Strantor.. Do you have what appears to be a light/pale powdery substance on the leaves of the melons? That's what happens when we grow them.. I believe it's a type of fungus or something.. If that's what you've got, it will consume and take over the entire plant -- which spends its time trying to fight the invasion and looses power to grow the fruit..

I don't see anything matching that description. Here's a pic of my plants:

and this how big my melons have been for a couple of weeks:

I believe that IF you use drip irrigation and NOT an overhead sprinkler, that might help -- keep the water off the leaves and don't water at night.. Perhaps early in the morning...

I water them from a pitcher from my kiddie pool of rain water. I put about a gallon or 2 in the planter every day about 2pm. I've been watering the leaves too, especially since they started looking sickly; I thought maybe they absorb water through the leaves too, but I guess I may have been doing more harm than good?

 

Ok Strantor, a cap full of bleach in each kiddie pool will rid you of mosquito's. Did you plant your seeds in the dirt then put them in sunlight? This is a big no no. Plant you seeds in foam cups from dollar store, 1 seed per cup so roots don't intertwine. Then keep them inside or outside in the shade till it sprouts. Once it sprouts gradually bring it into full sun. Don't want it into full sun untill its established a nice root system.

bleach in the water won't hurt the plants?

I planted the seeds in the dirt straight in the planter that they are currently growing in, in full sun, since day one. They came up just fine and they're big plants now. Do you think maybe they are experiencing problems now because I didn't do all that with the cups at the beginning?

 

Bleach in the water won't harm anything in that dosage unless you emptied the entire bottle in

Your plant doesn't look that bad.. The disease I was referring to cause the leaves to get a fungus on them, they dry up like old leaves and die..

I don't think what you're seeing now has anything to do with how the seeds were started.. You could take that pic to a local nursery and see what they think.. Sometimes pests/diseases are local to an area. Don't take it to the local Home Depot or similar as they are likely clueless for these issues..

 

How deep are your planters? If there isn't enough room for the roots, they will get "root bound" and stop growing the fruit. The spots on leaves look more like insect problem from here.

 

Bleach in the water won't harm anything in that dosage unless you emptied the entire bottle in

Your plant doesn't look that bad.. The disease I was referring to cause the leaves to get a fungus on them, they dry up like old leaves and die..

I don't think what you're seeing now has anything to do with how the seeds were started.. You could take that pic to a local nursery and see what they think.. Sometimes pests/diseases are local to an area. Don't take it to the local Home Depot or similar as they are likely clueless for these issues..

Except bacteria and mosquito eggs. It basically just sterilizes the water.