Silly question............

[Deb P]

I have a question, I hope I can explain it properly! I'm growing melons and watermelons in my lottie and home greenhouses. I have tried both outdoors before with varying degrees of success/ failure! A thought occurs to me: is it more important to keep the pot where the roots are warm, or the growing foliage? I was wondering if it would be a good idea to put the pot outside the greenhouse, which might help reduce the watering requirements a bit and let the foliage be under cover where the fruits will hopefully be, or would it be better to keep the roots warmer and let the foliage trail outside?? Just a thought, it's because I now have a area next to my lottie greenhouse that I could use to grow tender fruits, and was wondering if it could be better utilised..........

[Deb P]

[ancellsfarmer]

Soil(or compost) will change temperature more slowly than the air. Soil temperatures outside rarely get above,say 15deg C or fall below ,say 6.(Measured at root depth, would be about 10cm below surface) It may vary at about 2 degs per day except where directly heated by glass.Air temperatures vary much more quickly and have a wider range, could be plus/minus 20degs in a day.I feel your curcubits would appreciate a more stable environment within a structure. Its also a question of light intensity, day length and whether part of their day is in shadow. This year has lacked brightness on too many days, despite being generally benign.Try giving a foliar feed, comfrey tea, or seaweed together with good periods of ventilation.

[Deb P]

Thank you for the helpful reply: I had enough plants to plant both under cover and outside with netting cover, the indoor ones are clearly doing better as you predicted. If the weather had been consistently sunnier perhaps the end results would be a bit different!

[Vinlander]

I love baby pumpkin (pumpettes?) fritters - and the longer the season the better - so:

I have one overriding reason to plant a pumpkin or two outside and trail the vine inside (along the north side) - the full-grown vines are very thirsty in this hot weather and it always rains a lot in July and August.

NB. only Jan and Feb are wetter, statistically. (Why did employers choose these months to shut down the mill? Wool mills work best in low humidity, but cotton likes it - maybe July is too humid for even cotton - or maybe it was just pure spite??)

Of course pumpkin roots outside your polytunnel also benefit from the rain running off its roof (note to self - I must try and get the path side connected to a butt).

I would be careful about using this method for melons because they are just as prone to unpredictable root rots as cucumbers are - probably worse. A good reason for grafting on a rootstock like Cucurbita ficifolia (malabar/sharkfin gourd).

Cheers.

PS. I don't rate melons (especially watermelons - they are pretty bland) as anywhere near worth the time, effort and precious space under cover - especially once you learn to identify the best ones in the shop (sniff the flower end - the aroma should be lightly fruity but not too strong - it takes practice but it's a very enjoyable learning curve).