Does anyone have any ideas as to why the blossoms are not setting fruit?
I have cantaloupe plants that have grown to 6' on the ground. There have been plenty of (hundreds) of blossoms but as yet not ONE canteloupe. The same for a watermellon plant.
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Double check that you are noticing the female flowers not pollinating, rather than the males. Melons have both male and female flowers. The male flowers will bloom first, and lots of them. I find that there are a lot less female flowers than male, and they can hide from you as well. Sometimes a melon or squash will just grow overnight (or so it seems) though I bet it was hiding in plain sight all along...
Native bees are great pollinators, along with flowers keep areas in your yard wild and messy, native bees are solitary and do not create hives like the european bees. They love cracks and crevices in rock and dirt to live in. '
Most moths and butterflies start out as pesky caterpillars first and they are pollinators too. Limit DE use for insect control as any bug that likes a flower is really a pollinator.
Melons take a lot of water, so if the irrigation is lacking the plant will not produce fruit either.
Got pollinators? The melon and squash plants need pollinators or you have to be the 'bee' and go around each morning with a q-tip or small brush.
I recommend you keep something in bloom year round to keep the pollinators in your gardens.
In the thread below I posted a chart for planting edible flowers:
http://www.phoenixpermaculture.org/forum/topics/pollinator-garden?c...
I am having the same issue with my cantaloupes and summer squash. I have not been seeing many bees around my plants so this may be the problem. In past years I have had to hand pollinate my squash to get any actual squash and have noticed each year it seems to be more difficult.