Types Of Honeydew

Honeydew melons (Cucumis melo Indorus group) produce fruit that are smooth-skinned and slightly oval. When immature, the fruit rinds are greenish-white and slightly hairy, and as the fruit ripens, the rinds turn creamy yellow. Mature honeydew melon fruits are about 8 inches long and the flesh is light green, though some honeydew types produce deeper green- or orange-fleshed fruits.

As they're warm-weather, annual vines, honeydew melons can only be grown during frost-free periods of the year. Organically rich, freely draining soil at pH 6.5 to 7.5, and exposure to direct sunlight for at least six hours per day, provide the best growing conditions for honeydew melons. Light-textured, sandy soils, which warm up quickly in spring, provide good results in areas with short summers.

Green-fleshed honeydew melons feature lime or bright green flesh, as well as a rich aroma and flavor.

'Honeydew Green Flesh' Organic likes hot weather and produces fruit that grows 7 to 9 inches long and 5 to 6 inches wide, and weighs up to 6 pounds. The ripe fruit rind is pale green to ivory gold, and the flesh is lime green. Maturing 105 to 115 days from planting produces high yields of fruit.

Offering bright green flesh is the 'Venus' hybrid, which matures in about 88 days, and bears fruit 5 to 6 inches long and weighing about 4 pounds. "Venus' rind is slightly netted.

The orange flesh of some honeydew types contrasts with the green or creamy white rinds of the fruit.

'Arabian Breeze' hybrid is an orange-fleshed honeydew with a smooth green rind. Fruit weighs 3 to 4 pounds and matures on the vine 80 to 90 days after planting. A compact vine, 'Arabian Breeze' grows 12 inches tall and 60 inches wide.

'Honey Dew Orange Flesh' fruit turns creamy yellow or white with an orange tint when it ripens, and the flesh is light orange. Weighing about 5 pounds and measuring 6 inches by 6 1/2 inches, Honey Dew Orange Flesh ripens about 105 days after planting.

Short season honeydew varieties are the best types to grow in areas that experience short summers.

'Earli-Dew' is a honeydew melon that ripens 78 days after planting. The fruit weigh 2 to 3 pounds and the flesh is lime green.

'Honey White' is also quick-growing, plus it tolerates cool weather. The melon is named for the pale green rind and flesh of its fruit. The melons weigh 3 to 3 1/2 pounds and mature about 77 days after planting.

A third short-season variety is 'Snow Leopard'. Producing fruit with green and yellow variegated skin, Snow Leopard matures about 71 days after planting. The fruits weigh about 2 pounds and are pale yellow-fleshed.

In hot dry areas of the United States, such as New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, honeydews for hot climates don't fade away under the hot summer sun.

'Snow Mass' produces ripe fruit 90 days from planting. The melons are 6 to 8 inches in diameter and covered by very smooth, cream-colored rinds. Inside, the flesh is light green.

A wrinkled-skin honeydew, 'Casaba Golden Beauty' fruit weighs 6 pounds or more when ripe, about 100 days after planting. The rind is golden yellow and the flesh is white.