When to Plant Seeds

• Seeds can be sown directly outdoors after the last-expected spring frost. Gardeners in a cool climate where summers are short or who want an earlier harvest, can start seeds indoors about three to four weeks sooner than the last spring frost. In general, muskmelons need approximately three months from planting to harvest and harvest can last a few weeks.
  
  

When to Plant Transplant

• Transplant seedlings outdoors after the last spring frost. Seedlings started indoors should be grown in individual containers, biodegradable peat pots if possible, because muskmelons don't transplant well if their roots are disturbed.
  
  

When to Harvest

• Four-week-old seedlings started indoors or from a nursery will be ready to harvest in about two months. Some varieties, such as Sweet Dream, are ready for harvest about 79 days after the seeds were sown, but others such as, Limelight, are ready to harvest about 96 days after seeds were sown. Read the label that came with your muskmelons to learn the approximate time to expect a harvest.
  
  

Ripening Signs

• Look for webbing design on the muskmelon rinds to turn from green to tan or yellow. Another sign they are ready to be picked is when they are easy to pull from their vine. There will be a crack at the point where the stem meets the vine, which makes it easy to pull off. Avoid picking early because while muskmelons continue to soften after they are picked, but they do not sweeten any more. Muskmelons harvested too soon are not very sweet.
  
  

Other Harvesting Tips

• Pick muskmelons every day when you first notice they are ripening. Then, pick every day as the harvest season progress. Pick in the morning after the plants dry out from any morning dew. While harvesting, be careful not to harm the vine so it will continue to ripen other melons on that vine.