Sensation Muskmelon

seeds
Cucumis melo
(85 days) F-1 hybrid. Bested Seminis-bred French Orange at a memorable late-August staff melon taste-off, so good that it motivated both Susan Kiralis and Bria Sanborn to grow melons for the first time. I was not present, but last August I joined the Sensation fan club when it became the first melon to vine-ripen for me on Aug. 27 and 31. Very sweet, but not cloying, with perhaps the highest Brix of any melon in the catalog. Complex, too, with haunting hints of hazelnut, amaretto and cinnamon. Very unlike French Orange, and not fitting into any of the usual classes of melons, Hollar’s Sensation generates sparsely netted 2–4 lb fruits with very small seed cavities surrounded by glistening white flesh. As they ripen, their buff skin becomes burnished with an orangey-yellow haze and they readily slip from the vine. Brought indoors, they fill the room with their enticing fragrance. Resistant to F0-2 and PM.

Supplier Transparency:
⑥ Syngenta, manufacturer of neonicotinoids. We have decided to stop carrying varieties sold by Syngenta Group or its subsidiaries, Hollar and Goldsmith. Starting with the 2024 catalog, you will not see any Syngenta Group, or Code 6, varieties listed in our paper catalog. We will continue to sell some varieties online until our in house inventory is gone. Purchasing them will not further support Syngenta Group, but help us limit our losses and lessen the financial impact of our decision.
ships year-round

996 Sensation

A: 15 seeds
$4.65
B: 60 seeds
$12.00
C: 180 seeds
$29.00

Related Items

Potting Soil
Seed Starting Supplies
Quick Details
Hybrid Status
F-1 hybrid
Days to Maturity
85 days
Compare

Compare with other Muskmelons

Variety Product Type Hybrid Status Days to Maturity
Melonade seeds F-1 hybrid 70 days
Triton seeds F-1 hybrid 75 days
Halona seeds F-1 hybrid 74 days
Divergent
Organic 		seeds F-1 hybrid 75 days
Tirreno
Organic 		seeds F-1 hybrid 80 days
Athena seeds F-1 hybrid 80 days
Sugar Cube seeds F-1 hybrid 80 days
Home Run seeds F-1 hybrid 82 days
Hannah’s Choice seeds F-1 hybrid 85 days
Golden Gopher
Organic & Biodynamic 		seeds open pollinated 85 days
Hearts of Gold seeds open pollinated 85 days
Arachne
Organic 		seeds open pollinated 88 days
Pride of Wisconsin
Organic 		seeds open pollinated 88 days
Montreal Market
Organic 		seeds open pollinated 89 days
Sensation seeds F-1 hybrid 85 days
Shipping

From early May through October 31, items shipping from our garden seeds warehouse ship twice a week, usually Tuesday and Thursday. For quickest turnaround time order online by noon Monday or Wednesday.

Additional Information

Sensational Melons

Diseases:

  • F: Fusarium
  • PM: Powdery Mildew
  • PRSV: Papaya Ring Spot Virus
  • WMV: Watermelon Mosaic Virus
  • ZYMV: Zucchini Yellows Mosaic Virus

Muskmelons

About 25-45 seeds/g.

Muskmelons are usually heavily netted and deeply ribbed with larger seed cavities than cantaloupes. They are easier and require less heat to grow well than cantaloupes.

Diseases:

  • F: Fusarium
  • PM: Powdery Mildew
  • PRSV: Papaya Ring Spot Virus
  • WMV: Watermelon Mosaic Virus
  • ZYMV: Zucchini Yellows Mosaic Virus

Melons

  • About 25–35 seeds/g; watermelons about 20 seeds/g; exceptions noted.
  • Days to maturity are from date of transplanting.

Melon seed lives more than 10 years with proper storage. 18th- and 19th-century growers preferred to sow 4- to 10-year-old melon seed, believing that such seeds produced plants that spread less and fruits with a finer perfume.

Most Years You Can Vine-Ripen Melons In Maine
Melons are a tender crop with high nitrogen requirements. They love heat, cannot stand frost, and may be damaged by night temperatures below 40°. Though they require some extra fussing, the results are sure worthwhile.

  • Note days to maturity and select varieties that will ripen in your climate. Alvaro and Halona are surest bets.
  • Start indoors in early May (later if the spring is slow to warm) in plastic or peat pots, 2 or 3 seeds to a pot. Minimum germination soil temp 60°, optimal range 75–95°. Melons resent transplanting but will take if their roots are not disturbed.
  • Prepare hills in advance with liberal amounts of well-rotted manure or compost. A cold start can permanently stunt growth, so wait for a warm spell after all danger of frost to transplant, usually between May 20 and June 20. Don’t place melons next to vigorous crawling plants like cucumbers, gourds or winter squash.
  • Water heavily and, if soil is dry, place a temporary hay mulch around plants until a soaking rain comes.
  • Melons are much more sensitive than squashes so use low tunnels with floating row covers that do not abrade plants. If you have sandy soil, check daily and irrigate when needed.
  • Use blue, black or clear plastic mulch between plants.
  • Use a foliar feeding program to speed ripening.
  • Remove row covers before buds open. Replace them when you don’t desire any more fruit to set.
  • To reduce rot loss, rotate ripening melons occasionally. To reduce mouse damage, place ripening melons on bricks.
  • Inspect your patch daily at ripening time. Check fruits for aroma and color and pull gently on those that appear to be ripe. Most muskmelons are ripe when the pressure causes them to slip from the vine. Harvest Galia, Charentais, Honeydews before full slip. Watermelons are ripe when the tendril near the stem is dry.
  • Enjoy an incomparable taste treat!

Pest: Striped Cucumber Beetle
Cultural controls: use tolerant or resistant varieties, rotate crops, till under crop debris soon after harvest, use floating row covers until flowers appear, use plastic mulch, perimeter trap cropping (Black Zucchini and Blue Hubbard make particularly good trap crops), use yellow sticky strips, hand-pick early morning when beetles are very sluggish.
Materials: Surround, Pyrethrum (PyGanic).

Disease: Powdery Mildew
Controls: Use small plots to slow spread, plant indeterminate (viney) varieties, control weed competition.
Materials: sulfur and whole milk, mineral or other oils in combination with potassium bicarbonate.
Disease: Bacterial Wilt
Cultural control: Striped Cucumber Beetle is vector—control it; choose resistant varieties.

Fascinated by heritage melons? Amy Goldman’s Melons for the Passionate Grower (ISBN 1-57965-213-1), a mouth-watering journey through her 100 favorite varieties, is an indispensable identification and cultural aid.

Germination Testing

For the latest results of our germination tests, please see the germination page.

Our Seeds are Non-GMO

Non GMO

All of our seeds are non-GMO, and free of neonicotinoids and fungicides. Fedco is one of the original companies to sign the Safe Seed Pledge.