Melon flowers

[peanut]

Success, my first Emir melon, it tasted delicious.

[ameno]

Two weeks ago I cleared four of my melon plants, as the plants were dying (root rot, by the looks of it). As I did, I found quite a lot of melons attached to the plant and salvaged all of the larger ones.
I have now eaten several of them, and the Collective Farm Woman were all tasty, but the banana melon was clearly not ripe (it didn't taste terrible, but it wasn't very sweet or fruity).

I have also had a grand total of one watermelon from my two plants, which are now also dying off. More fruit did set (I had four going at one point), but the slugs got three of them.
The one watermelon was only tiny (about 2 inches by 4 inches), and judging by the soft seeds, probably not properly mature, but it still taste sweet and watermelon-y.

There are about half a dozen banana melons on my remaining two plants. There were more, but the slugs got them. These remaining ones seem big enough now that the skin is too tough for the slugs to chew through. They are all about 6-8 inches long and 3 inches wide. Hopefully they will ripen in time.

I shan't bother growing the banana melons again. They set fruit too late in the season.
I shall definitely grow the Collective Farm Woman again, though. Probably a full 8 plants just of that variety. I have also ordered some seeds of another watermelon variety, one which is early maturing and bred for cooler, shorter summers, so hopefully it has a decent chance of producing outside at my allotment.

And on the subject of slug damage, I have discovered drawstring bags made from insect mesh for sale on Aliexress. These seem like they should be perfect for keeping slugs off of the developing melons (and other fruit besides).

[peanut]

The biggest is netted but the other two will need to be.

[ameno]

if you haven't already, make sure to net it (assuming it's hanging and not just resting on something). If you don't, it may fall off prematurely under it's own weight, and it will certainly be badly damaged when it hits the ground.

[peanut]

They fall off.
That's the case with most melons, actually. When properly ripe the detach on their own from the plant.
Also, Emir are a musk melon, so you should be able to tell by the smell when they are ripe (from several metres away).

Perfect! Thanks Ameno.

[ameno]

Is there a fool proof way of knowing when my Emir Melons are ripe?

They fall off.
That's the case with most melons, actually. When properly ripe the detach on their own from the plant.
Also, Emir are a musk melon, so you should be able to tell by the smell when they are ripe (from several metres away).

[peanut]

Is there a fool proof way of knowing when my Emir Melons are ripe?

[ameno]

I'm discovering new banana melon fruits by the day, and I also have three watermelons set.
They are all still small-ish, though, so how many will actually ripen in time, not to mention how many will survive the slugs (already lost two of the developing fruits to them, and several more have minor damage), remains to be seen.

[peanut]

Look what I have found!

[ameno]

I now have three banana melons set (although one has some worrying slug damage), and two more possibly set (too small to tell for sure).
I also have 7 or 8 Collective farm woman all on one plant, although some of the stems on the plant seem to be dying back, for some reason, so I may end up with several tennis ball-sized melons.

[Penellype]

I'm growing Alvaro, Emir and Magenta, 1 plant of each at the allotment and one pf each at my friend's. At my friend's, where I have grown melons successfully before, they are rubbish. The Emir is in the greenhouse and is a huge plant with loads of flowers, but absolutely nothing has set despite attempts at pollinating. The other 2 are outside under a plastic cover and are only just starting to flower.

At the allotment I have Alvaro and Magenta in my growhouse - Alvaro has 2 decent sized melons and 3 more have set in the last week. Magenta was planted later and has just set a couple of fruit. Emir is outside and has covered the 2m x 1m hotbed completely. There are dozens of flowers which are regularly visited by bees and the fruit are starting to set at last.

Last year from 2 plants I got 15 fruit (mostly Magenta), the largest of which was nearly the size of a football. Even if they only grow to tennis ball size they will eventually ripen - I cut them off and bring them indoors when the plant shows signs of dying due to cold.

[ameno]

Thanks Ameno, yes Emir. Should I keep the compost damp to the touch?

Try to, yeah. As long as the compost is reasonably well drained you are unlikely to waterlog them, as any excess can just drain out the bottom of the pot.

[peanut]

You're growing Emir, right?
Since that's a netted skin variety, be sure to water regularly. The skin of the fruit of netted melons naturally cracks when nearly ripe, then those cracks callous over and that's how you get the netting. But if it is watered erratically it can just split open instead developing lots of tiny cracks, and then the fruit will just rot.

Thanks Ameno, yes Emir. Should I keep the compost damp to the touch?

[ameno]

You're growing Emir, right?
Since that's a netted skin variety, be sure to water regularly. The skin of the fruit of netted melons naturally cracks when nearly ripe, then those cracks callous over and that's how you get the netting. But if it is watered erratically it can just split open instead developing lots of tiny cracks, and then the fruit will just rot.

[peanut]

Look what I've got! My first ever Melon.