How to Grow Kajari Melons 🍈 The BEST Melon for Hot Climates..

If you've been looking for a melon that actually performs in Florida heat, does not take up your entire garden space, and tastes incredible, Kajari is the one that you need to grow. This is an heirloom variety of melon that comes from India and it's my favorite. Not many gardeners know about it or have tried growing it which is a shame because it is honestly one of the easiest and most rewarding things you can grow on a trellis. In this video I'm walking you through every step of growing this melon, sowing your seeds, setting up a trellis, fertilizing, and most importantly how to know exactly when this melon is ready for harvest so you enjoy it at peak flavor. If you're new here, my name is Jarrah. I'm a lifelong gardener, certified permaculture designer, and owner of a seed and plant nursery in Orlando, Florida. I teach home gardeners how to grow more food with less stress using the exact plants and techniques I use in my own garden and nursery. If you want to grow along with me, many of the seeds and plants I mention are available on my website jarrahsgarden.com. This is a Kajari melon that came off the vines located right here behind me. Kajari melons are ready for harvest when the outer skin turns from green to orange just like this one. If you have ever grown melons or even watermelons before, you know it's very hard to tell if it's ripe enough and ready for harvest. Kajari is obvious. When it's orange, it's perfectly ripe. Anyways, Kajari melons are an ancient Indian heirloom from the Rajasthan region, one of the hottest, driest parts of the country. They are in the Cucumis mellow family, which puts them in the same botanical group as other melons like cantaloupe, but they are in a completely different class when it comes to flavor and appearance. The fruit is on the smaller side, typically about the size of a baseball or softball. This one here is probably one of the biggest ones I have ever harvested, but typically they are a little smaller than this one. The skin has a gorgeous pattern of deep forest green and orange stripes that deepens and changes as the melon ripens. As it approaches peak ripeness, the green stripes start transitioning to a deep orange and basically the whole melon turns mostly orange. The inside flesh is light green like a honeydew melon, although I'm actually not 100% certain if this is classified as a honeydew melon. Just because a melon has a green interior flesh does not mean it's a honeydew. I think the general consensus is that Kajari melons are their own thing. If you know for sure, I would really appreciate it if you could drop a comment to answer this question. Regardless of classification, its flavor and texture is top tier and I absolutely have to grow this every single year in my garden. One of the things I love most about Kajari melons is where it comes from. Like I said before, it comes from the Rajasthan region of India. It is not a gentle climate, it is hot, it is harsh, and the crops grown there have had centuries to adapt to intense heat. That is very good news for those of us in Florida and throughout the subtropics. Most melons really struggle once our temperatures consistently push above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. You get powdery mildew, blossom drop, pollination issues, and root rot. The vines basically just give up. Kajari is more forgiving, it handles the heat, it matures quickly at about 65 to 75 days, and because the fruit is small, it does not need as long of a growing season like a cantaloupe or a honeydew melon. And that is why I grow a lot of smaller fruited versions of things like miniature eggplants, melons, watermelons, and peppers, just to name a few. They tend to grow fast, hit maturity early, which means I can harvest quickly. The fruit doesn't have to stay on the vine for a long time, which means more opportunity for something to go wrong, like a critter to munch on it or a pest or disease comes and kills off the vines. Your chances of harvesting something is much greater. With that said, timing is still super critical if you want to get a good harvest. Yes, Kajari melons are super heat tolerant, but their preferred temperature range is somewhere between 70 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. This is their ideal range where they will really thrive. Because of that, springtime is the best time to start growing them so you harvest the majority of your crop before the extreme heat of summer arrives. In my opinion, the easiest way to grow Kajari melons is to just direct sow the seeds. They germinate easily and will take off much faster than if started in pots indoors. First, build your trellis. This is a vining crop and I always grow it vertically because it picks the vines off the ground so they get less pests and diseases. You can grow them on the ground, but you will have more issues. I made my trellis out of two T-posts, an electrical conduit pipe, some zip ties, and a heavy-duty green mesh that I get from Amazon. I have a whole tutorial on how I assemble this kind of a trellis, which I will link in the description below. I then dig a trench under the trellis about one inch deep, sprinkle in some seeds, cover with about half an inch of soil, and water them in. I really cram in the seeds and I don't thin them out after they germinate. Just eyeball it. It's totally okay. They will grow fine. I have not noticed a decrease in production or lots of diseases growing them this close together. But only do this if you're growing them up a trellis, not if you're growing them on the ground. Keep the soil moist for the next week by watering the area every day so the seeds germinate well. If you're located in a no frost zone, like some 11 and up gardeners, you can grow these during the fall, winter, and spring. If you're located in a colder climate with a short warm growing season, it would benefit you to sow seeds indoors six to eight weeks in advance to grow transplants so you get an early start. Determine the date for your area where all danger of frost has passed, that's typically one to two months after your last spring frost date, and backtrack six to eight weeks from there. That's when you would sow a couple of seeds in a four inch size pot filled with sterile seed starting mix. As soon as they germinate, they need a good strong light source to grow fast and healthy. I recommend putting them under a grow light. Once all danger of frost has passed, transplant them outside right under a trellis. Dig a hole, sprinkle some organic granular fertilizer to give them a boost, cover with soil, and water them in. Now you can definitely grow Kaduri melons in a large size container, pot, or grow bag. I would say use something that can hold at least 20 gallons of soil, and then build a trellis or have something for them to climb on on the back side of that container. They can also be grown in the ground, but I highly recommend you avoid that because it's easier for pests, critters, and diseases to get on them and ruin the fruit. But if you must, make a mound of soil and direct sow three seeds per mound. Space the mounds three feet apart in rows that are about two to three feet apart. Before you direct sow seeds or transplant Kaduri melons into the garden, make sure you pick a good spot to grow them. They are a full sun crop requiring eight or more hours of full sun per day. They also need a good amount of nutrients to grow fast and produce a lot, especially if you're trying to harvest most of it out before the extreme heat of summer arrives. They grow best in soil with lots of organic matter, so amend the soil with compost or warm castings before planting. Kaduri melons like soil that is moist but not saturated or that has poor drainage because that will cause root rot. Let the soil dry out in between watering, which is especially key if you're gardening in a humid and rainy environment like in Florida. As far as fertilizer, they aren't that picky. An all-purpose general fertilizer will work very well. I really like organic granular fertilizers like Espoma Garden Tone. I usually apply small doses like a quarter cup at the base of the vines every three weeks or so. I also try to fertilize my entire garden with compost extract every two to three weeks, which increases the soil microbiology and has drastically improved the health and vigor of my plants. I have a tutorial all about how to make it, which I will link in the description. But anyways, frequent fertilizing with an organic type of fertilizer will keep nutrient levels high so the vines grow fast and can outpace the diseases by continuously putting on new healthy green growth. After about two months from direct sowing the seeds or transplanting, you will start to notice small yellow flowers. Like all cucurbits, Kaduri melons need pollination to set fruit. The ones on a straight thin stem with no fruit at the base. Female flowers follow later and you can tell them apart by the tiny melon sitting at the base of the flower. That little bulge is the future fruit. In most outdoor gardens, bees and other pollinators handle this naturally. If you're growing under row covers or your garden does not get much pollinator activity, you might need to hand pollinate. Pick a fresh male flower in the morning when the flowers are newly open and swirl a small paintbrush in the center to pick up pollen. Then swirl the paintbrush with pollen into the center of a female flower. You will know it worked within a few days. The tiny melon at the base of the female flower will start to swell rather than turn yellow and drop. I personally don't hand pollinate my Kaduri melons, but I also have tons of pollinators in my garden. If you're concerned, it is advantageous to plant pollinator attracting plants nearby your Kaduri melon vines. I recommend African blue basil, blue sage, and agastache or Korean mint. Those are the top flowers in my garden that attract bees. They do all the pollination work for me. And actually right here is a big bush of the Korean mint or the agastache, and it's located right next to my Kaduri melon vines. Now, Kaduri melons do have a higher pest and disease resistance than standard melon varieties. However, that does not mean totally immune. It just means it can tolerate a lot more before succumbing to it and ultimately dying off. So real quick, let's discuss some of the more common pests and diseases you might encounter when growing Kaduri melons. The good news for Kaduri growers, because these are in the Cocumis mellow family and not a Kirka betta, they are not targeted by squash vine bores. That eliminates one of the most frustrating pests. The most common pest issue I see on my melon vines is the pickle worm. They are green and have white stripes down their back. They are nocturnal, so you might not see them during the day, but if you notice chewed up leaves and find little black or orange balls on the leaves and vines, that's their frass or poop, which is a sure sign that pickle worms are present. I would spray with Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt. Aphids can also be a problem, especially in the springtime. Check the undersides of your leaves regularly and knock small infestations off with a blast of water from your garden hose. For more severe aphid infestations, spray with an organic insecticidal soap. For disease, powdery mildew is by far the biggest concern. You will notice it has a white powdery coating on the leaves, usually starting on the older lower leaves first. Maintain good airflow by not overcrowding your plants. Growing them up on a trellis really helps with all of this. Avoid wetting the foliage by watering at the base of the vines. If you notice powdery mildew, spray with 1 cup of 3% hydrogen peroxide per gallon of water to clean and disinfect. Also remove the leaves that are badly diseased to reduce the spread. Catching it early makes a significant difference. Once mildew has a grip on a vine, it's much harder to manage. Alright, hopefully by following all of my tips, you arrive at the harvest point. The jari melons are ready for harvest when the wider dark green stripes turn orange. There usually is some light green stripes that are thinner in between the orange ones. It should easily slip off the vine when you tug on it. They will also just drop or slip off the vine when ripe. I recommend not growing it on something that is super tall so if it falls down it doesn't split open. This one fell on its own but luckily didn't break. You can make a small hammock out of old pantyhose, a mesh bag, or strips of fabric and tie it to the trellis to protect them from falling if you want. I personally don't because that's more work for me and the majority of them are just fine anyways. There are three signals that confirm a kajari melon is ready for harvest. First, as I mentioned before, the color changes. As a kajari melon ripens, its dark green stripes turn orange. Second, the melon will easily slip off the vine if you tug on it or perhaps it just falls down. Kajari is a slipping melon which means the fruit naturally separates from the vine as it reaches full ripeness. A fully ripe kajari melon will release with almost no resistance, just a little tug, and it should come right off. If you have to pull it with any real force, leave it on the vine for one or two more days. And third, the smell. When a kajari melon is ripe, it has a very strong sweet musk melon scent. If you're not getting that fragrance yet, leave it on the vine. If all three indicators are there, go ahead and harvest or eat it if it fell to the ground. Once you pick it, eat it soon because kajari melons do not have a long shelf life at peak ripeness, three to five days at room temperature max, a little bit longer once sliced and refrigerated. I prefer to chill it before eating, but it's still awesome at room temperature. It is beautiful when paired with fresh mint and a squeeze of lime, wonderful on the summer board with prosciutto and fresh mozzarella, and it makes an incredible agua fresca or smoothie. But honestly, my favorite way to eat it is right here in my garden, so let's cut into it. When you slice it open, you get an instant honeydew melon-like scent and you notice that light green honeydew melon-like flesh. It's incredibly sweet and almost honey-like with a floral aromatic quality you simply do not get from grocery store melons. I like to slice mine in half and then flip it down, slice that half into half again, so basically like quartering it. And then from there, I just kind of slice them into more thinner slices that makes it easier to eat. And then from there, just pick one up and I use my knife to scrape out the seeds. All the seeds just fell out of this one. But anyways, let me show you guys a close-up. There's the interior, really really pretty, and a little slice. All right, so I'm gonna eat it. It is so good. And I like honeydew melons. This reminds me of the best honeydew melon you will ever eat in your life. But the ones you buy at that grocery store, they're always harvested way too early before they mature and get like at full peak ripeness, so you're missing out on a lot of flavor and sweetness there. These kajari melons are perfectly ripe. They have a very strong sweet flavor, not bland at all like a honeydew melon from the grocery store. And the texture is perfect. It's not hard and it's not mushy either. Literally, this is so refreshing after a hard stay work in the garden. I grew kajari melons for the first time many years ago, and after I tasted it for the first time, I knew it was something that I have to grow every single spring season in my garden. If there is one melon I want every Florida and subtropical gardener to grow at least once, it is this one, the kajari melon. It's heat tolerant, fast maturing, beautiful, and when you get a ripe one out of your own garden, it will genuinely blow you away. Seeds are available on my website jarrisgarden.com, and I will link them in the description below. If you grow them this season, I want to hear about it. Leave a comment below. And if this video was helpful, please consider giving me a big thumbs up and subscribe so you don't miss any of my gardening tutorials. Happy gardening everyone, and I'll see you in the next video.