Melon Growing Advice

Oh bad luck JWK. Still you have been successful, well done. I am still hopeful I might get 1 or 2 melons to ripen. It is very useful to see the skin on yours. Mine are still pretty smooth and not as big. If mine do not get to ripe stage it won’t be from lack of good weather this summer BUT I have them growing behind a lot of tomatoes which are now at or above roof height ( tall greenhouse!) blocking some of the heat and light so the melon plants have not been able to get as much light as I would have liked. Note to self to grow them in front of tomatoes if I grow again and I have mine in big pots rather than in the soil. As an experiment I grew cucumbers in big pots and in the soil in the greenhouse, ones in soil much better so presume the melons would be the same. All a learning curve. Not given up hope yet as the weather continues to be wonderful, the best late summer for many years.

 

Picked my first melon yesterday, smelt ripe, came away from the plant easily and had begun to split. Had a slice 10 minutes ago, I've had sweeter ones, juicy and good flavour.

 

. Success, my god can hardly believe it.
I only let 8 melons grow as thought if I had too many they would not be ripe before the weather turned really cold.
This is my 2nd, not the biggest but the first one was delicious. Sure JWK is up to his eyeballs in them but i am very happy with my small success. Now can go and buy some parma ham! No there is not a Tesco’s label on it JWK

 

Thanks JWK 2 of my 3 melon plants are like one of yours. All of a sudden the leaves have drooped and started to go yellow. There are 3 that are nearly ripe and the rest a way to go. I am going to eat the ripe ones over the next few days and pick the rest at the weekend. Maybe they will ripen enough on the kitchen window sill, I know when you buy a brick hard one from the shops they usually will ripen after a week or so.
Do I try again next year? Well probably yes altho having had the fourth warmest summer on record this year I will have to be prepared for what has probably been beginners luck this year and not expect to succeed next.

 

A couple more months of summer and I think that we might all be growing them.
I think its the shortness of our summers that makes them a problem.
Warm nights earlier in the year to get them moving would make a big difference.

 

Picked a second one yesterday, juicier than the first. A couple more to go.

 

Poop, you definitely beat me JWKSome of yours are bigger and you got more, but I had enough to make it worthwhile and they were delicious. All my plants conked out very quickly so I too picked what I had. All eaten and I gave 2 to friends who also enjoyed them so worth it in the end.

 

So how is everyone's melons this year?

We are in for a treat with this fallen one, perhaps not fully ripe but not bad for an outdoor grown one up here.