growing space between cantaloupe, melons, and gourds??

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casg Jacksonville, TX(Zone 8b) Jan 26, 2008

Anyone know the space I need between my cantaloupe and gourds so they do not "cross polinate" in taste?? I heard if grown too close together, the cantaloupe become unetible, tasting like a gourd.

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Farmerdill Augusta, GA(Zone 8a) Jan 26, 2008

Not true. Cantaloupes will only cross pollinate with melon in the Cucumis melo species which includes Armenian cucumbers. Not a problem tho, unless you save seeds. The cross only shows up in the second generation. The term gourds is applied to multiple species but none are C. melo. Most are either C. pepo (squash) , L. siceraria or Luffa acutangular. Since cantaloupes are insect pollinated, they need to be separated by approximately a quarter mile to avoid cross pollination within species. You biggest concern would be rampant growth of the vines of L. siceraria ( bottle, birdhouse, or dipper gourds) which can over run other plants planting near them.

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mraider3 Helena, MT Jan 30, 2008

Farmer...got bit in another thread suggesting something similar to casg's comment. I wanted to plant pumpkins, cantalopes and mellon on a trial basis, and suggested planting them in a similar area. I believe the comment was "Why would anyone want to plant all of these in the same area"... they share the same diseases and insect problems. I thought about that for some time and eventually decided to space them out in different areas of the garden. However, since I have a four year rotation plan that makes things a bit complicated. I'm not planting more mellons than two people would eat during the harvest and short storage period, so proximity to one another didn't really seem important to me.

Several things I learned from Famer and others casg is to provide plenty of room for each type of plant. Care, maintenance and water requirements also are not the same.
Even with a small number of plants this makes some significant considerations in how and where I plan to locate these plants in the garden.

Although I have decided to go with a number of heriloom seed varieties this year casg, I do not plan on saving the seed for any crops which might cross pollinate. Simpler just to purchase the seed from a reputable source. Before joining DG I had heard all sorts of comments on gardening like the effects of cross pollinization making your plants look or taste funny. But six months into this place and you will no longer be listening to the myths of the uninformed. I have spent many an hour just downloading thread comments from the Farmer and others. Everyone here is ready to assist...especially this time of year when gardening for most of us is in our dreams.

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