Guess you don't turn your compost pile often?
Nothing can grow in mine because I turn it so often.

The flowers look small, like a cucumber? Maybe I should put on my reading glasses & take a closer look.

You'll have to wait until it bears fruit. I had a mystery squash growing from my compost pile once, and it wasn't until the thing developed netting on the surface that I realized it was a cantaloupe.

It's true uscjusto, mine's more of a collection bin than a compost bin........... Guess I should turn the thing occasionally, huh? LOL

Cuke is a good guess shermthewerm, but I'm leaning toward cantaloupe........ Wait, no....... the leaves are not jagged........ Hmmmm ?

Keep us posted--I love mystery plants from the compost. I have one going myself. I should post a pic; I'm guessing pumpkin (or some weird cross). Always an adventure!

no chances of telling the variety from the plant alone. But if it is a cross that happened in your garden (or on the field where the melon was grown), there is a strong chance of a soapy taste.

DEFINITELY NOT CUCUMBER.
It is either a melon or cantaloupe . OBVIOUSLY, it comes from the seeds of what you ate and throw the seeds in the compost. Do you eat more Honeydews or Cantaloupes ?

Definitely muskmelon. Mine looks JUST like that!

Just b/c it looks like a muskmelon (or cantaloupe) doesn't mean it will taste like one - we had some volunteers one year that must have come from same seed, but 1 plant the fruit had webbing and looked like honeydew on the inside, the other plant the fruit was smooth skinned like honeydew but had orange flesh, I forget now but 1 tasted great, the other was a spitter!

Cantaloupe (Hale's Best) is a distinct possibility! I'll keep GW posted.........

Thought I'd revive this thread to post an update on the ol' mystery melon......

{{gwi:92522}}

Looking like a cantaloupe perhaps?

Yes, it looks like some type of muskmelon.
I've found that if a volunteer looks mostly normal, they probably will taste fine if you pick it at the right time (full slip). No reason to assume it will be bad.
-Mark

Plant is going gangbusters............. Makes my Crenshaw plants, in my garden, look benign..... Would be a shame if it produced enedible fruit..........

Didn't I say so ! ?
Good looking plant and fruit. lets see a picture of that baby when ripe.

All that good compost - you should see the tomato volunteer that came up by the door of my bin - now it's popping up inside, in the back corner. DH thinks it's a different plant, but when we empty that compartment (finished compost) I think we'll find a huge root system!

The only cantaloupes I get are from volunteers from my sheet composting in the garden beds. Whenever I plant melons from purchased seed, they die before producing.

They've all tasted excellent. I did have the experience of unexpected flesh color, based on the look of the outside. I'm sure the volunteers are from grocery store hybrids, so that makes sense.

Keep us posted!

hepatica

It actually looks like a Charentais!

ltilton has a point... I don't recall planting (or harvesting) Charentais, but I sometimes buy seed on a whim,when I find it cheap...... & I do recall a cantaloupe seed I started as a transplant that didn't do well in the garden & ended up in the compost .......... Though this melon has an oval shape, where Charentais appear round...

Not all. I have a Charentais called Escorial that has an oval shape, specially when young.