With these small varieties, you can grow deliciously sweet summer melons without fearing they’ll take over your backyard.
Melons don’t mind their manners—at least as far as their growth habits are concerned. A single, rambling vine of a standard melon variety can cover up to 100 square feet of garden space, and most urban farmers don’t have that kind of room to spare. Miniature melons are the perfect fit for smaller gardens, and the flavor of a homegrown melon is an experience not to be forgotten. Melons can be termed "minis” if their fruits are small—usually less than 2 pounds each.
Two Ways to Grow
“What makes these types of miniature melons a good fit for urban gardeners is the fact that their lightweight fruit doesn’t need to be supported when the plants are grown vertically,” says Niki Jabbour, author of The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener (Storey Publishing, 2011).
“Gardeners with trellises, arbors, fences, tepees or other garden structures can easily grow these mini melons upward instead of outward.” Vertical vines fill a far smaller garden footprint than vines left to ramble, and the developing fruits are kept up off the ground and away from pests and rot.
The second way mini melons are classified is by their growth habit. Bush-type melons are excellent choices for gardeners with limited space. These plants are far smaller in stature, taking up only a few square feet apiece, but in most cases, the fruit is standard size. The compact vines aren’t as prolific as full-sized vines, but production is still good. In most cases, each vine will produce three or more fruits.
These mini melons produce vines that are as rowdy as standard-sized cultivars, taking up lots of garden space, but the fruit they produce is single-serving size.
1. Alvaro
This beautiful little melon is one of the first to mature each season. With only 65 days to maturity, this Charentais-type averages just 5 inches in diameter. Its smooth skin ripens to a yellowish tan and is accentuated with dark green, shallow ribbing. The salmon-orange flesh is sweet as can be.
2. Early Silver Line
This Korean introduction matures in 75 days. The oval-shaped, smooth, yellow-skinned fruit is highlighted with silver striping, and each small melon weighs between 1 and 2 pounds. The white flesh is very crisp and sugary, and with a name like Early Silver Line, you know it will be one of the first melons to produce fruits—even in northern climates.
3. Golden Jenny
This bush-type melon is a yellow-fleshed, short-stature variant of the classic, green-fleshed heirloom Jenny Lind variety. Both selections are unique for the knob, or turban, at the blossom end of each fruit. A Golden Jenny’s golden flesh is super sweet, and its netted green skin turns yellow when the fruits are ripe.
4. Green Machine
This miniature melon matures in 85 days and is absolutely incredible—not only in flavor and appearance but also in number. The compact vines produce mass quantities of 2-pound melons, each with lovely green flesh that tastes divine. The skin is netted, and fruits fall from the vine when ripe.
5. Honey Bun
This bush variety is not only compact in stature, but it also bears the cutest little fruits. Measuring just 5 inches across, each honey-flavored fruit has deep orange flesh and a classic, netted cantaloupe skin. Each vine produces three or four fruits in about 75 days that fall from the vine when ripe.
6. Kazakh
A mini melon with terrific sweetness, each 1- to 2-pound green fruit turns golden yellow when ripe. An Asian variety, Kazakh’s fruits are perfectly round orbs, and the vines are drought-resistant, early producers. Vines reach maturity in about 75 days and work beautifully on a trellis or fence.
7. Minnesota Midget
Minnesota Midget are known for its fast maturation—it reaches maturity in a mere 70 days—and its sugary-sweet flesh. The very small, very compact plants reach only 3 to 4 feet across yet still produce numerous fruits, up to six per plant!
8. Sleeping Beauty
This variety was introduced in the late 1990's and is best-known for its compact vine and delicious, yellow-orange-fleshed fruits. Ripe fruits reach only a half-pound in weight, and the netted skin has deep ribbing and turns a pale yellow when ripe. Plants reach maturity in 85 days.
9. Sprite
These are fast becoming popular finds at farmers markets, and rightfully so. These Japanese melons are the subject of several university-based breeding programs because of their high production value, marketability and sweet flavor.
10. Tigger
This is the miniature melon to grow if you are looking for something a bit different. They take longer to reach maturity—90 days—but their unique appearance and delicious flavor are worth the wait. This is not a good choice if you live where the growing season is short, and the fruits are definitely sweeter when the vines are grown in dry conditions, but if you live in a warm place, Tigger is the melon to try.
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