Will pruning cantaloupe vines give cantaloupes more nutrients for faster time to full fruit?

Question

I’m growing cantaloupe for the first time. Three plants are in a small baby pool and the vines are doing great! I live in WA west of the Cascades. The fruit is just beginning to show. The largest is approx 1 1/2″ in diameter. There are many flowers and some small fruit in addition. Should I prune off some of the flowers and/or vines to help the larger fruit ripen? I’m hoping that doing that will direct more nutrients to the larger fruit and perhaps speed the maturation. We should have warm temperatures all this month.

Answer 1

The cooperative extension service offers this advice:

"The more leaves on a vine, the sweeter the fruit will be, so leave the main vines unpruned. You can prune the lateral vines coming off the main vine. You can cut them back up to about the 8th leaf node from the stem. Remove misshapen or damaged fruit so that the vine puts its energy into the good fruit. About 50 days before the first frost date, start pinching off any new flowers to encourage the ripening of the fruit that is already growing."

Here's a GKH article about harvesting cantaloupe: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/cantaloupe/harvesting-cantaloupe.htm