12 Tasty Mini Melon Varieties for a Small Garden

Like pumpkins and other vining squash plants, melons produce long trailing stems that can take over small gardens quickly. These long stems could be trained to grow up vertical supports. But watermelons and cantaloupes can become heavy and difficult to support.

Luckily there’s a fantastic selection of mini melon varieties to choose from!

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The different types of mini melon

Like mini pumpkin varieties, mini melons are usually classified by two characteristics:

• Mini fruits: Usually no bigger than 6 inches in width.
• Mini plants: Some melon varieties will produce compact bushy growth instead of a long trailing vine. This melon type is particularly well suited to mini garden spaces like balconies or tiny courtyard gardens.

Typically, any fruits over 3 lbs will need support when growing vertically. So some mini melon varieties may still need support like a melon sling or hammock. These reusable netted melon hammocks from Amazon are a great option if you don’t want to DIY your own!

The best small melon varieties

Mini melons are a fantastic fruit to grow vertically and there are plenty of tasty varieties to choose from. Discover 12 of our favorite mini melon varieties below, along with their estimated size and weight.

1. Sprite Melon

With a deliciously sweet flavor, these small yellow melons are a great fruit choice for small gardens. They produce crisp white flesh that’s often likened to a cross between a pear and a honeydew melon. It’s a popular variety that originated in Japan and it usually produces a great crop of fruits, about the size of a grapefruit!

Fruit size and weight: 4 inches, 1-2 lbs.

2. Sugar Cube Cantaloupe

A fantastic mini cantaloupe melon with thick, sweet orange flesh. The plant will produce a great crop of heavily netted green fruits about the size of a grapefruit. It also has great crop resistance from many common melon plant diseases.

Fruit size and weight: 4 inches, 2-3 lbs.

3. Jenny Lind Cantaloupe

An heirloom melon that first appeared in the 1800s, it was named after a famous Swedish singer. Unlike most other cantaloupes the Jenny Lind melon has sweet pale green flesh and a wide but shallow shape.

If you’re growing melons in a cooler climate, the Jenny Lind cantaloupe is one of the best melons to grow with a short growing season. From sowing to harvesting, you could be eating the fruits within 70 days.

Fruit size and weight: 4-6 inches, 1-2 lbs.

4. Honey Bun Hybrid

The Honey Bun cantaloupe melon is the perfect melon plant for a smaller garden. Instead of a long trailing vine, this mini melon variety forms more of a compact bush. As its name suggests, this melon produces delicious honey-flavored flesh.

Fruit size and weight: 5 inches, 4-5 lbs.

5. Super Ball Hybrid

With attractive orange and yellow patterning on its skin, the Super Ball melon looks lovely growing on a vertical trellis. It has deliciously, thick and sweet white flesh.

Fruit size and weight: 4-5 inches, 1-1.5 lbs.

6. Mini Piccolo

A deliciously sweet mini watermelon with bright red flesh. It’s a seedless variety, making it an excellent melon for kids to enjoy. These seeds can be bought online from Burpees.

But note that because this is a seedless melon, the seed packet will also include a seeded variety of melon which must be planted too. This seeded variety will act as a pollinator for the Mini Piccolo as it cannot produce pollen itself.

Fruit size and weight: 2-4 lb.

6. Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty melons have sweet orange flesh with a netted and slightly ribbed skin. They’re one of the smallest mini melons you can grow, with most fruits reaching only half a pound! The plant itself produces compact, bushy growth which is great for containers and small vegetable gardens. They’ll turn yellow as they ripen.

Fruit size and weight: 6 inches, 0.5-1 lb.

7. Charentais

The Charentais melon is a French heirloom variety from the Charentes region. They’re roughly the same size as a softball, and they have thin green/grey skin and sweet succulent orange flesh. You’ll not likely find these in shops as they don’t travel well, however, they are a delicious mini melon to grow in a small garden.

Fruit size and weight: 4 inches, 2-3 lbs.

8. Tigger Melon

With striking, striped orange and yellow skin, Tigger melons are a really attractive melon to grow on a vertical trellis. Compared to other melons, they can take an extra couple of weeks to mature. This means they might not be suitable if you live in a cooler area. When grown in a warm climate the white flesh is particularly sweet.

Fruit size and weight: 3-4 inches, 1-2 lbs.

9. Galia

A round yellow with a tough netted skin. It has a delicious musky aroma and a sweet flavor with a tropical essence. The flesh inside will usually have a honey appearance, with a hint of pale green where it reaches the skin.

Fruit size and weight: 4-6 inches, 2 lbs.

10. Minnesota Midget

This mini melon variety produces compact bushy growth, which is again perfect for growing in a container. Minnesota Midget melon plants mature quickly, at around 70 days. This makes them perfect melons to grow if you live in a cooler climate! The Minnesota Midget melon is netted with a green color and green/yellow stripes.

Fruit size and weight: 4 inches, 2-4 lbs.

11. Alvaro Melon

Alvaro melons have pale yellow skin with a distinct green-striped pattern. It has similarities to the Charentais melon, with its deliciously sweet orange flesh.

Fruit size and weight: 4-5 inches, 1-2 lbs.

12. Early Silver Line

The Early Silver Line melon is a Korean heirloom variety. It has pale yellow/cream striped skin and a unique elongated shape. Its juicy, white flesh is often likened to a cross between a cucumber and a watermelon. Usually, the skin is so thin that it can be peeled away like a cucumber or apple.

Fruit size and weight: 3 inches, 1-2 lbs.

The World’s smallest watermelon

There’s currently no official record for the world’s smallest watermelon variety. Each of the mini melons mentioned above are some of the smallest and tastiest melons you can grow. But the melon that consistently produces the tiniest fruits is the Queen Anne’s Pocket melon.

Also known as the Plum Granny melon, the Queen Anne’s Pocket melon is a popular heirloom variety that has a wonderfully fragrant scent, but a relatively bland taste. It has very attractive orange skin with speckled yellow stripes. Many historical accounts suggest it was carried around in the pockets of Victorian women because of its sweet fragrance.

Can you grow melons vertically?

While mini melons are ideal for small balconies and other mini garden spaces. It is definitely possible to grow larger melons vertically too. You just need to make sure that the fruits are well-supported as they become heavier. Use a support like this a-frame trellis from Amazon or this sturdy obelisk support that you could use if you’re container gardening.

Heavy fruits can damage the plant and even become a hazard. So we’ve created an entire guide to growing melons vertically and extra tips on how to create a vertical vegetable garden.

From mini winter squash to mini melons, smaller fruit and veg varieties are ideal for small spaces and vertical vegetable gardens. They’re also a great crop to grow with kids as they can easily pick the smaller fruits.