Mediterranean climate should be good for melons one should think. Alas it is for some but not for others.
I had ordered several types of “Dry Farming” melon seeds at Seedshunters.com and tried to grow them in 2023 and 2024. Most did not work out, neither in the old vegetable garden, where they shriveled up in summer nor in the new and improved shaded veggie garden.
Tortarello Abruzzese (Cucumis melo)
According to its description this melon is very productive and makes fruit that look and taste like light-skinned cucumbers. In my garden nothing ever happened, apart from a few tendrils and lots of little flowers.
Mango Melon (Cucumis melo)
According to its description this melon makes very fragrant fruit with sweet and juicy pulp and requires little to no irrigation even in hot and arid areas.
In my garden it definitely needed watering and what fruit it produced in the new shaded beds was neither sweet nor fragant, nor reminiscent of mangoes.
Desert Watermelon (Citrullus Ianatus)
According to its description this melon is not very productive but it can endure torrid climates and long droughts and makes large fruit with exceptional taste.
In my garden, even with some shading, it definitely needed watering. The one fruit it produced was indeed large and juciy but the taste was very bland.
Piel de Sapo Melon (Cucumis melo)
Sowed some but they did not really thrive. In May I bought an addional seedling plant from a garden center. By September two big melons had developed on this plant that were fantastically juicy, sweet and flavorful. That one is definitely a keeper!
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