Minecraft wiki entry for Melon, associated text: Melon seeds can be planted, placing a small stem that grows over time. Once the stem reaches maturity, it attempts to generate a melon block in one of the four immediately adjacent blocks; however, this attempt may fail if the chosen adjacent block is not empty or the block beneath is not dirt, grass block, farmland, podzol‌[JE only] or coarse dirt. Melons take 10 to 30 minutes to grow, which is equal to 0.5 or 1.5 of a Daylight cycle. Once a stem has produced a melon, that stem does not produce any further melons until the existing melon is harvested. Melon stems connect only to the melons they produce. For example, if stem A generates a melon adjacent to stem B, stem B does not connect and can still produce another melon. Similarly, if a melon is placed adjacent to stem B, stem B would still be able to produce another melon. The same principle applies for pumpkins. Melons require a light level of 9 or higher to grow.