Cantaloupe Sugar Cube – Renee’s Garden

Cucumis melo var. cantalupensis

Mini Cantaloupe

Youll love these personal size, mini cantaloupes with intensely sweet, deep orange flesh that top out about the size of a small grapefruit. Sugar Cube cantaloupes are widely adapted, bear early, and produce abundantly over a long harvest season. The vigorous vines have exceptional disease resistance; this variety thrives where most melons struggle. Fruits make delicious individual snacks and scrumptious summer desserts.

Seed Count: Approx. 17 / Weight: 0.43 g

STARTING SEEDLINGS OUTDOORS

Melons need full sun, rich soil and warm temperatures. Plant only when weather is warm and settled and temperatures stay above 50F (10C). In rows 4 ft. apart, sow groups of 2 to 3 seeds every 2 ft. after germination, thin to the strongest seedling per group, so you end up with one plant every 2 ft. Or make slightly mounded hills, 2 ft. in diameter and 5 ft. apart, sowing 5 or 6 seeds in each hill. Thin to 3 strongest plants.

TO START EARLY INDOORS

Several weeks before the last frost date, sow seeds in individual pots of seed starting mix. Keep warm and moist, and provide a strong light source until weather turns warm enough to transplant outdoors.

GROWING NOTES

Amend soil well with aged manure or compost. Where summers are short or cool, lay down black plastic to retain heat, and plant into holes made in plastic. Where insects are a problem, cover seedlings with floating row covers to exclude them, removing when plants blossom. Keep young vines well watered and fed, tapering off water as fruits ripen up.

HARVEST AND USE

Pick when little melons are fully coloured, fragrant and “slip” or pull easily from the vines. With their abundant fruits, small size and sweet, deep orange flesh, Sugar Cubes are true summer treats – the whole family will enjoy these delicious personal sized melons!