Melorange is apparently a trademark rather than a variety name. It represents several varieties introduced to professional growers.

Personally, I won't grow anything linked to Monsanto, in any way..to me..even if it's not GMO, you are at the very least funding them by buying their products.
There are a ton of very good heirloom melons out there and at least you know where they come from! I would try Baker Creek..they have lots of great melons from all over the world. Rareseeds.com

I agree those Melorange melons take flavor to a whole new level for winter cantaloupes. I believe Melorange is actually a charentais and not a cantaloupe though. I have heard that the varieties that are sold under the Melorange brand are only available through commercial growers and not for home gardeners

urlsck

sorry but you wrong charentais is a cantaloupe since does not have netting, if has netting it is a muskmelon. most melon sold in usa have netting and thus are not cantaloupes but muskmelons. they are similar but not same. But what will really blow your mind is that honeydew are cantaloupes.

Melorange has netting so it is muskmelon.

ttfn.

Hubs actually brought one of these home. We really liked it, so I kept the seeds, and dropped them in the ground a couple weeks ago. They're all popping up, so I decided to go online to make sure I was spelling the name correctly. Today is the first I'm learning about the Monsanto connection. I'll be interested in monitoring my bees' reaction to them as opposed to the cucumber they're growing next to. As for seed sales, I wouldn't expect to purchase them anytime soon - I'd imagine there's probably a patent of some sort in place...

True, but it will be interesting to see what comes out of it. If nothing else, my compost will happily eat them! ;}

I've tried them a few times since that post, and have been very pleased every time. I am not saying that they are as good or better than a good, summertime vine ripened cantaloupe. But what had and has me so excited about them is that they are a great WINTERTIME melon!! To be clear, I know where they are grown and am not saying they are grown in cold (ie winter). But almost all the cantaloupes I get in the grocery store in winter time are just awful. I'm sure its because they have to be grown so far (south) away at that time of year, and the long journey necessitates them being picked very green and perhaps most wintertime melons are bred more for shipping stability than taste. All that may also be true for melorange,, but they are still very, very good melons in spite of all this. Best melons I've bought this time of year.

BTW...Thanks, daninthedirt, for the heads up on the seeds! I'm not at al surprised to hear they are hybrids, but at least now I know saving seeds is futile in all probability. Thanx

I live about 10 miles where these are grown, small town in Georgia

Shagqueen51, i need to know where I can buy these..THEY ARE THE BEST MELONS I'VE EVER TASTE!!! I live near Georgia and will drive to get more of these melons!!! I had them at a wedding in Georgia.

I believe that melorange melons retain firmness for a long time after harvest, which might suit a wintertime market. I don't think they actually grow in the winter, or like cool weather. But if someone knows otherwise ...

I would be interested in how your plants turn out.

Between the cool, wet spring and the hot dry summer, ours didnt fare so well. But honestly, we somewhat neglected, and our cucumbers suffered too. We did manage to get one to ripen tho - it was about the size of a tennis ball and very tastey :}

I just come acrossed this site while looking up this cute little melon before cutting it and though it has been a couple of months since anyone ask about where to get them in Georgia, I thought I would let ya'll know that I got mine today at Wal-Mart in Dublin, Ga. So Im sure they are prob at all the Wal Marts. Hope ya'll find them!:0)

These melons are muskmelons modified with a citron gene to make them sweeter. They are good. They are sweet. They do not compare with a vine ripened Pecos melon ever. And as they are modified with a citron gene to make them sweeter, they are a genetically modified product from Monsanto.

I saved a few seeds and planted them a month ago (in central Florida). Vine is very robust but have yet to see anything other than male flowers from six plants. Maybe the females will come along eventually. We plant other heirlooms but I was curious to see if these would even reproduce and what, if anything, I would get. Jury is still out.

good deal! It's still early, so give it some time. I only got a couple fruits from 1 plant before it gave out, but i really wasnt babying it. Found some small melon seeds in a packet at our local nursery that I'm trying, but cant keep the crickets from grazing as fast as they pop up :/

I keep all of my seeds. Especially from meloranges. They grow very quickly. So, today I built a raised garden with a cage around it to keep the cats from using it as a potty place. Last year my meloranges were doing great until the cat laid on them and killed them. Anyways, the seeds sprout in less than a week and are said to produce by October or November. I'm so excited I can hardly wait! They are, by far, more tasty than the cantaloupe. Happy planting!

You may be able to buy seeds from a ag seed supplier but you'll be dealing with minimum amounts and royalties, etc. Maybe the supplier can hook you up with a grower near you who will give you a few seeds.

Is anyone able to send me a few seeds? I don't think I've seen them here in Michigan at all. I love cantaloupe and would gladly pay for the postage!

Thanks

Planted from seeds. Maybe 4 weeks ago. Yellow blooms, one berry looking bud. Fingers crossed we get at least one mellon

this is my biggest melorange and one of about 15! I held it to try and show size. The vine seems to be dying but the rest are doing great! Click on pic and it wont look so smooshed! We live in wisconsin and got a melorange at a local pantry- best fruit ever! I thought well lets just try and grow some (i planted a lot of seeds and i mean a lot!) About 1-2 wks later we seen them starting to sprout, and another 2 weeks later we had melons! If every one would have survived, we would have had at least 50! Maybe more! But quite a few either disappeared or they just stopped growing and fell off! And in all honesty, im not a great Gardner but love to see what we can grow. I probably could have done better with taking care of the garden but i work full time so it wasnt easy. But, even with all that, quite a few are going strong! Our biggest one is already 2/3 the size of the one we got at the pantry and looks similar, so i hope it tastes as good too! The meloranges did much better then our watermelons....but thats another story! I came on here looking to find when i should pick them....still not sure.....lol

Here is another close in size, and vine seems much healthier!!

I bought a melorange from our local supermarket and it was indeed the best melon flavor I have ever tasted. I kept the seeds and they did indeed grow when I planted them. I still have some and they do grow. The melon I bought came in a net "bag" cover (I don't know why) and it had a clear printed professional label on it which I still have and I put the bag of seeds I kept inside that mesh net cover so I know it is the real deal, without a doubt.

The seeds may grow, but it's unlikely they'll grow into Melorange. Melorange are F1 hybrids.

https://specialtyproduce.com/produce/Melorange_Melon_8978.php

Some other notes about it in

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/reclaiming-the-lost-flavor-of-heirloom-produce-mdash-without-gmos/

It is a little unusual because seeds of F1s are actually usually sterile. So I'm wondering if it was really a Melorange that you purchased.

I trusted the label. It said Melorange. I would not have thought it was anything else but a cantaloupe if not for the label. I'd never heard of it before, so I tried it..

That seems fair to trust the label, and I think that F1 seeds are not necessarily sterile. According to the reference I gave, Melorange is thought to be a hybrid of French (Charentais?) and American OP canteloupes. Hybridizers are very reluctant to reveal their exact recipe. So I'd guess that the F1 seeds, if they germinate, will give you something like one or the other. Chanterais are very flavorful.