Planting Guide Hales Best has been one of our best sellers for years and is great for the home garden! It became wildly popular because of its excellent flavor coupled with its early maturity day. A lovely oval melon with dark green skin and golden netting. The flesh is aromatic and sweet! Special Instructions: Melons love warm, well-draining soil high in organic matter with pH between 6.5-7.5. Sandy loam is best. They are also heavy feeders. Calcium deficiency can lead to blossom end rot, especially when adequate moisture is not available. Boron deficiency can cause cracking. When to harvest: Knowing when to harvest can be tricky, as each type is a little different. In general: cantaloupes slip from vine when ripe; charantais types can be cut when they have a thick netted skin (they are slightly over-ripe if they slip); galia types slip from the vine and are ready when skin turns bright yellow; honeydews can be cut from the vine when skin turns color. Other indicators of ripeness are when the leaf closest to fruit becomes dried and shriveled and when the stem becomes corky.
