I was told recently that if you raise both cucumbers and melons in the same
area, the melons will taste like cucumbers. (OK, if that's true, why
wouldn't the cukes taste like cantaloupes?)

Is this true or an old wives' tale?

I know in breeding dogs or chickens, the parents don't "catch" traits from
each other, it is only the OFFSPRING that combine traits of both parents,
and I don't harvest seeds from my veggies, so I wouldn't ever produce
accidentally crossbred veggies.

I am having trouble understanding how pollination could affect the flavor of
what would be a "parent".

I usually don't try melons, last year I did, but failed to plant any cukes.
The melons were big and juicy but had NO flavor, and that was when I learned
that boron deficiency causes lack of flavor in melons. This year, I used
Espoma Plant-Tone organic fertilizer (which seems to have plenty of trace
minerals, it is made of guano), and am looking forward to late-planted but
tasty melons.

If the cukes really ARE likely to affect the flavor of this year's melons, I
will yank them out when I see the first bud on a melon vine.

Is it also a miscegnation risk to have cantaloupes and honeydews growing in
the same garden?

laurie (Mother Mastiff)
Still up to my waist in snakes, and considering putting fake eggs in the
nests, to give the snakes a terminal tummy-ache!

laurie (looking for facts, because I love melons AND cukes!)