Growing Melons in the UK

[Earthgirl Jen]

Weekly melon update 13th Aug 2018

Well the melons in the greenhouse are now struggling slightly, with the 76% plus humid atmosphere most days. It does dip slightly in the afternoons if the sun comes out. I try to open the door at either side of the greenhouse everyday (weather allowing ) to dry the condensation on the inside of the greenhouse each day, but with 2" of rain and damp humid conditions since Friday until today, I'm now just going with the flow.
Of the 6 melon plants in these 2 pots, (there was 3 plants in each pot) 2 have now been chopped off in one of the pots as there were no more melons growing on these and the foliage had a LOT of mildew. There remains one plant left growing in this pot which has produced melons and the other pot still has 3 plants growing each with a second flush of melons (hopefully) growing.


Little and largest haven't changed much this last week!


Although I also have more melons (approx 6) all now at the 'tennis ball' size with approx 3 large walnuts still making up their mind as to whether they grow any more or not!

[Earthgirl Jen]

Porch melon update 13th Aug 2018

Well as much as I wanted the melons in the porch to produce a new flush of flowers, the weather had other ideas and now having waited nearly 3 weeks for them to appear I took the drastic decision to accept what I have and 'cull' one pot of 3 melon plants altogether . There was no female flowers appearing and no fruit left to ripen.
I now have one melon plant left in the porch...


This pot did contain 2 melon plants and after harvesting my biggest melon from this pot (2lb 2oz) I was excitedly waiting for a fresh flush of female flowers to appear in the vain hope I could be greedy and get 2 female flowers to take at the same time...
What I hadn't noticed or banked on was this sneaky little one hiding beneath all the foliage, no wonder I wasn't getting any more female flowers... It looks to be well over 1lb in weight and is enjoying the fact it is the only one left in the porch. Depending on the weather I expect to harvest in the next 2-4wks... This will be the last melon for 2018 in the porch

[Bumblingbroccoli]

Hurrah my first ripe melons. 2 about the size of a bowling ball. The skin turned orange and is v thin and the flesh white and v juicy. Unusual flavour but yummy. Have quite a few others doing well. These are a musk variety so my question is what varieties of melon should I try growing next year? And does it matter if I grow say 1 plant of 3 or 4 different varieties? Am in Berkshire so southern but greenhouse unheated...

[Earthgirl Jen]

Hurrah my first ripe melons. 2 about the size of a bowling ball. The skin turned orange and is v thin and the flesh white and v juicy. Unusual flavour but yummy. Have quite a few others doing well. These are a musk variety so my question is what varieties of melon should I try growing next year? And does it matter if I grow say 1 plant of 3 or 4 different varieties? Am in Berkshire so southern but greenhouse unheated...

So excited for you Bumblingbroccoli, Hurrah from me also x
Grow whatever variety takes your fancy but note that different melons grown together will cross-pollinate and could lead to exciting new melon discoveries...

I only grew one melon variety this year and one watermelon variety, apparently they don't cross so I'm pretty sure my Collective Farm Woman melons seeds are good, You are welcome to try some next year if you'd like . I'm going to try something different next year as well, we got this 'sussed' lol...

It's all an exciting adventure and just now and then it's nice to succeed x

[mosstrooper]

Hi Jen, i,ve been taking out most the melon plants also. They were growing well enough but time is against us. I have one Midget with three tennis balls almost ripe and a PGDR with five good sized ones on. We have had one of these so far and the flesh is identical to the Midget but they are slighty sweeter. I can recommend both varieties to anyone thinking of growing melons in a large pot.

[Earthgirl Jen]

Hi Jen, i,ve been taking out most the melon plants also. They were growing well enough but time is against us. I have one Midget with three tennis balls almost ripe and a PGDR with five good sized ones on. We have had one of these so far and the flesh is identical to the Midget but they are slighty sweeter. I can recommend both varieties to anyone thinking of growing melons in a large pot.

At least we grew some mosstrooper and got some melons!...
Yep agree with you lovely... At this time of year, Pembrokeshire's climate is considered to be as near as dammit to a 'rainforest'... Humidity is high, the peas have already succumbed to mildew and I think the courgettes aren't far behind...

I'm hoping the 'yet to ripen' melons will hang on in there... but I have noticed that there size has been compromised by the condition of their leaves and the mildew isn't getting any better...

I'm happy with the CFW melons and I'll grow them next year but I'd like to try and grow a slightly larger melon as well.

However I think I still have 6 that may mature in the greenhouse and definitely one in the porch... x

[mosstrooper]

I'm not sure i can rely on having the same weather again next year up here Jen so i will be growing the same ones although growing something bigger also is worth trying as i should have a new 16ft greenhouse built by then.

The melons in the greenhouse look as though they will ripen any day so am sure yours will ripen just fine.

I did find two "walnuts" hiding on the PGDR tonight but i think their chances are slim even though the plant looks vigorous (time will tell)
But, you're right, we did manage to grow some melons
My lot have been spoilt by the great fruit harvest this summer and will take badly to chewing on turnips all winter

[BUFFS]

[QUOTE=Earthgirl Jen;1614294]Toes and fingers crossed BUFFS x
Do you grow the same variety every year?[/QUOTE

I was away at seed sowing time so I bought 2 seedlings when we got back, and I did look for a name on the label, but it just says MELON, its a heavily ribbed type, fairly pale colour and the two biggest are just about bigger than a big grapefruit, just waiting for them to smell ripe now, drooling already, temp inside g/house is 12deg today, I don't know if that is warm enough to spur any growth or not, just need some warmth for a few days to get to crop them..

[Earthgirl Jen]

I'm not sure i can rely on having the same weather again next year up here Jen so i will be growing the same ones although growing something bigger also is worth trying as i should have a new 16ft greenhouse built by then.

The melons in the greenhouse look as though they will ripen any day so am sure yours will ripen just fine.

I did find two "walnuts" hiding on the PGDR tonight but i think their chances are slim even though the plant looks vigorous (time will tell)
But, you're right, we did manage to grow some melons
My lot have been spoilt by the great fruit harvest this summer and will take badly to chewing on turnips all winter

Well my glass is 'half full' mosstrooper so I think we stand every chance next year...

If you've got vigorous plants then yours stand a much better chance of growing than mine... I watch the mildew growing everyday and curse myself that I didn't try the organic milk spray before it even started, as this apparently stops it...

Lol.. love the turnip analogy, I can just see their faces

[Earthgirl Jen]

[QUOTE=BUFFS;1615050]

Toes and fingers crossed BUFFS x
Do you grow the same variety every year?[/QUOTE

I was away at seed sowing time so I bought 2 seedlings when we got back, and I did look for a name on the label, but it just says MELON, its a heavily ribbed type, fairly pale colour and the two biggest are just about bigger than a big grapefruit, just waiting for them to smell ripe now, drooling already, temp inside g/house is 12deg today, I don't know if that is warm enough to spur any growth or not, just need some warmth for a few days to get to crop them..

Don't quote me on it BUFFS but I think melon like a min of 15C to grow. Even if they don't grow anymore they'll ripen, I'm sure.

We are the same as you lately weatherise, although I may be a degree or 2 warmer due to be more Southerly. I'm wishing ambient heat throughout them clouds for you in your greenhouse x We need it !
I'm guessing I'm not going to get much more growth on mine. Although I do have to say my porch which has a covered roof is the way to go next year, much more consistent temps... Now if only it was 3 times the size! lol... (No matter how big the size I will always fill it to overflowing... can't help myself )

By the way you are welcome to some CFW melon seeds to try if you want to next year... I'm planning on sending out 10 seeds to everyone I've promised them too with the hope you all get at least a couple of plants to germinate...

[Bumblingbroccoli]

So excited for you Bumblingbroccoli, Hurrah from me also x
Grow whatever variety takes your fancy but note that different melons grown together will cross-pollinate and could lead to exciting new melon discoveries...

I only grew one melon variety this year and one watermelon variety, apparently they don't cross so I'm pretty sure my Collective Farm Woman melons seeds are good, You are welcome to try some next year if you'd like . I'm going to try something different next year as well, we got this 'sussed' lol...

It's all an exciting adventure and just now and then it's nice to succeed x

Thanks for the offer EJ that would be amazing. We love watermelons are they hard to grow ? My 6 year old would be v excited if we managed to get some. Btw if you tell me how to save the seed you're welcome to my musk variety....

[Earthgirl Jen]

Thanks for the offer EJ that would be amazing. We love watermelons are they hard to grow ? My 6 year old would be v excited if we managed to get some. Btw if you tell me how to save the seed you're welcome to my musk variety....

No they are no different to ordinary melons really. The main thing to remember is to start them early Feb/Mar. At the beginning of this thread I think I said something about not getting the stems wet and to water from the bottom up.

Watermelons LOVE the heat so make sure you grow them somewhere hot. I grew them exactly the same way last year but because this year was SO much hotter, my watermelons were a whole 16oz/1lb heavier.

Remind me next year when we start this process again ... lol...

As for saving seed, if your melon was lovely and ripe then so will the seeds. Wash thoroughly and dry and they we be good to go next year x and thanks happy to exchange seeds x

[Mark_Riga]

Well I've no idea what varieties of melon I'm growing. I had about 6 or so part used packs from previous year attempts, a mix of F1 and heirloom varieties and a lot germinated. I'll have to see if i have kept the empty packets and try to figure out which was which.
The biggest one I pictured previous was rather insipid tasting - would have been ok in a fruit salad with plenty of other fruit. So far for me, the smaller melons have been best. Just picked one today though that weighs 1.3kg, first off that plant so hoping it is good. Problem is I don't think melons keep very long. We've been eating melons for breakfast now for weeks (1/4 melon each a day).

[Earthgirl Jen]

Well I've no idea what varieties of melon I'm growing. I had about 6 or so part used packs from previous year attempts, a mix of F1 and heirloom varieties and a lot germinated. I'll have to see if i have kept the empty packets and try to figure out which was which.
The biggest one I pictured previous was rather insipid tasting - would have been ok in a fruit salad with plenty of other fruit. So far for me, the smaller melons have been best. Just picked one today though that weighs 1.3kg, first off that plant so hoping it is good. Problem is I don't think melons keep very long. We've been eating melons for breakfast now for weeks (1/4 melon each a day).

Mark I can't see any pics ?

Congrats on growing some 1.3kg an excellent size for the UK, I bet you're chuffed.
As for keeping them, I found my Collective farm woman kept well for over a week in the fridge, but I must admit that in order to eat it. It was at it's best once it had been out of the fridge for a couple of hours and eaten at room temp x

Such a hardship melon for breakfast everyday for weeks in the summer ... lol...

[BUFFS]

I have finally picked the first/largest melon, I am trying to get the photo on here but it doesn't seem to want to work at the moment, I weighed it and it came out at 2lb 5.5oz, it has gone onto the kitchen windowsill to get some sun/light to finish off the ripening. if I can get the photo bit working I will add it onto here asap..