Orlando Melon Mart
Season
Florida ships winter watermelon
Home gardeners in Central Florida plant January through March. Stores can sell Florida watermelon in months other states cannot. A July picnic melon may still be Florida, or it may be someone else’s field. Read the sticker. Cantaloupe stays a separate crop.
Yard versus truck
The vine in the yard runs 80 to 100 days from the plant date in the paper. The winter grocery melon is a Florida commercial fact, not a myth. Both can be Citrullus lanatus. Only one grew next to the driveway.
| Place | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Central Florida yard | Plant Jan to Mar. Icebox types if space is tight |
| Grocery, December to April | Florida is the U.S. source named on the IFAS page |
| Grocery, high summer | Florida or other states. Sticker decides |
Seedless in the bin
Most grocery wedges are seedless. The page’s sidebar explains the triploid. Home gardeners can still grow seeded icebox types. Sugar, the character, is a slice with seeds showing. That is the old look on purpose.
Questions
Is a January melon from Florida?
It can be. IFAS says Florida is the only state producing watermelon then. Check origin.
Should I plant cantaloupe the same day?
Cantaloupe is a separate spring seed crop on the month list. Do not treat it as watermelon.
How to read a month
UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions says Florida has a great climate for watermelon and is a leading producer for the nation, and adds the fact that surprises people: Florida is the only state in the country that produces watermelon from December to April. Home gardeners in Central Florida plant January through March. The vine in the yard runs about 80 to 100 days from the plant date in the paper.
Stores can sell Florida watermelon in months other states cannot. A July picnic melon may still be Florida, or it may be someone else's field. Read the sticker. Cantaloupe stays a separate crop with its own window. Do not treat a muskmelon display as a watermelon calendar.
A driveway vine is not a commercial winter field. Count days from the transplant you actually set, and watch for fruit that sounds hollow and has a yellow ground spot. The grow page is the planting window. This page is the split: Florida winter trucks versus a spring yard vine versus a July melon that might be from anywhere.