Winter Melon

Overview

Winter Melon is a farming crop in Starsand Island, classified as a Vegetable and unlocked at the Junior Farmer tier. It grows on standard Farmland during Winter, takes 4 days to mature, and produces 4 Winter Melons per harvest. With a base sell price of 131 Coins each, Winter Melon is one of the most profitable crops at the Junior tier, matching Watermelon (Summer), Pineapple (Spring), and Pumpkin (Autumn) in gold-per-day output.

Despite its name, Winter Melon is categorized as a Vegetable rather than a Fruit. The in-game description reads: "A light vegetable with extremely low fat and sugar content. The white frost on its skin signals ripeness." This classification affects its processing options. Instead of going through the Jam Maker like Fruit crops, Winter Melon uses the Pickling Jar to produce Pickled Winter Melon, and the Separator yields Vegetable Juice rather than Fruit Pulp.

Winter Melon is one of only four crops eligible for the Gmax (giant) mutation. When planted in a 3x3 grid, all nine plants have a chance to merge into a single oversized Gmax Winter Melon. Harvesting the giant variant yields Winter Melon Fragments, a unique material used to craft the Winter Melon furniture set at the Worktable. Growing a Gmax crop is also a requirement for the Intermediate Farmer certification. Since Winter is the last season in the yearly cycle, Winter Melon is the final seasonal Gmax opportunity for players who missed their chance in earlier seasons.

Quick Stats

How to Obtain Seeds

Winter Melon Seeds are purchased from Graminova at the Happiness Seed Shop for 200 Coins per bag. Graminova stocks Winter Melon Seeds year-round, but the crop itself only grows during Winter. Planting outside the Winter season will cause the seeds to wither and die, so buy and stockpile seeds in advance if needed, but only plant them once Winter begins.

To unlock Winter Melon Seeds in the shop, you need to reach Junior Farmer by completing the Apprentice Farmer trial. Once unlocked, the seeds remain available permanently.

At the Senior Farmer tier, you gain access to the Grinder, which lets you process 2 harvested Winter Melons into Winter Melon Seeds. This removes the need to buy seeds from the shop entirely, increasing your effective profit since each harvest can partially fund the next planting cycle for free.

Growing Winter Melon

Winter Melons grow on standard Farmland. They do not require a Trellis, Paddy Field, or Planting Box. The growing process follows the same steps as any farmland crop.

1. Till the soil: Use your Hoe on a patch of Farmland to create a planting spot.

2. Plant the seed: Select Winter Melon Seeds from your inventory and place them in the tilled soil.

3. Water daily: Water the crop each day using your Watering Can, or set up Sprinklers to automate the process. Water stays on a tile for about one full in-game day before drying out.

4. Wait 4 days: Winter Melon takes 4 full days to reach maturity. Growth time starts from the moment you plant, not at the start of a new day. The crop does not regrow after harvesting; you will need to replant seeds for each new harvest.

5. Harvest: Walk up to the mature plant (you will see a harvest icon with sparkly yellow effects above the crop) and interact with it to collect 4 Winter Melons.

Using Ripening Fertilizer can speed up the growth time. Ripening Fertilizer I instantly advances growth by 8 hours, Ripening Fertilizer II by 13 hours, and Ripening Fertilizer III by 25 hours. Applying Ripening Fertilizer III nearly cuts a full day off the 4-day growth cycle.

For increased yield, Yield Fertilizer I boosts harvest quantity by 50% and Yield Fertilizer II by 150%. With Yield Fertilizer II, a single Winter Melon plant can produce 10 Winter Melons instead of the standard 4, dramatically increasing revenue per tile.

Sell Prices and Profitability

Winter Melons sell for 131 Coins each at the General Store. A standard harvest of 4 Winter Melons brings in 524 Coins. After subtracting the 200 Coin seed cost, that leaves a net profit of 324 Coins per harvest, or 81.0 Coins per day over the 4-day growth period.

This puts Winter Melon in a tie with Watermelon (Summer), Pineapple (Spring), and Pumpkin (Autumn) for the highest gold-per-day among Junior Farmer crops. Together, these four crops cover all four seasons, allowing you to maintain a consistent 81.0 Coins/day income year-round by rotating between them. See the Crop Profitability Rankings for a full comparison across all tiers.

Increasing Sell Value

There are several ways to get more out of your Winter Melons beyond selling them raw.

For late-game profit optimization, building multiple Pickling Jars and running them continuously with Winter Melons during Winter is one of the most reliable passive income strategies. Save the finished pickled goods for the Merchant Ship's weekly visit to maximize returns.

Gmax (Giant) Winter Melon

Winter Melon is one of four crops that can mutate into a Gmax (giant) variant when planted in a 3x3 grid of nine seeds. If the mutation triggers, all nine plants merge into a single oversized Gmax Winter Melon that occupies the entire 3x3 space. The giant crop drops Winter Melon Fragments, regular Winter Melons, seeds, and Gmax Tokens when harvested.

How to Grow a Gmax Winter Melon

1. Prepare a 3x3 plot: Till nine adjacent Farmland tiles in a 3x3 square.

2. Plant 9 Winter Melon Seeds: Fill every tile in the grid with Winter Melon Seeds. All nine must be the same crop type.

3. Water and tend all 9 plants: Keep every plant watered and clear any weeds that appear. All nine plants must reach full maturity at roughly the same time for the mutation chance to activate.

4. Wait for the mutation: When all nine plants are fully grown, the game rolls a random chance for the Gmax mutation. If it succeeds, the plants merge into a giant Winter Melon overnight. If it fails, you harvest nine regular Winter Melon plants instead (still profitable).

5. Harvest with an Axe or Hatchet: Gmax crops cannot be picked by hand. Use your Axe or Hatchet to chop the giant Winter Melon. It takes several swings. The Gmax Winter Melon drops Winter Melon Fragments, a large quantity of regular Winter Melons, Winter Melon Seeds, and Gmax Tokens.

Boosting Gmax Chances

The base Gmax mutation chance is not guaranteed on every attempt. To improve your odds, use Gmax Fertilizer III (unlocked at Intermediate Farmer, costs 320 Coins for 5 bags). Applying Gmax Fertilizer III to any single tile in the 3x3 grid boosts the mutation probability by 15%. Only one tile needs the fertilizer for the bonus to apply to the entire grid. Gmax Fertilizer cannot be combined with other fertilizer types on the same tile.

For the best results, set up a 6x6 planting area (four overlapping 3x3 grids) and apply Gmax Fertilizer III to the center tile of each grid. This gives you four chances at a mutation in a single Winter cycle.

Winter Melon Fragment and Furniture Set

Harvesting a Gmax Winter Melon is the only way to obtain Winter Melon Fragments. These fragments are used at the Worktable I crafting station to build the complete Winter Melon furniture set. Each piece requires Winter Melon Fragments alongside regular Winter Melons and other materials.

All seven furniture pieces are crafted at Worktable I and each takes 5 seconds to build. The full set requires a total of 23 Winter Melons, 23 Winter Melon Fragments, 4 Copper Ingots, 4 Softwood Planks, 2 Softwood, 5 Hardwood Planks, and 5 Linen. You will need to harvest multiple Gmax Winter Melons to collect enough fragments for the complete set.

Gmax Winter Melon and Farmer Certification

Growing a Gmax crop is a requirement for the Intermediate Farmer certification. This trial tasks you with successfully producing a giant crop and then crafting Fruity Furniture from its fragments at Alex's Lex Woodworks. Purchase the Winter Melon Sofa and Winter Melon Tea Table blueprints from the Fruity Furniture tab, then craft them using your collected fragments. If the mutation does not trigger on your first try, plant multiple 3x3 grids to increase your chances within the season.

The other three Gmax-eligible crops are Pineapple (Spring), Watermelon (Summer), and Pumpkin (Autumn). Any of them can satisfy the Intermediate Farmer trial, but if you are pushing toward certification in Winter, Winter Melon is your only option.

Processing and Cooking Recipes

Winter Melon has a different processing path than Fruit crops. Because it is classified as a Vegetable, it uses the Pickling Jar instead of the Jam Maker, and the Separator produces Vegetable Juice rather than Fruit Pulp.

Processing Recipes

The Separator is useful for turning surplus Winter Melons into Vegetable Juice, which is a key ingredient in livestock feed. Each Winter Melon produces 11 Vegetable Juice, one of the highest juice yields among all crops. If you keep animals on your farm, dedicating part of your Winter Melon harvest to Vegetable Juice production will help you maintain a steady feed supply through the cold months.

Pickled Winter Melon is a strong profit option. The Pickling Jar takes 2 Winter Melons and 2 Salt Brick to produce one jar, and finished pickled goods sell for considerably more than raw Winter Melons. The Pickling Jar blueprint is unlocked at the Intermediate Farmer rank. Building a room full of Pickling Jars and running them throughout Winter is a popular money-making strategy.

Cooking Recipes

Fortune Clam Broth is a Saucepan dish with a rarity tier of I. It uses Winter Melon as the primary vegetable alongside Garlic, Clam, and Fine Salt. The dish can be prepared at either a Gas Stove or a Campfire, making it accessible both at home and while exploring. For a complete list of every dish in the game, see the Cooking Recipes page.

Gifting

Winter Melons make a solid gift for several characters on the island. Knowing who loves and dislikes Winter Melon helps you build friendship efficiently.

Gifting Winter Melons to Graminova is especially convenient since she runs the Happiness Seed Shop where you buy the seeds. Keep a few Winter Melons aside each harvest to gift to characters who love them for a significant friendship boost. Marston, Matilda, and Sagewood also appreciate them.

Everlasting Winter Melon Seeds

At the Senior Farmer tier, you unlock the Eternal Blessings skill from the Farming profession tree. When this skill is active, every regular harvest has a chance to produce an Everlasting Seed instead of a normal crop. Everlasting Winter Melon Seeds work like permanent plants: after each harvest, the crop regrows automatically without needing to be replanted or re-seeded.

Once you have an Everlasting Winter Melon planted, the seed cost effectively drops to zero for every subsequent harvest. This makes Winter Melon's gold-per-day jump from 81.0 to 131.0 Coins/day (since you no longer spend 200 Coins on seeds every 4 days). Over a full Winter season, this adds up to a significant income boost.

Tips for obtaining Everlasting Winter Melon Seeds faster:

• Upgrade the Eternal Blessings skill as soon as you reach Senior Farmer. Higher blessing levels increase the conversion chance.

• Plant large batches of regular Winter Melons. The more you harvest, the more chances you have to trigger an Everlasting Seed drop.

• Everlasting Seeds can also drop from Islandpedia entries and lucky chests found while tilling soil.

• If you remove an Everlasting Winter Melon from its tile, the Everlasting Seed returns to your inventory. You can replant it wherever you like without losing it.

Other Winter Crops

The following table compares Winter Melon against other Winter crops available at or near the Junior Farmer tier. For a complete comparison across all tiers and seasons, see the Crop Profitability Rankings page.

Winter Melon stands out among Winter crops for its combination of high yield, farmland compatibility (no trellis or paddy field required), and Gmax eligibility. It shares Winter season viability with Pumpkin, giving you two Gmax-eligible options during the coldest months. Winter Oilseed offers faster turnaround at the Apprentice tier, but Winter Melon's higher sell price makes it far more profitable per tile once you reach Junior Farmer.

Tips

• Winter Melon pairs with Pineapple (Spring), Watermelon (Summer), and Pumpkin (Autumn) to give you 81.0 Coins/day income in every season. Rotate between these four crops as the calendar changes.

• Set up Sprinklers to automate watering. Winter Melons have a 4-day growth cycle, and missing a single watering day can delay your harvest and waste precious Winter days.

• Stockpile Winter Melon Seeds before Winter begins. Since Graminova sells them year-round, you can buy in bulk during Autumn so you are ready to plant the moment Winter starts.

• If you are working toward Intermediate Farmer certification, plant at least two or three separate 3x3 Winter Melon grids to increase your odds of getting a Gmax mutation within the Winter season.

• Once you unlock the Grinder at Senior Farmer, process some of your harvested Winter Melons back into seeds (2 Winter Melons per seed bag). This eliminates the 200 Coin seed cost and raises your effective profit per harvest.

• Save your Winter Melons (or Pickled Winter Melon) for the Merchant Ship visit. The 200% buy price turns each raw Winter Melon into 262 Coins, nearly doubling your income.

• Build multiple Pickling Jars and keep them running with Winter Melons throughout the season. Pickled Winter Melon sells for far more than raw Winter Melons, and the investment in Salt Brick pays for itself quickly.

• The Separator converts each Winter Melon into 11 Vegetable Juice, which is one of the highest juice yields per crop. If you raise livestock, designate part of your Winter Melon harvest for feed production.

• Gift spare Winter Melons to Graminova, Marston, Matilda, or Sagewood for a large friendship boost. Avoid gifting them to Cats or Ferrets.

• For the highest total farm income, combine Winter Melon farming with Everlasting Seeds and Yield Fertilizer II. Everlasting Winter Melons with boosted yield produce 10 Winter Melons per harvest at zero seed cost.

• Winter Melon is used in Fortune Clam Broth (2 Winter Melon, 2 Garlic, 1 Clam, 1 Fine Salt). If you fish for Clams regularly, keep Winter Melons on hand for this recipe.

Related Articles

• All Crops

• Farming

• Crop Calendar

• Crop Profitability Rankings

• Gmax Crops

• Happiness Seed Shop

• Everlasting Seeds

• Sprinklers and Fertilizers

• Cooking Recipes

• Watermelon

• Pumpkin

• Pineapple