Melons...I really DO give up now!

[Deb P]

I should have know better really.....after failing to produce any melons bigger than a tennis ball over the years, I had resolved to resist any further attempts to grow the blooming things. Seed swap came around, and stupidly I was tempted by some Pineapple melon seeds, which subsequently grew reasonably well in my cold greenhouse.

Five plants were grown on, but only one produced a fruit, and yesterday as I was admiring it, I noticed when I turned it around that something had bored into the centre of it, and whilst the side I could see looked perfect, the middle was hollow! ::) :-\ >:(

I composted all the plants in a fit of pique! :P

I really DO give up on growing them now. :(

[Deb P]

[thifasmom]

I feel for you i really do, this was my fourth year of growing melons and started with four plants but only two grew on and very late in the season begun to produce fruit. one plant has stalled and its fruits x 3 are a little bigger than a pea. the other which was grown from supermarket saved seed has 2 fruits and which were growing away at great guns when they set fruit, i don't think they will get to a decent size (one is half the size of a regular mature fruit and the other is the size of a golf ball but has restared to grow as of this week) but if they ripen everyone will get at least a taste.

i think for pure spiteful sake you should try again just one more year (after all it wasn't your fault but the blooming pest), i plan to try again next year but will right a few wrongs and hopefully have actual success next year :-\, cause if there wasn't always next year, gardeners would have given up a long time ago :).

[ceres]

Go on - you know you'll try again!  How can you let a PLANT beat you  ;D

Mine aren't too good either.  Had a watermelon and a cantaloupe in a hotbed that got badly infested with ants.  The watermelon was very vigorous, set a good few fruit and then for no apparent reason died.  I think the roots were undermined by the ants.  The cantaloupe has looked very sickly since the same time but is hanging on, just.  It's got 3 fruits, two are an OK size and one small one.  We'll see. 

[saddad]

My water Melon did exactly the same this year Ceres...  ::) but I have one ripening for the OD
Did a whole tray (18) of Canteloups for the sale then had no customers.. potted some on later that are just trying to fruit.. my "Green Nutmeg" have some larger than tennis ball fruit on them.. how large do they get???
:)

[ceres]

No idea how big they could get if they had someone competent growing them  ;D, my biggest one is about halfway between cricket ball and football size.

[kt.]

Seed swap came around, and stupidly I was tempted by some Pineapple melon seeds, which subsequently grew reasonably well in my cold greenhouse.

I did the same,  tried with seeds from the seed swap.    2 plants rambling all over the greenhouse.  Some fruits appeared earlier in the summer but subsequently disappeared.  The plants are now in the compost bin and my melon growing days are well and truly over.

[Barnowl]

I did ok-ish with Minnesota Midgets last year - they're meant to be small :) - but have failed this year, because I started too late. No flowers to wield my paintbrush on until recently.

[Deb P]

You are all making me feel much better........ ;D

[qahtan]

 Deb,P, didn't you even save a teeny tiny bit to taste, ,,,,,,,,,,;-(((((
qahtan

[cleo]

I should never have posted a picture of a melon-it was asking for trouble.

I have had none so far this year and only one fruit `hanging on`-it`s about twice the size of a cricket ball at the moment.

But I know it can be done-I`ve seen it on the telly ;D