Topic: melons

[ruud]

Can anybody tell me how to grow melons outdoors or is it totaly a no, no.I have had different variaties from all over the world,but most of them came from the states.Somehow yanks love melons,squash<summer and winter>,pumpkins and other relatives.So i want to now how to grow them and with variaty is the best for my purpose.

[Mrs Ava]

Well, a gent on our site had half his plot over to, what looked like Galia melons, and for just a couple of vines, he must have had 20 melons  :o  They all ripened and looked gorgeous!  I think if you can provide an open site which is a sun trap, and can provide the plants with plenty of water, then give it a go.  I don't suppose you would get giant fruits, but each of his would certainly have provided 4 nice big juicy quarters.  I am going to have a go with ogen, texas cantelope and an italian one that looks like a honeydew on the piccy.  In some of the seed catalogues they do advertise melons for outdoors so give it a go.  ;D

[ruud]

Hi E.J. i have read once,that you can heated up the soil with horsemanure.So melons like hot feet.lol

[john_miller]

I do mine as follows:- Sow early May, three seeds to a 5cm pot. Germinate at 23C, grow on at 15C. Prepare the soil as normal. Melons need average fertility. Cover the planting area with black plastic mulch (a black plastic garbage/trash/rubbish bag can be cut open if you don't want to buy a roll of plastic). This will heat the soil and keep weeds down. Make a small hole in the plastic and plant the three seedlings through it in one clump (I do this in late May). Cover with a cloche/bell jar/ floating row cover (I don't know what that is called in Europe). If you use the latter leave on until the first flowers (which will be male) open. Remove and side dress with a nitrogen fertiliser. You may need to remove cloches etc. earlier to allow the vines to run. Make sure that the area around the plastic is well weeded before the vines run out over it.
 If you have access to U.S. seeds then try to get hold of cv. 'Goldstar' from Harris Seeds in Rochester, N.Y.. This was developed for the relatively cool North-East U.S.. Cutivar  'Early Dawn, also developed for the same area, has an award of merit from the Royal Horticultural Society in the U. K.. Why I have no idea- it has a relative maturity only two days ahead of 'Goldstar' and is seen here as a good way of killing your market because it is so inferior flavour wise- but may be a variety that will do well for you too. Other North East companies with a selection of melons are Pinetree and Johnny's Selected, both in Maine, and Stokes Seeds in Buffalo, N.Y. (actually they are Canadian but I don't know their Canadian address).

[aquilegia]

Where my mother-in-law works, someone threw some melon seeds on the flower bed as rubbish. Last summer they grew and she got a couple of gorgeous melons off them. They pretty much fended for themselves other than normal watering, so that can't be that hard. (It was a very sunny spot and they really did well after the heat wave last year - remember that? warm. mmm!)

[Mrs Ava]

John, dumb blonde moment approaching....why would you remove the flush of male flowers from the vine?  As I said, I hope to grow three different types of melon, and normally with my squashes, I plant them in hot horse manure, water profusely, then lave them to it and end up with more that I know what to do with.   :-/

[ruud]

Do you now what i am going to do?I will dig a hole put some well rotten horsemanure in it,cover it with black plastic.That should warm it up.John i have got the following variaties:texas chanteloope,irquois chanteloope,casaba,orangeglo,claus,zatta,charentais with one is the best,i dont know,mayby i will try them all.Anyway thanks for the information.

[tim]

We grow ours in a cold frame, or cold 'house - but if you're cold, stay with the small fruit - and don't try for more than 4 per plant. My view! And how many melons can you eat in a week?? = Tim

[john_miller]

 I can't imagine why you would, EJ. Perhaps someone else can suggest a reason? Here I mention Darwin for the second time in two days- by having this early flush the melon is advertising its' presence to bees so that when the female flowers open the bees are there to pollinate and reproduction is more likely. Quoting my aparist here- each individual bee only pollinates one genus of flower in their three week life so it is important that a pattern is established before the female flowers open. My aparist holds seminars on bee-keeping so I am certain he knows what he is talking about.
 I live in the wettest county (Windham County, Vermont) east of the Mississippi. We get about 100cm of precipitation (lots of snow in addition to rain) annually. Normally we will get the vast majority of that between November and March (the late moisture contributes to Vermonts' fifth season- mud season!) so that summers are dry. I have never irrigated my melons, relying upon rainfall only, but I harvest about 5kg of melons per linear metre of planting. I would be reluctant to apply too much water, especially in the U.K.. In their native area in Western Africa they germinate after rain but the fruit matures and ripens in conditions of decreasing rainfall (I've read that- never been to Africa unfortunately). However, what I have noticed is in periods of really dry conditions, when individual plants on well drained soil may frequently wilt, can result in aphid infestations on stressed plants. Some watering may be neccessary.

[tim]

Why, in Heaven's name, did I think that you lived in New England?? = Tim

[john_miller]

Because I do? Vermont is one of the six states that make up New England. I better place myself on the map?

[john_miller]

 I've just read Hugh's carrot fly discussion. Would mesh be the same as floating row cover over here?
If it is then, for those with limited space, mesh has been shown to almost double the crop when used over melons (most other crops too).

[Hugh_Jones]

Well  John, I think the description you give sounds a bit more like fleece than mesh.  Fleece is composed of very fine plastic fibres woven closely to give a porous, virtually translucent continuous sheet, while the mesh is a very fine netting of approx 1mm to 1.5mm gauge, depending on whether it is superfine or standard gauge.  The fleece is soft and very light weight and certainly `floats` on the crop, while the mesh is somewhat heavier and stiffer.  The fleece gives better general thermal protection, although the mesh provides some protection against frost, and also gives excellent protection against snow and heavy rain, and also against `panning` of the soil surface.

[tim]

Yes, John, you should be on the map. But stupidity  on my part -  especially since we  had cousins who lived in Three Rivers Farm!! Your mention of the Mississippi fooled me - what the hell is it doing up there??

Just a quickie on fleece/mesh - all true, but another advantage of mesh is that it doesn't get dragged down  by rain; water flows freely through it.

Sorry to confuse about fly (see 'carrot fly') - yes. Agralan fine mesh does protect against virtually everything. = Tim

[Hugh_Jones]

Except flea beetle, tim, for which the fine mesh is not wholely successful. Superfine mesh is 100% effective.

Actually I made a mistake in the mesh sizes. It is the fine mesh which is approx 1.5mm gauge. The standard is about 2mm.

[tim]

OMG - sorry all! I was be-fixed with carrot fly, & forgot  that 'fine' only 'discourages' flea beetle.

And I didn't even know that there was a 'superfine'. Bet that costs a bit?

Just for John -  mesh/fleece - best wishes  =Tim

[Muddy_Boots]

Ooh Tim!  Iz really scared now, looks like something out of police forensic piccies  :o

[Hugh_Jones]

Tim, seeing your picture reminded me that last year, on the Beeb boards, we had a discussion about cabbage whites getting under the overlap where your pieces of mesh joined. A trick which worked (for me, anyway) is to bind the ends with `Duck`tape (folded over the end - half each side) of both pieces, then join the bound ends with more `Duck` tape. It`s also useful for repairing `tatty` edges on fleece to stop the tears spreading. You need a large kitchen floor space to work on, though!

[tim]

Yes - they were squeezing along a 2' face-to-face overlap - they must be desperate! But at least, with mesh, you can see them and belt them one?

Nice idea - but more b.....y work.  And the wife will be thrilled! = Tim

[john_miller]

 Thanks Tim and Hugh. Mesh is floating row cover over here, fleece is Reemay (the original manufacturer- similar to a vacuum cleaner being a 'hoover' in the U.K.).