Honeydew: The Smooth-Skinned Melon — Origin, History, and How to Grow
Honeydew is a true cantaloupe variety with a smooth pale rind and pale green flesh — milder, sweeter, and longer-keeping than its netted cousin.
The honeydew melon (Cucumis melo var. inodorus) is botanically a "winter melon" — meaning it ripens late and stores longer than the summer netted melons. Smooth pale-green or pale-yellow rind, pale green flesh, very sweet but mild. Native cultivation centers were in Persia and central Asia, where the fruit has been grown for thousands of years.
Origin and history
Honeydew and its close cousins (Casaba, Crenshaw, Persian, Hami) trace to central Asia and the Mediterranean. The Spanish brought honeydew-type melons to the Americas in the 1500s. The modern American honeydew was popularized in California in the early 1900s.
Where honeydews grow today
Major producers include China (especially the Hami variety from Xinjiang), the United States (California, Arizona), Spain, Mexico, and Iran.
How to grow honeydews
- Climate: Warmer and longer-season than cantaloupes; 85-100 frost-free days minimum.
- Soil: Sandy loam, well-drained, pH 6.0-7.0.
- Sun: Full sun.
- Seeds: Direct-sow well after last frost when soil is at least 21°C.
- Spacing: 60-90cm between plants.
- Watering: Steady; reduce in final 2 weeks.
- Fertilizing: NPK at planting, light side-dress mid-season.
- Harvest: Honeydews do NOT slip from the stem. Color shift (green to cream) and fragrance are the main signals.
- First fruit: 90-110 days from seed.
Varieties
- Honey Pearl — modern American hybrid, very sweet, pale flesh.
- Casaba — wrinkled rind, white flesh, mild.
- Crenshaw — pink-orange flesh, very fragrant.
- Hami melon — Chinese specialty, oblong, very sweet.
- Galia — hybrid with cantaloupe parentage, distinctive green flesh.
Bottom line
The sweeter, smoother, longer-keeping cousin of the cantaloupe. Need a longer summer than cantaloupes — but reward growers with melons that store on the counter for two weeks.