Planting guide

When to plant rockmelon

Sweet, fragrant melons for warm, long summers; give them lots of sun. In Melbourne it goes in Oct–Dec.

Start as: Seed, sown in place or Seedling
Ready in: 9–14 wks
Spacing: 100 cm
Depth: 3 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Hands-on
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means rockmelon 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 rockmelon

Sow seed 3 cm deep in warm soil or plant seedlings.
Mulch and water at the base.
Support developing fruit off wet soil.
Pick when the stem slips away easily and it smells sweet.

Rockmelon varieties

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

Hales Best Jumbo Classicheirloom · sweet · 11–14 wksClassic Aussie rockmelon
Rocky Ford Classicheirloom · 11–14 wksSweet green-fleshed old melon
Minnesota Midget Classicdwarf · fast · pot-friendly · 9–11 wksSmall melons on compact vines
Petit Gris de Rennes Adventurousheirloom · sweet · 12–14 wksFrench heirloom melon with intense sweetness
Charentais Adventurousheirloom · sweet · 11–14 wksFrench dessert melon, intensely aromatic
Piel de Sapo Adventurousheirloom · storage · 13–16 wksSpanish melon with a mottled green rind
Honey Dew Classicsweet · 12–16 wksSmooth, pale-green melons

Where to buy seeds

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

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

Good companions

Corn, Radish, Marigold

Rockmelon by month

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

More to plant

Pumpkin · Watermelon · Squash · Honeydew melon · Luffa

Not sure rockmelon 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