Growing Melons in the UK

[Earthgirl Jen]

Edit to main post to see growth... 10 days later!

Hopefully I can keep adding to this

[chris_m]

Woohoo. Without wanting to get too excited, I think I have a few baby melons on my plant now.
They are bigger than the swellings that were behind the flowers, whereas the others seem to have shrivelled up and dropped off.
Dunno if it was me getting lucky with the paintbrush or a few insects that know more about these things than me.

[Earthgirl Jen]

Woohoo. Without wanting to get too excited, I think I have a few baby melons on my plant now.
They are bigger than the swellings that were behind the flowers, whereas the others seem to have shrivelled up and dropped off.
Dunno if it was me getting lucky with the paintbrush or a few insects that know more about these things than me.

Well done, could be both Chris

They swell really quickly in warm weather and with the forecast next week swinging back to decent warm sunshine, we should all be noticing the difference

[Earthgirl Jen]

Weekly Melon update 24th June 2018

These are the same 2 'Collective Farm Woman melons' from last week, the little-un is now catching up the other pretty fast at the moment and there are another 2 just like this. (they are sat on pieces of wood to keep them stable and off the soil)



The largest watermelon is the same one that looked like a 'gooseberry' last week it's approaching satsuma size and has now been joined by 2 others. I did plant 3 watermelons into a 30lit container and now each one has a confirmed watermelon. Each plant aslo has a second watermelon as well although if I remember rightly last year the second watermelons on each vine didn't really do much until the first ones that set reached a certain size.


The 'Collective farm Woman melons look a little 'chaotic' at the moment and they are also 3 to a 30 lit pot. This pic is 6 melons in 2x30lit pots. At the moment 4 have set very noticeable fruit, the other 2 have set fruit and I'm waiting to see what this weeks glorious sunshine will add to their size. They are sat on a waist high bench in the greenhouse in full sun (when it shines) most of the day.
I also have another 2x30lit pots which have another 5 melons in them sat in my porch, which is rather large (thanks to the previous owner) and faces south with a full double glazed wall. As predicted they are stretching a little but fruits are forming and I'm waiting to see if they will swell this week. these 2 pots are an experiment as the night time temps in their rarely fall below 17c at the moment even though the greenhouse has been 10c or less for the last 4 nights.


I inherited 2 greenhouses 6x8ft joined together with a 2ft extension, which was already shelved as you can see. The watermelons (Sugarbaby) live in the 2ft extension and as you can see by the pic, to the left is still glass, I figured they might have a 'tad' more heat and it might create a bit of a 'micro-climate for them. Also the shelving is very handy for the watermelons to sit on... and is approx 4ft high. No additional support required..


It's all an experiment and this weeks gorgeous weather should see some more growth unless something drastic happens... I can but hope!

The fact that these melons are actually growing is due more to luck and our weather at the moment and perhaps this is the year we will all get some melons to enjoy...

Anybody else care to share they progress?

[mosstrooper]

I,ve just been down to the garden to check mine and the Minnesota Midgets have 2 or 3 melons each which are now the size of a banty egg.
The others i am growing are Petit Gris Du Rennes and they have small melons just forming.
Both varieties are covered in flowers so i'll play it by ear as to how many to leave on. (could just eat a nice bit melon now)

[Earthgirl Jen]

I,ve just been down to the garden to check mine and the Minnesota Midgets have 2 or 3 melons each which are now the size of a banty egg.
The others i am growing are Petit Gris Du Rennes and they have small melons just forming.
Both varieties are covered in flowers so i'll play it by ear as to how many to leave on. (could just eat a nice bit melon now)

Woop Woop! mosstrooper !

My gut instinct at the moment is to leave the melons alone, your's and mine are open pollinated, not F1 so will grow slightly differently. Lets wait and see. They are not huge melons we are growing. We would just like a melon to taste

I'm sure if we are wrong someone will let us know, but I'm guessing like the watermelon as soon as one is big enough the next will follow along. The weather forecast at the moment is good for a change...

I'm holding back to see what the next month will bring!

[Earthgirl Jen]

29th June 2018 melon update...


I have actually felt sorry for my melons the last couple of days with the intense heat. Even with both doors open at either end of the greenhouse and both window vents in the roof open the temp has still been well over 35c everyday. so for the last couple of days I've pegged an old white bath towel (we use our towels until practically threadbare! so this one was lightweight ) to help shade them from the intense heat. I take it down around 7pm and peg it back up the next morning. They seem to look much happier the last couple of days


Of the 2 main melons I've been taking pics of. The main one looks like it's starting to change colour and ripen. I think I've upset it because it's refusing to grow any new leaves and refusing to grow in size. It's 'buddy' beside it is still growing new leaves and it's now growing in size and getting bigger than the main one!


In fact the other 2 melons that are growing are now catching up! Please note ... each of these melons are growing on a separate plant.
When I planted the melons 'Collective Farm Woman' I planted 3 to a 30lit pot as I was not expecting the weather to be so nice or so hot! So I'm guessing that the roots of each melon now feel a 'tad' restricted and are growing as such ! I water them every day, (I don't drown them, I give them enough to keep them moist) and I'm now feeding them with half strength organic tomato seaweed fertiliser every 3 days.


On the other hand the Sugarbaby watermelons are positively 'lapping' up the heat and the sunshine and as such are growing accordingly They don't have nowhere near as much foliage as the cantaloupe melons and therefore don't require quite so much water...

[Earthgirl Jen]

Update on the 2 pots of melon I'm growing in the porch...

They are quite happy and seem intent on porch domination! One pot has 2 (Collective farm woman) melons the other has 3. These were the ones that were the last to flower when they were in the greenhouse. They seem to be a lot less stressed than the greenhouse ones as they don't get the 'severe' direct sunlight for as long.


I sit on the little red chair most mornings and concede with BUFFS that gently turning a small brush (old make-up in my case) in to the male flower and then transferring the attached pollen to a female flower in the same way gets some good results. This little beauty is 3days behind his greenhouse counterparts but is rapidly catching them up. I think this is in part due to the fact that the temp in the porch rarely drops below 17c at night... Consistent temp where melons is concerned aids there growth

[Bumblingbroccoli]

This is the first year I've tried growing melons. The plants are doing really well but I'm not sure if I should cut it back at all to encourage fruit as the plants are very rampant but so far hasn't really flowered.

Any advice?

I have no idea what variety except that I got it from pennard plants who tend to do older varieties.

Any advice gratefully received.

[Earthgirl Jen]

This is the first year I've tried growing melons. The plants are doing really well but I'm not sure if I should cut it back at all to encourage fruit as the plants are very rampant but so far hasn't really flowered.

Any advice?

I have no idea what variety except that I got it from pennard plants who tend to do older varieties.

Any advice gratefully received.

Hi BB first of all I'm no expert in growing melons, just seems to have at least some success.

Well done, you managed to get some plants growing

You are not sure what variety they are, so do you know if they are small or large melons?

If they are an older variety then the chances are they have been grown with success before.

All I can see on their website is Green Nutmeg, Plum Granny, Sungold (casaba type) does any of these ring a bell?

You don't say how many plants you are growing or where you are growing them, also are they in pots or the ground and what are you growing them in?

If you are getting lots of leaves and no fruit my initial thought/guess would be they are growing in a very nitrogen rich soil which would promote leaves over fruit growth.

You don't say when you planted them?

If they are recently planted they might be settling themselves into their new home first. Once they are happy you should start to see male flowers forming first.

Where abouts are you, as the last week in the UK we have had crazy warm temps, even for us on the Wild West Coast of Wales. My melons in the greenhouse have sulked this last week. I'm not the best at realising it may have been a 'tad' hot for them in a glass greenhouse, with no shading. Who knew the start of this summer would be so nice and so hot!

Sorry for so many questions I hope I can help x

[mosstrooper]

Those melons are looking great Jen, no innuendo intended
Here's a pic of my Minnesota Midget i took earlier tonight'
This one and another are in the greenhouse border and they have 3 or 4 melons on each up to now. They've doubled in size since last Sunday and the plants have put on plenty of new growth so i'm not going to take of any it off.
The melons in tubs (big ones) are also doing ok but not as well as those in the border so we'll see how they end up doing overall.
I also planted two spare plants outside in the leek trench but the wind the other week put paid to them so won't be doing that again.
The Petite Gris du Rennes(gonna start calling them something shorter) seem to be a little later but are setting fruit now.

[Bumblingbroccoli]

So I have 3 plants in the greenhouse in big grow sacks s. I thought they'd be hungry like pumpkins etc so half filled them with garden compost then topped up with multi purpose compost from garden centre. Ventilation good no wilting eff partly cos cack wall shaded by neighbours fence. We're in Berkshire so vv hot. Today spotted one flower.

're type of melon think it's meant to be one of the green ones definitely not watermelon or the yellow skinned ones.

[mosstrooper]

Bumblingbroccoli, it's my first year with melons also, so it's a bit of a trial to see what works and what doesn't.
The varieties i am growing don't take up as much space as i feared so am leaving one or two to grow as much as they like. I may let another plant set 2 or 3 fruit and stop them there just to see.
Welcome to the gyo melon club btw

[Earthgirl Jen]

So I have 3 plants in the greenhouse in big grow sacks s. I thought they'd be hungry like pumpkins etc so half filled them with garden compost then topped up with multi purpose compost from garden centre. Ventilation good no wilting eff partly cos cack wall shaded by neighbours fence. We're in Berkshire so vv hot. Today spotted one flower.

're type of melon think it's meant to be one of the green ones definitely not watermelon or the yellow skinned ones.

Yes they are hungry, so it sounds like they were just finding their feet With any luck over the next couple of days once they've started producing male flowers a few female ones will open for you and they you'll be making melons .

[Earthgirl Jen]

Those melons are looking great Jen, no innuendo intended
Here's a pic of my Minnesota Midget i took earlier tonight[ATTACH=CONFIG]81387[/ATTACH]'
This one and another are in the greenhouse border and they have 3 or 4 melons on each up to now. They've doubled in size since last Sunday and the plants have put on plenty of new growth so i'm not going to take of any it off.
The melons in tubs (big ones) are also doing ok but not as well as those in the border so we'll see how they end up doing overall.
I also planted two spare plants outside in the leek trench but the wind the other week put paid to them so won't be doing that again.
The Petite Gris du Rennes(gonna start calling them something shorter) seem to be a little later but are setting fruit now.

The innuendos are just mounting up mosstrooper, that's melons for you ! lol... no offence taken.

Curious to know if your ones in the border are growing more than one at the same time from the same vine?

I have lots of 'little-uns' but only one seems to be growing on each vine at the moment... Probably because I'm constricting their roots to pots and planting 3 to a pot!...

Just put 'petite Gris du rennes' into google translate and it said.... small grey reindeer ! Donner, Blitzen, Prancer, Dancer, Dasher, Vixen, Comet, Cupid.... Or how about Rudolph ! lol...

The one in the porch that has had the most consistent heat is beating the greenhouse ones, easily...

Todays pic I'm chuffed