Grow Your Own Magazine

Hi all

I bought some melon seeds recently but can't find a lot of info or advice on growing them.
Im going to grow them in the greenhouse (yes you guessed its new !!)
Have any of you any advice on melons sowing time, temp, growing hints etc

Thanks in advance

Sam

Sow 2 seeds to each pot in March and germinate somewhere warm. Plant into large 50cm pots or similar when two adult leaves have formed. The ideal mixture is soil-based in my opinion and loam mixed with multipurpose compost is ideal. They like a pH between 6.5 and 7.5. Feed once per week using tomato liquid fertiliser and ensure that the soil is always moist. You will need to monitor the temperature to ensure that the plant leaves do not scorch and I use greenhouse netting and newspaper for shade. You will also need support going up the side of your greenhouse and across the roof. I use netting to support the growing melons. When they are ripe they will smell fantastic if they are cantaloupe melons, will sound hollow when you tap them or will show cracking around the stem. Try to keep the greenhouse heated to above 12 degrees Celsius.

Hi Simon

Thanks for the advice, I'll give it a go and see what I can produce.

Thanks again

Sam

I basically agree with SimonCole above and have grown them in a similar manner. It's been a few years since I've bothered (due to lack of space!) but I'm pretty sure I managed a sucessful crop in slightly smaller pots although obviously, the smaller the pot the more careful you need to be re feeding / watering etc. One more point to note, as the melons swell, they become quite heavy and I ended up supporting them in nets tied to the support frame so as not to pull the whole plant down. Agree that the smell is lovely and sweet and I'd grow them again if I had a bigger greenhouse!

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Melons are something we are trying this year, Mr D is definitely fond of them, and I know I've just got to get 2 good sized ones for a picture for the male grapes to look at!

Would they be ok in the greenhouse border, or is in a pot a better way of planting them?

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The greenhouse border must be a better way because it is easier to keep moist. But on the other side, it could be more drafty and slugs may nibble your melons if any form low on the stem.

Your dead right Alison, pots a foot or so do very well too.

Would you recommend feeding from planting with tom fertiliser or only once flowers are forming?

Thanks, growing melons for the first time this year.

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Why don't you try the method used in the Victorian Kitchen Garden?

Melons were planted on the greenhouse staging and trained up the eaves. From what I remember they went out into the fields and dug up some fibrous grass 'sods'. Turned upside down and melons planted in them. Must be very fibous apparently as it emulates the melons natural growth medium.

Hang each melon in a little net bra of its own..and Bobs your uncle!

I grew two plants in a plastic cold frame last year! They seem to send out loads of male flowers until they are established, then they start with the female flowers!
At first I thought I had a queer melon until eventually (as always, taking there time!) the female flowers arrived!

Not a trmendous succces as I only got two edible melons from two plants!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

I think it's best to feed with tomato fertiliser once the first flower has formed, but it varies from soil to soil.

I know of the problem with not getting enough fruit Snadger, you can either pick when they are not quite ripe or have just one fully-ripened melon per plant. I tried Ogen last year and it grew with a netted pattern only if one fruit was left to mature.

They don't like it wet & will rot off at the stem, thats why they grew them on wire mesh with upside down turves. The soil is better at buffering nutrient than soiless composts so you don't need so much skill & the fiberous turf ensures free drainage .

The thought of slug nibbling your melons send a shiver down my spine Mrs D

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ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

http://grief-encounters.blogspot.com/

well I grew melons last year and we had melons a plenty, about 10 from each plant. I fed them nothing and just made a wigwam with sticks and tied them up. they were in the polytunnel but I just treated hem the same as my cucumbers and they seemed ok, very sweet although only small, a bit like me!!!

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Bec
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Am now happy - I can get out in the polytunnel again with the warmer weather.

can you grown from seeds saved from a melon bought in the supermarket?

You can, but if that melons an F1 hybrid you could get a strange mix of melons coming up!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

This thread is great! I have ordered some Eldorado F1 seeds from T&M as my son loves cantaloupe melons and I thought more seeds would be a good idea (following my watermelon losses last year).

Has anyone grown these before and if so any tips please?

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk