Collecting seeds from garden fruits and vegetables can be thrifty, creative, and fun for a gardener. Saving melon seeds from this year&#;s crop to plant in next year&#;s garden requires planning and attention to detail. Read on for tips about collecting seeds from melons.

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Collecting Seeds from Melons

Melons are members of the cucumber family, and they are open pollinated by wind or insects. This means that melons cross-pollinate with others in their family. Before you start saving melon seeds, be sure that the melon species you want to propagate are not planted within a half mile of other types of melons. Melon seeds grow inside the fleshy fruit. Wait until the fruits are fully ripe and separated from the vine before collecting seeds from melons. In cantaloupe, for example, look for thick netting and a pungent melon smell from the stem end. To start saving melon seeds, cut open the fruit lengthwise and scoop out the seed masses into a jar. Add a little warm water and allow the mixture to sit for two to four days, stirring daily. As the melon seeds sit in water, they ferment. During this process, the good seeds sink to the bottom of the jar while the detritus floats to the top. To collect seeds from melons, pour off the water containing the pulp and bad seeds. Now let&#;s learn how to preserve melon seeds for future planting.

Storing Melon Seeds

Melon seed harvesting is a waste of your time unless you learn how to preserve melon seeds until planting time. Drying the seeds thoroughly is the key. After the soaking process, put the good seeds in a strainer and wash them clean. Spread the good seeds out on a paper towel or a screen. Allow them to dry for several days. Storing melon seeds that are not completely dry results in moldy seeds. Once the seeds are very dry, place them in a clean, dry glass jar. Write the seed variety and the date on a label and tape it to the jar. Put the jar in the freezer for two days, and then move to the refrigerator.

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Grow and Save Melon Seeds

How to Grow Melons

Like its cucurbit cousins&#;watermelon, cucumbers, and squash&#;melons and Armenian cucumbers produce numerous fruitful vines. There are countless varieties of melons&#;hundreds if not thousands, and many that go unrecorded worldwide.

Time of Planting

Plant melon seeds outdoors after all danger of frost has passed.

Spacing Requirements

Create 12-inch diameter hills spaced 6 feet apart. Plant 6&#;8 seeds per hill. Seeds should be planted between ½- to one-inch deep.

Time to Germination

Seeds will germinate in 4&#;7 days. After germination, thin to 3&#;4 plants per hill.

Special Considerations

Melon seeds can also be planted in flats indoors before the season begins. Transplant outdoors as soon as the danger of frost has passed.

Common Pests and Diseases

Melons can suffer from a variety of pests and diseases, including aphids, cucumber beetles, cutworms, flea beetles, vine borers, anthracnose, cucumber wilt, and powdery mildew.

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Perhaps the worst of these are cucumber beetles, which spread bacterial wilt as they move from plant to plant. Floating row covers and hand removal of the beetles may help.

When and How to Harvest for Food Consumption

Maturity indicators in melons vary widely by type and variety. Some melons will slip from the vine when ripe; for melons that do not slip from the vine, ripeness indicators include rind color change, the development of a yellow ground spot, and increased aroma. When harvesting, make sure that the melon is cut from the vine instead of pulled.

Eating

Enjoy melons straight from the field or sliced up and served after a few hours in the refrigerator. Fresh melon is often served for dessert. To extend the enjoyment of summer melons through the seasons, try melon jam, sorbet, or granite (a semi-frozen dessert). Pie melons, like Mother Mary&#;s Pie melon, were bred to hold up to canning and use as a pie filling. Try the &#;Mother Mary&#;s Pie&#; recipe.

Storing

Despite their hardy appearance, melons are quite perishable. Uncut ripe melons should keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. If you have an abundance of fruit, freeze it after cutting it into cubes and storing it in an airtight container. The flesh will soften after it has thawed, but it will be fine for use in smoothies or fruit soups.

How to Save Melon Seeds

Melon is an easy seed crop even for a novice seed saver. Before starting to save melon seeds, however, ensure that the melon species you want to propagate is not planted within 800 feet to a half mile of other types of melons. Advanced seed savers may also choose to utilize isolation cages and introduced pollinators or hand pollination methods.

Life Cycle

Annual

Recommended Isolation Distance

800 feet to half a mile

Recommended Population Sizes

A single plant can produce viable seed. However, to maintain a variety&#;s diversity over time, save seeds from 5&#;10 plants.

Harvesting

Harvest seeds from melons when the fruit is mature. You can harvest fruits for eating and simply reserve some of the seeds as you eat the fruit, or you can leave the fruits on the vine until they soften slightly. Fruits that are allowed to ripen past market maturity for approximately 20 days produce the largest quantity of viable seeds.

Mature seeds should be plump and firm. To extract and clean the seeds, cut the fruits in half lengthwise and scoop the seeds into a colander or strainer.

Cleaning and Processing

Rinse pulp from seeds in a strainer or colander and then spread the seeds in a thin layer to dry on coffee filters, paper towels, or old window screens. When a test seed can be cleanly snapped in half, seeds are dry enough for storage

Storage and Viability

Store melon seeds in a cool, dark, and dry place and always keep them in an airtight container to keep out moisture and humidity.

Read more about storing seeds.

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