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Not a single summer and early autumn can do without a juicy, fragrant, sweet melon. Ripened in the fields or bought in a store, it gives an unforgettable taste experience. Like any other culture, there are a great many varieties and varieties of melon. It does not always have white flesh and yellow peel, sometimes the color and texture of the fruit is amazing. In this article, we will learn what Cantaloupe melon or nutmeg melon is, where the variety grows, how to care for it, and when it can be harvested from the garden.
Variety description
Chinese melon, musk melon, cantaloupe melon – this variety has many names, so it is sometimes difficult to remember everything.
This plant belongs to the gourd family. The bushes are powerful, creeping with large leaves. Fruits come in different shapes: sometimes flattened, as if divided into segments, sometimes smooth and oval. The mass of fruits varies from 500 g to 1,5 kg. Dimensions rarely exceed 25 cm. The melon is covered with a striped, embossed skin. The pulp is muted orange, sweet.
This variety is widely distributed in Western Europe, North and South America, primarily due to the fact that high-quality candied fruits and jams are obtained from the fruits. Moreover, Cantaloupe is rich in carotene, which increases its value. In cultivation, it is unpretentious, resistant to many diseases. The mid-season variety, however, is not suitable for long-term storage, although it has high transportability.
Terms of maturation
When choosing a variety for planting, you always need to know when the growing season ends and the ripe fruit can be taken from the garden. Cantaloupe ripens towards the end of August, although the timing of ripening may vary slightly.
To make sure the fruit is ready to be harvested, check the stalk to make sure it separates easily from the fruit. The peel, during the growing season is dark green, becomes beige when ripe. Often after a dry summer it is white.
You can also check the ripeness experimentally – cut one fruit in two to find out the color of the pulp. When the melon is ripe, the flesh turns dark orange with a pink tinge.
Care
Cantaloupe is an unpretentious variety, which means that special care is not required for it. However, in order to grow large fruits, you will have to care for the plant with due care.
Watering the plant should be plentiful, especially during dry periods of summer. But at the same time, water should not be allowed to accumulate in the aisle – this will spoil both the stems and the fruits. On hot days, the leaves may look withered, withered, but this does not mean that you need to water more – by the evening they will return to normal. Try not to pour water directly on the stem, preferably under it or next to it, so as not to spoil it.
After sowing, it is best to cover the beds with foil to protect from insects. You can attach the film to the wire frame, but you need to remove it when the plant begins to bloom so that insects can pollinate the flowers.
Until creeping stems form, weeds must be carefully weeded out, which slow down the growth of the melon. However, be careful – the young shoots of Cantaloupe are very similar to clover, so it is easy to confuse them with a weed. After the stem gets stronger, the melon itself will survive the weeds from the garden.
If desired, you can tie up the stems so that they do not curl on the ground. The best solution would be to use a low lattice, but at the same time, the formed fruits will have to be supported with something.
During the season, this variety requires 2 fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers before flowering and one fertilizing with phosphorus and potassium during flowering. This will help the plant quickly gain nutrients, which will significantly speed up the growing season.
Useful Properties
Cantaloupe contains a large amount of ascorbic acid, inosine, carotene, folic acid, silicon, fiber.
Eating this variety of melon saturates the body with nutrients that have a positive effect on immunity, the condition of the skin and hair, and metabolism. They also note a positive effect on the gastrointestinal tract, since the beneficial substances of Cantaloupe act as an absorbent for toxins, helping to quickly remove them from the human body.
The white melon peel becomes not only an excellent ingredient for candied fruits, but can also serve as one of the elements of cosmetic face and body care, being part of nourishing masks.
Video “Fruits of Thailand: Cantaloupe”
Watch a short review about Cantaloupe melon, its appearance, taste and uses.
