Planting guide

When to plant honeydew melon

Smooth, sweet green or orange-fleshed melon that stores a little better than rockmelon. In Melbourne it goes in Oct–Dec.

Start as: Seed, sown in place or Seedling
Ready in: 13–17 wks
Spacing: 100 cm
Depth: 2 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Hands-on
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means honeydew melon can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Melbourne	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Brisbane	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Perth	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Adelaide	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Gold Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Newcastle	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Canberra	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Central Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Geelong	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Wollongong	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Hobart	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Townsville	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mandurah	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Bendigo	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Launceston	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mackay	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Rockhampton	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Coffs Harbour	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Bunbury	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Bundaberg	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Alice Springs	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mildura	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Wellington	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Christchurch	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
London	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Johannesburg	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Singapore	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant honeydew melon

Sow 2 cm deep once the soil is warm.
Give each vine a metre of space.
Water deeply; ease off as fruit ripen.
Pick when the stem end gives slightly and smells sweet.

Honeydew melon varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Honeydew Green Flesh Classicsweet · 13–17 wksClassic pale-green sweet melon
Orange Flesh Classiccolourful · sweet · 13–17 wksOrange-fleshed honeydew with extra sweetness

Where to buy seeds

Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on The Diggers Club Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Corn, Radish, Marigold

Honeydew melon by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Pumpkin · Watermelon · Rockmelon · Squash · Luffa

Not sure honeydew melon is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now