Muskmelon - 0.5 kg Seeds

Muskmelon, Cucumis melo, is a warm-season trailing annual vine of the gourd family grown for its sweet, aromatic, netted fruit. Cultivated across the plains of north and central India in the summer and pre-monsoon season, it thrives in hot, sunny conditions on light, well-drained sandy-loam soils, often along riverbeds and in field rotations. The juicy orange or green flesh is eaten fresh and made into juices and sherbets, while the seeds are a popular dry-fruit (magaz) used in sweets and as a cooling, nutritive ingredient.

• Family: Cucurbitaceae
• Native region: Africa and South-West Asia
• Mature height: Trailing vine, 1.5–3 m of runners
• Growth rate: Fast

Soak the seeds in water for a few hours to speed germination, then sow them about 1.5–2 cm deep, two or three to a hill or station, in warm soil once temperatures are reliably high. In the heat the seeds sprout quickly, usually within a week; thin to the strongest seedling per station and let the vines run on the ground or low supports, keeping the soil evenly moist during flowering and fruiting.