How many plants for average family:
3 - 5 per family

Type of plant:
Annual vine.

Best Varieties:
Hales Best - disease resistant
Passport - green flesh, fast maturing
Minnesota Midget - compact habit
Nutmeg - cool climates, compact

Sowing:
Can be sown direct or transplanted as seedlings. Raise under glass in cool regions.
High failure rate with seed germination means sowing 3 or 4 seeds per hole for good results.

Growing Habit:
Vigorous vines can be trained up a North facing trellis to save space, fruit supported by plastic bag "slings".

Growing Conditions:
Needs long hot growing conditions.
Mildly fertile soil with addition of potash to help with fruit set. Pinch out growing tip only after first female flowers have successfully set fruit to encourage lateral growth on which more flowers appear. Try to attract many bees into the garden to help with successful pollination. Allow fruit to ripen on vine for maximum taste and sweetness.

Companions:
Corn, lovage, marjoram. Blue flowers to attract bees. Avoid potatoes.

Problems:
Poor fruit production if season not hot enough or long enough.
Female flowers can drop before establishing fertilisation.
Sunburn.
Fruit fly.
Mildew and other fungal problems.

For more information:

Growing rockmelon and honeydew - common questions
This section contains the most commonly asked questions about growing rockmelon and honeydew. ... been extracted from the Agrilink Rockmelon and Honeydew Information Kit and the Agrilink Rockmelon and Honeydew Information Kit Annual ...
http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/horticulture/5278.html

Rockmelon
Rockmelon. Rockmelon. Varieties that I've used so far; Hales Best. When to sow; Hot Spring, Summer, Autumn Warm Spring, Summer Cool Spring, Summer. Location; Sunny, well prepared soil
http://www.myveggiegarden.com/Rockmelon.htm

Consumer Information
Consumer Information. How to select a rockmelon. 1. Make sure the rockmelon: - has a fresh, glowing, cream netting. - is very hard when touched. - has a slight creamy orange skin colour
http://www.moonrocks.com.au/Consumer.htm

Rockmelon and vanilla soup
1 large rockmelon (cantaloupe) 4 large eggs 1 vanilla pod 4 heaped tablespoons castor sugar Garnish Sprinkle of chocolate powder Bourbon sour 2 egg whites small hand full of ice juice of half a lem ... When buying your rockmelon, press your thumbs down on the stem end and sniff ...
http://www.abc.net.au/jamescancook/s585538.htm