Your comments and tips

31 Jan 20, John Davis (Australia - temperate climate)

What is the best method to test ripeness of a rocky. Cheers

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03 Feb 20, Another gardener (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Old varieties use to start turning yellow and they came away from the vine easily. The new varieties don't. They will probably turn a bit of a different colour but if you press around the butt end of the melon it will go inwards like a sponge. Release it and it will come back out. Another clue is to keep a record of when you plant and be guided by the time from planting to maturity or about 45 days after the melon has grown to full size.

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02 Feb 20, Frank (Australia - temperate climate)

I've never had them in the garden, I've just chosen some seeds in a few weeks back and I'm now getting melons, probably a bit late but, see what happens When I test them in the shop, I look for one that is an orange to yellow colour and tap it gently if it (sounds hollow it is ripe)

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04 Feb 20, Anon (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

There are many different kinds of melons in the world but the ones we call rock melons in Qld use to grow green and turn yellow when ripening. The new varieties the commercial growers grow are green and they stay green. They are grown to suit the supermarkets, size, transportability and shelf life. Very hard when to know when to pick them. A grower told me 85 days after planting he picks, that is in the spring. If you look on the web for melons you will find a site with 25 different kinds.

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10 Dec 19, Steven Larkin (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Hi , My Edens Gem melons have a few weeks more growing until harvest. Most of the leaves have yellowed and died. Will they still be ok to be harvested. Thanks

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17 Dec 19, Anon (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

This happens to some crops as they approach harvest time, maybe they needed more watering in this hot weather. I'm in the same boat with rock melons, my problem is do some of the new commercial melons slip from the vine when ripening. Mine are still green and I feel they will not be ripe until around Xmas day. A few of my melons were attacked by Qld fruit fly I think. I put shade cloth over my melons this morning to keep the flies off. If you have plenty of melons you could try one.

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28 Nov 19, Peter Blakey (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

how do you care for the rockmelon plant the one we have have grown from scraps and have many flowers and one has a small fruit

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29 Nov 19, anon (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

It is becoming late in the season to be growing rockies with the hot weather we are having and coming The plant will have lots of flowers, male and female (the one with the fruit on it), bees need to do their pollinating work. Only a small % of the female will develop into fruit. They need plenty of water while the fruit is growing (only takes a week or two). It takes approx. 45 days from pollination to the fruit ripening. Back off the water a bit after the fruit has grown to full size. Too much water and they will split in the hot weather.

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18 Feb 19, Edith (New Zealand - temperate climate)

I have a patch of garden that was covered by polythene due to illness and I planted 3 rock melons into small holes that I made. They have flourished and there are melons galore. I think the heat from the polythene must have helped. I find that the plastic does not drain the water when it rains, and I am worried that the melons will spoil against it. I have tried to lift them and put netting and wood underneath as many as I can. Can I harvest them and will they ripen when they are off the vines. I will pick them all as there is rain coming if they will ripen themselves. They are nearly ripe as I cut one and altho it was not ripe and yellow I could eat it. They are a good size. bit in fact.

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19 Feb 19, mike (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)

I don't believe they will ripen if picked unless they have started to ripen already. Rockmelons will break from the vine fairly easily when starting to ripen. A rather gentle pull and they will come away from the vine. A bit hard to tell when to pick without this sign. At this stage a good down pour of rain and they will take up heaps of water and split. Melons seem to take a long time from growing to a good size and to then ripening. I had some ripening the last 4-6 weeks and most just split or just went rotten. They are a spring crop in SE QLD Australia. Good luck.

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