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Cucumis melo

Authority	L.
Family	Magnoliopsida:Dilleniidae:Violales:Cucurbitaceae
Synonyms
Common names	atiu, cantaloupe, cantaloupe melon, Melon, rock melon, sweet melon, tarra
Editor
Ecocrop code	815

Notes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION A variable, trailing, softly hairy vine. The fruit is variable in size, shape, rind, and colour. A plant should be permitted to carry about 4 fruits. USES The fresh flesh of the fruit is eaten out of the rind after removal of the seeds as dessert, often with a little sugar or powdered ginger. The fruits of some cultivars are used as preserves and as vegetables. The seeds are edible and the yield an edible oil. It is mentioned as a useful agroforestry species. GROWING PERIOD Annual. Fruits may be ready for harvesting 50-120 days from sowing or planting. COMMON NAMES Muskmelon, Cantaloupe, Melon, Casaba, Sweet melon, Rockmelon, Blewah, Semangka londo, Bluwak, Milon, Itimon, Atimon, Trasak sroo'w, Teeng laay, Teeng suk, Taeng-thai, Taeng-lai. FURTHER INF Muskmelon prefer moderate to low humidity, but is has relative high water requirements and are often grown with furrow or drip irrigation. High humid conditions may reduce growth, adversely effect fruit quality and encourage leaf diseases. Best growth is obtained in periods of high temperature with little diurnal variation, but in many cultivars the sugar content is increased by low night temperatures. Each plant is usually allowed to bear about four melons, and a crop of melons should yield about 5-30 t/ha, with an average about 11-13 t/ha. The species is believed to be indigenous to Iran and India or Africa. In the tropics it can usually be grown at elevations from near sea level to 1000 m, in Java it is grown at elevations between 300-800 m.
Sources
SOURCES (C. melo L.) Sims D (pers. comm.) Roecklein J 1987 pp 204 [USE, RAIN, LIG, FER, TEXT, PH, KTMP] Duke J 1979 pp 108 [PH, RAIN, TEMP] Hartmann T 1981 pp 539-540 [KTEMP, TEMP, LIG, TEXT, DRA, PH, SAL] Maas E 1990 pp 278 Rice R 1990 pp 263-265 [TEMP, LIG, FER, DRA, PH] Tindall H 1983 pp 156-159 [TEMP, LIG, FER, TEXT, PH] Hackett C 1982 pp 66 [FER, PHO, DEP, PH, TEXT, TEMP] Purseglove J 1974 pp 110-113 [KTMP, LIG, TEMP, LIMIT, FER, TEXT] Langer R 1991 pp 211 Hockings E 1961b pp 394-398 [TEXT, DRA, DEP, USE] Siemonsma J 1993 pp 153-157 [LIG, TEMP, KTMP, LIMIT, DEP, DRA, FER, PH, USE]