How to Grow Cantaloupe in a Container

Or maybe your garden is already chock-full of green goodness and you don’t have any space for any huge, hungry melons.

Whatever the reason, if you think you don’t have the space to grow your own sweet cantaloupe, think again.

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With the right care, cantaloupe can thrive in a container – even a smallish one – which means anyone, anywhere, in whatever size house or garden, can enjoy its sweet deliciousness.

Originating in south Asia, cultivated in Europe, and sold commercially in the United States since 1890, there are two major varieties we enjoy today: the North American Cucumis melo var. reticulatus, and the European C. melo var. cantalupensis.

To find out more about this best-ever melon (in my opinion!), check out our cantaloupe growing guide.

For a container garden, you’ll need to select a dwarf variety – I’ve provided a couple of recommendations below – and you’ll also need to train them to grow vertically, using a trellis, or a tomato cage.

Choosing the Right Container

These vining plants need plenty of space for their roots to grow, so choose a container that’s at least 16 inches deep and 14 inches wide.

If you have the space, you could try these giant whiskey barrel planters, available from Home Depot, if you want to grow full-size varieties.

Indoor or patio-garden growers may want something smaller and easier to move around. The pot you choose can be made from sturdy plastic, terra cotta, or breathable fabric.

As long as it provides good drainage with holes at the bottom, or a self-watering planter insert, you’re ready to get started.

And you can always add pebbles to the bottom of the container for drainage if needed – and if you’re not planning to move it around.

When I got started with the task of transplanting my young plants from seed trays into containers, I realized that none of the pots I had on hand were truly big enough.

As the plants are still smallish, I decided to transplant them anyway. I’ll move them into their larger, permanent containers in a few weeks.

You can do the same if you’re still trying to locate the ideal planter for your young melons.

Before you get growing, find a full sun location where your container will receive 6-8 hours of sunshine per day.

This can either be a sunny area of your house, under artificial light, or outdoors.

Fill your container to an inch below the top with either:

• Good quality, well-draining potting mix (don’t add fertilizer yet)
• Well-draining garden soil amended with compost or well-rotted manure.

If you decide to use soil from your garden, don’t use soil that has been previously planted with cucurbits, as it can harbor disease.

Cantaloupes prefer soil with a mildly acidic pH of 6.0-6.5, that is loose and well-draining to encourage the growth of healthy roots.

You can either direct sow seeds in your container or start them in seed trays. If you live in a cold area, it’s best to sow seeds indoors at least four weeks before your average last frost date.

For those in warmer areas, sow in containers outdoors anytime after your average last frost date, provided your growing season is long enough to give your chosen variety time to mature.

Since I live in frigid Alaska, I started mine in seed trays a couple of months before last frost. Because I planted them pointy-side-up, only half the seeds germinated. Oops!

You should plant them pointy-side-down, as that’s where the roots emerge.

To sow seeds in containers, dig a half-inch-deep hole and drop two seeds inside, pointy-side-down. Do the same thing in seed cells. Cover with soil, and water with a spray bottle so you don’t displace the seeds.

To encourage them to germinate quickly, you can cover the pot or seed tray with plastic to trap humidity inside.

Just make sure to remove the covering the moment the first green shoot pokes through the soil. Keep them evenly moist, in a sunny spot or under a grow light.

Thin seedlings to one per container or seed cell when they have their first set of true leaves.

If you start your seeds in trays (or have purchased seedlings from the nursery), you’ll need to transplant them to their permanent container when they have at least two sets of true leaves.

I left mine in their trays for two months, and one of the plants started getting droopy and unhappy.

I’m pretty sure it felt cramped, and didn’t have enough root space.

If you are transplanting your seedlings to an outdoor container, make sure you harden them off first.

To do this, place them outside in a sunny location for a few hours per day, gradually increasing the amount of time over the course of a week.

To transplant, all you have to do is dig a hole the size of the root ball, gently remove the seedling from the tray, and set each one in its new container. To make this easier, water the seedlings about half an hour before transplanting.

Backfill the hole, give the seedling a slow, deep watering, and add half an inch of extra soil on top for support.

Then, place the containers near a sunny windowsill, under a grow light, or in your chosen location outdoors.

When the plant is about four to six inches tall, fertilize with a balanced liquid fertilizer such as 5-5-5 (NPK) according to package instructions.

Fertilize again in about two or three weeks, or when flowers start to develop. But this time, use a lower nitrogen fertilizer, such as 5-10-10 (NPK), so you don’t promote too much leafy growth and not enough fruit development.

Another important aspect of keeping cantaloupes happy is to provide adequate water. These plants need consistent moisture, but don’t allow them to become waterlogged.

This is especially important when you’re growing them in containers, which dry out more quickly than garden soil. To help keep the soil moist, you can apply a layer of straw or other mulching material.

Keep the foliage dry by irrigating at the base of the plant, not from overhead.

In the last week before harvest, water only when the top two inches of soil is dry and the leaves are slightly wilted. This allows the sugars to concentrate in the melons and prevents them from cracking.

Training the Vines on a Trellis

Remember how I said not to worry about managing unruly vines in a 16-inch container? Here’s why: it’s easy to train them to grow vertically on a trellis or similar support structure.

Easy supports for container-grown cantaloupes are bamboo u-hoops, like these from the Home Depot.

You can also use tomato cages, or train them up a trellis against a wall in your garden.

To attach the plant, take some garden tape and wrap it around the vine, and tie it to the hoop or trellis. Add more tape to attach new growth to the structure as the vines get longer.

When the melons have grown to about the size of a fist, you can use ankle-length nylons or netted produce bags to sling the fruit to the structure, to give the vine extra support.

Simply place the produce bag around the developing fruit, and attach it to the trellis or other support. As the fruit grows, the bag will expand and prevent the vine from breaking.

• Choose a container that’s at least 16 inches deep and 14 inches wide
• Maintain even moisture until the last week before harvest, then reduce watering to only when dry
• Train vines to grow vertically on a trellis to save even more space

While you can grow full-size melons in containers, you’ll get the best results with dwarf cultivars that produce smaller fruits and shorter vines.

Here are a couple of my favorites:

True to its name, ‘Sugar Cube’ delivers sweet flavor. It is resistant to many common diseases, including fusarium wilt.

This hybrid cultivar produces small fruits of just 2-4 pounds in weight, so it’s ideal for container growing.

Like other melons, ‘Sugar Cube’ needs full sun, and fruits will be ready to harvest in 80 days.

Find packets of 30 seeds available at Burpee.

This “baby” melon reaches about 2 pounds in weight, with a firm flesh and sweet flavor.

You can even store these babies in the refrigerator for up to two weeks before cutting, and they’ll stay fresh.

Hailing from Italy, ‘Tuscanito’ is a popular hybrid to wrap in prosciutto for a tasty snack.

With plenty of sunshine, you can njoy your ‘Tuscanito’ fruit in just 70 days.

You can find seeds in a variety of packet sizes at True Leaf Market.Want more selections? Find them in our follow up guide:

BEST TIPS for growing CANTALOUPE: Grow SWEET, FLAVORFUL cantaloupe with these tips.

FAQ

Does cantaloupe grow well in containers?

Select the Ideal Variety: Some melon varieties are better suited for container gardening than others. Compact or bush-type melon varieties are excellent choices. Consider “Sugar Cube” or “Minnesota Midget” varieties for cantaloupe and opt for “Sugar Baby” or “Little Darling” when selecting your watermelon.

Is it better to grow cantaloupe on the ground or trellis?

Wire fencing works well. Trellising offers several advantages: Vines get better air circulation than on the ground, which reduces the chances of disease. In northern zones, vines also get more sunlight when on a trellis that’s positioned at a slant toward the sun.

How many cantaloupes can you get off of one plant?

I’ve read that cantaloupe plants “can” support anywhere from 2-8 melons. One source I read said to prune off all but one total melon at a time, to concentrate the sugars into the melon for extra tasty fruit. Others said that as long as there’s only one melon per vine, 2-3 total per plant is fine.