Talk to seasoned gardeners; they still swear by Hale’s Best. It’s exceptionally sweet, thick-walled, and the seed cavity is small, so you can enjoy more delicious, mouth-watering fruit! Grows and stays sweet in a wide variety of conditions. More drought tolerant than other melons.
Hales Best Jumbo is one of the most popular open pollinated melon varieties. This melon is great for the home vegetable garden or the market garden. It is a standard early shipper that takes about 85 days to develop its heavy coarse net and light ribs.
Hales Best Jumbo melons were introduced in 1924 by I. D. Hale, who found this variety being developed by a Japanese market grower in Imperial County near Brawley, CA.
~ planting ~
When to sow outside: 1 to 2 weeks after average last frost, and when temperatures are warm.
When to start inside: Recommended for cold winter climates. 4 to 6 weeks before average last frost. Seedlings don’t transplant well – use paper or pulp pots and transplant pots directly into soil.
Melons must not be planted until the soil temperature has warmed to 70-80 degrees F, since they thrive in heat. Start the plants indoors only 2-4 weeks before transplanting, since if the plants grow too large they have difficulty adjusting to the change. Sow several Hales Best Jumbo Cantaloupe Melon seeds 1/2" deep in each peat pot, and keep them at 75 degrees until they germinate. Thin to the strongest plant in each pot by cutting off the others. Gradually accustom the plants to outdoor temperatures by setting them outside during the day, then transplant them to hills 4-6' apart with 2-3 plants to a hill. For companion planting benefits, plant Hales Best Jumbo Cantaloupe Melon seeds near corn but not potatoes.
~ growing ~
In cooler climates, melons may benefit from black plastic to warm the soil; mulch also helps to conserve necessary moisture, control weeds, and keep the melons clean. Adequate moisture is particularly crucial as the vines begin to develop. After midsummer, pinch off blossoms and smaller fruits in order to direct the full energy to the larger fruits; the smaller fruits will not have time to ripen before frost, and are no great loss.
~ harvesting ~
Harvesting at the right time is very important with melons. Commercial growers harvest before melons are ripe, forcing them to ripen off the vine, but, the last few days of ripening on the vine put a lot of sugars into the melon. Bottom line is that melons taste significantly better when vine ripened. How do you know when melons are ripe? These indicators: 1) The color between the surface netting is brown, not green. 2) A ripe melon will have a pleasant, fruity aroma at the blossom end. 3) A crack will form on the stem right near the point of attachment. This is called the “slip stage”, and in a few days, the melon will detach from the vine with little effort and pressure. If it is somewhat difficult to detach the fruit from the vine, the melon is not ready yet. Do not allow to over-ripen. The melon will keep for several weeks in a cool place.
