growing cantaloupes

[redhound15]

I love cantaloupes and have 6 hills planted and they are producing well, except i have been having to share about 50% of my crop with RATS! They like them as well as i do and will burrow a hole and eat almost all of the cantaloupe. I set rat traps every night and catch one almost every night but i guess there are hundreds of these hungry rascals around. Any suggestions on what else if any i might do to help get rid of these?

 

[Chuck]

I love cantaloupes and have 6 hills planted and they are producing well, except i have been having to share about 50% of my crop with RATS! They like them as well as i do and will burrow a hole and eat almost all of the cantaloupe. I set rat traps every night and catch one almost every night but i guess there are hundreds of these hungry rascals around. Any suggestions on what else if any i might do to help get rid of these?

I had the same problem. I don't know what your garden is surrounded by but mine was with natural grasses and weeds as I live way out in the country. Plenty of places for rats and mice to hide from predators in the nighttime. What I did was to clear cut about a 10 yard perimeter around the entire garden. Then I got some quart jars and mixed tuna fish and Decon Rat Poison and put about a tablespoon in the bottom of each jar and set them all around on the inside of my fenced garden. They were wiped out in about a week. I don't know if north Texas rats are the same as south Texas rats but it works. I also have 4 dogs and none have been harmed by dead rats and they can't get into the jars.

 

[redhound15]

Yes thanks for the tip. I had also set out some "tom cat" bait and they eat it like candy and i dont know if its doing any good or not. We have a community garden plot and some of the other plots are kind of grown up, so not much i can do about it. I planted the old "isralei" and "hales best" varities and some of them are big as volleyballs and just beginning to ripen so i have my fingers crossed on those.

 

[redhound15]

Has anyone tried growing cantaloupes vertically? I havea plot with 6 ft t-posts with a 5 ft tall wire fencing attached. I think next year rhat i am going to try growing them to climb the fence and figure out some way to prop them to keep them from falling off the vine when they get too heavy. I think this would help to solve the rat problem too as i guess they wouldnt climb to get to them, i dont know. Any ideas as what i could use to prop each melon?

 

[Beth_B]

Yikes, I am too far north to have a significant rodent issue and between the cats and the dogs (one of whom is a highly efficient vermin killer) I haven't had a problem in years.
I think rats would climb after food, though. They are smart and ingenious so I wouldn't count on vertically-grown cantaloupes being immune from them. Rats climb palm trees for fruit; that's why in some warm states you see palm trees banded with metal sheeting to deter them.

Welcome to the forums, @redhound15.

 

[Chuck]

Has anyone tried growing cantaloupes vertically? I havea plot with 6 ft t-posts with a 5 ft tall wire fencing attached. I think next year rhat i am going to try growing them to climb the fence and figure out some way to prop them to keep them from falling off the vine when they get too heavy. I think this would help to solve the rat problem too as i guess they wouldnt climb to get to them, i dont know. Any ideas as what i could use to prop each melon?

Cantaloupes grow great vertically. The only thing is that on the large varieties you should support them with panty hose or they might not have enough stem strength to hold them up. It will not solve the rat problem. Rats can climb as good as squirrels

 

[Chuck]

Yes thanks for the tip. I had also set out some "tom cat" bait and they eat it like candy and i dont know if its doing any good or not. We have a community garden plot and some of the other plots are kind of grown up, so not much i can do about it. I planted the old "isralei" and "hales best" varities and some of them are big as volleyballs and just beginning to ripen so i have my fingers crossed on those.

I don't know what Tom Cat bait is but Decon will kill them within a day

 

[Corzhens]

We also love cantaloupe here and there were times that we were able to harvest some fruits from the wild vines - cantaloupe plants that grew from the seed that we throw to the birds in our backyard. We do not plant cantaloupe because we couldn't driver away the orange ladybugs which are terrorizing the leaves of the cantaloupe. But the wild ones seem to be stronger against the bugs.

 

[IcyBC]

For the last two years, my mom has cantaloupes growing in her garden that is next to the back wall of her house. Since we live in the city, the rat population is a tad under control so she was able to pick 3-4 cantaloupes at the end of summer.

 

[Arielphf]

Has anyone tried growing cantaloupes vertically? I havea plot with 6 ft t-posts with a 5 ft tall wire fencing attached. I think next year rhat i am going to try growing them to climb the fence and figure out some way to prop them to keep them from falling off the vine when they get too heavy. I think this would help to solve the rat problem too as i guess they wouldnt climb to get to them, i dont know. Any ideas as what i could use to prop each melon?

Actually, I have! It wasn't intentional, my vine just started climbing the fence, but when it set on fruit, I made little fabric hammocks for each fruit and supported them on the fence. Not sure if that would protect the fruit from rats, but it did keep them from the woodchucks.

I actually did have a question about cantaloupes and critters too. My cantaloupes are being damaged by a woodchuck. He's not eating them but he's damaged several so they rotted rather than ripened. If I pick the rest of them before they come off the vine naturally, will they continue to ripen on my kitchen counter? I have the same question about butternut squash, though the woodchuck hasn't bothered them yet. In both cases, the vines' leaves are already shriveling up but the vine hasn't loosened from the fruit yet. Any advice would be welcomed.

 

[Chuck]

Actually, I have! It wasn't intentional, my vine just started climbing the fence, but when it set on fruit, I made little fabric hammocks for each fruit and supported them on the fence. Not sure if that would protect the fruit from rats, but it did keep them from the woodchucks.

I actually did have a question about cantaloupes and critters too. My cantaloupes are being damaged by a woodchuck. He's not eating them but he's damaged several so they rotted rather than ripened. If I pick the rest of them before they come off the vine naturally, will they continue to ripen on my kitchen counter? I have the same question about butternut squash, though the woodchuck hasn't bothered them yet. In both cases, the vines' leaves are already shriveling up but the vine hasn't loosened from the fruit yet. Any advice would be welcomed.

Cantaloupes are NOT like tomatoes in that they will ripen off of the vine. Cantaloupes that are not completely ripe will change texture and the color of the meat will change, but the taste will not. As for squash you can ripen them indoors IF they get plenty of sunshine. They will only ripen in sunlight and you will have to turn them periodically to ensure an even ripening

 

[Arielphf]

Cantaloupes are NOT like tomatoes in that they will ripen off of the vine. Cantaloupes that are not completely ripe will change texture and the color of the meat will change, but the taste will not. As for squash you can ripen them indoors IF they get plenty of sunshine. They will only ripen in sunlight and you will have to turn them periodically to ensure an even ripening

Good to know! I've always left them on the vine until the stem loosens before, but they've never had this imminent a threat.

Thanks for the good advice! I will see about catching the woodchuck (second one of the season) instead.

 

[redhound15]

Actually, I have! It wasn't intentional, my vine just started climbing the fence, but when it set on fruit, I made little fabric hammocks for each fruit and supported them on the fence. Not sure if that would protect the fruit from rats, but it did keep them from the woodchucks.

I actually did have a question about cantaloupes and critters too. My cantaloupes are being damaged by a woodchuck. He's not eating them but he's damaged several so they rotted rather than ripened. If I pick the rest of them before they come off the vine naturally, will they continue to ripen on my kitchen counter? I have the same question about butternut squash, though the woodchuck hasn't bothered them yet. In both cases, the vines' leaves are already shriveling up but the vine hasn't loosened from the fruit yet. Any advice would be welcomed.

They will ripen some as i have done this with other fruits at times, actually when you buy cantaloupes from supermarkets they are never good and ripe so we always let them set on our cupboard for a few days and they are much better then, the same thing with avacados and peaches. they will not ripen more in your refrigerator though as the temp is too low. a completely green cantaloupe will probably not ripen though but would probably just rot, i dont know. We dont have Woodchucks around here but i think we would trade you rats for them, ha ha.