyment. For guides, check out my storing canteloupe section. You can even freeze canteloupe!
What’s the difference between canteloupe and melons?
Great question. You aren’t the first, nor the last to ask yourself this question. For answers, check out my common confusions section. You’ll even learn more about honeydew!
Grow Cantaloupe Plants!
Cantaloupes are a delicious and underrated summer fruit. In my opinion, the only way to make an already tasty fruit even better is by growing it yourself! I hope that with the help of this material, you feel confident in embarking on your own canteloupe-growing adventures.
In the meantime, check out some of my other favorite fruits:
