Honeydew Green Flesh Melon

Cucumis melo var. inodorus

Also known as: Honeydew, Honey Dew, Green Honeydew


The classic pale-skinned honeydew — smooth, creamy-yellow rind at ripeness wrapped around cool, jade-green flesh that's sweet, mildly floral, and refreshing without the heavy perfume of a rockmelon. Round to oval fruit averaging 1.5–3kg on a vigorous trailing vine. Unlike musk-type melons, this one doesn't slip from the vine when ripe — it has to be cut, and it stores for several weeks after harvest, which makes it the melon to hold in reserve after the rockmelon rush has finished. A slightly slower crop than musk types, but worth the wait for its long keeping and clean, delicate flavour. Sprawling to semi-trailing vine — needs room but less than a watermelon.

Days to harvest 90–110 days from transplant
Fruit size Round to slightly oval, 1.5–3kg
Sowing depth 2cm
Germination 6–10 days at soil temperature 21–30°C
Spacing Full sun; deep, well-drained loamy soil rich in organic matter
Aspect Full sun; deep, well-drained loamy soil rich in organic matter
Frost tolerance Sensitive to frost at both ends of the season — sow after last frost, harvest before first frost

Growing notes

A warm, sunny position with well-drained soil suits it best. Honeydew wants heat and a longer season than a musk melon to develop full sugars, and rewards patience.

Soil preparation: Deeply worked beds with generous well-rotted compost and aged manure. Melons are heavy feeders — build the bed before sowing and top-dress as the vine takes off.

Sowing method: Sow 2–3 seeds per station 60–90cm apart, either direct into warm soil or into large pots for transplant, then thin to the strongest seedling per station.

Support: Usually left to trail along the ground with fruit resting on straw to keep the underside clean. Can be trellised for cleaner harvest, with slings supporting the ripening fruit.

Containers: Suits a large pot of 40L or more with a sturdy trellis and fruit slings. Keep water and feed consistent, as pots dry out faster than beds and melons are thirsty croppers through fruit set.

Watering & feeding: Deep, consistent watering at the base through vine growth and fruit set. Overhead watering invites mildew. Ease off water as fruit approaches ripeness — a drier finish concentrates sugars and lifts flavour. Side-dress with well-rotted manure or a balanced liquid feed once flowering starts.

Harvest: Unlike a rockmelon, honeydew doesn't separate from the vine when ripe — it needs to be cut with secateurs. Read the fruit instead: the rind turns from green to creamy pale yellow, the surface takes on a very fine waxy bloom, the blossom end gives slightly to gentle thumb pressure, and a faint sweet aroma develops. Left uncut a few extra days on the vine only improves the sugar.

Timing: First ripe fruit around 90–110 days from transplant.

Key features

  • Cool, pale green flesh with mild, refreshing sweetness
  • Smooth creamy-yellow rind at ripeness
  • Excellent keeper — holds for weeks after harvest
  • Reliable, generous cropper
  • Cleaner flavour than a musk melon — pairs well with prosciutto, mint, feta
  • One of the classic winter-melon types

Short season tips


Sow indoors in seedling pots 3–4 weeks before your last frost and transplant carefully — melons resent root disturbance, so use larger pots and minimise handling. In Coonabarabran and similar inland zones, plant out from mid-November once soil is reliably warm. Black weed mat under the vine warms the soil and buys extra ripening days at the tail end of the season. Honeydew needs a longer warm run than musk melons to fully sweeten — get plants in early and choose a sheltered, hot corner of the garden.

  • Spring
  • Summer

Annual

  • Corn, bush beans, radish, nasturtium, marigold, oregano
  • Potatoes, other Cucumis melo varieties within cross-pollination distance if saving seed


The green-fleshed honeydew traces to Mediterranean and North African winter melons long cultivated for their keeping qualities, and reached wide commercial cultivation in the early twentieth century, when a French winter melon (White Antibes Winter) was renamed and marketed in the United States as "Honey Dew". It has stayed a home-garden favourite ever since — kept in wide circulation both for the depth of its cool sweetness and for the fact that a ripe honeydew, left uncut, will hold on a kitchen bench well into autumn.