Growing Melons in the UK

[Earthgirl Jen]

Hello All I know I'm new to the forum (and not sure if I can post pics yet?) but I love melons, managed to get 2 watermelons to grow last year and they were delicious.

Edit 1 17th June 2018 how are the melons growing... see end of thread for update... x

Anyone else growing melons this year and would like to share our progress ?

Currently this year I'm growing 3 sugarbaby watermelons and about 10 collective farm woman melons.

I've deliberately gone for melons which will (apparently) grow in a short season

I started my seeds at the beginning of march, they need heat to get going so if you don't have a heated propogator I sat mine on top of a bookcase in the lounge (it was bleeding freezing here in March and the log burner was lit most days) and I knew the temp in there didn't drop below 15c.
2 seeds to 3"pots, with the pointy end of the seed facing up, buried about 1/2" deep.

Once they had germinated I kept them going... I made sure the compost wasn't soaking wet just damp, always watering by standing the pot in water until the pot felt 'heavier' but not soaked. (ended up being about once a week due the cold weather) That helps the few roots they do have, a chance to get going in the moist compost. Apparently they don't like getting their stems wet too much.

I kept them on a sunny windowsill and yes they did stretch a little, on warmer sunnier days I put them in the greenhouse but brought them in again at night. yes it's sounds like a lot of 'faff' but really I had them all in a clear 6" deep storage box, so 1 box, once a day I moved.

Once the roots had filled the 3" pot I moved them into 1 litre pots and enjoyed the stunning melon aroma that came from the roots as I potted them on.

The weather here didn't really warm up until late april by which time they were living full time in the greenhouse, and unless the temp was forecast to be below 7c I left them to it.

What it did mean was that by the time we actually did get any warm weather my plants were ready to take off!!!

Once the weather got really warm here, they had filled their 1 litre pot with root. So I cut the bottom out of their pot and sat them on top of a 30 litre compost filled pot (3 pots to a 30 litre pot) and sat them on the table in the greenhouse.

Apparently you usually end up with 3-4 male flowers before a female one will form. So when a female flower does form I get a soft brush (old clean make up one) and get the pollen from the male and dust inside the female flower with it.

So far I have got one melon on the collective farm woman ( about the size of an extra large gooseberry at the moment) with another 2 which I hope took yesterday and today I managed to pollinate a female flower on the watermelon. I'll know in the next couple of days if they have all taken.

These are 4 Collective farm woman melons on the 17th June 2018 the largest is approx 3" now


This is the first of the sugar baby watermelons that has taken, approx 1" in size and 'she' seems to have 2 or 3 others that want to join her
Lets see what happens

[mosstrooper]

Hi Jen, glad to hear from someone who has successfully grown melons before.
This is the first year i'm trying melons so maybe good to get some pointers.
The varieties im growing are, Minessota Midget and Petit Gris du something from Realseeds. I have some in the greenhouse border, others in large tubs in the greenhouse and because all of the seeds germinated i have two growing in the open garden
All of them are now flowering but i haven't bothered hand pollinating as yet as
I have no idea how many melons each plant can grow to maturity or how large the plants grow so this year is going to be trial and error. Hopefully we may get a melon to try

[Earthgirl Jen]

Hi Jen, glad to hear from someone who has successfully grown melons before.
This is the first year i'm trying melons so maybe good to get some pointers.
The varieties im growing are, Minessota Midget and Petit Gris du something from Realseeds. I have some in the greenhouse border, others in large tubs in the greenhouse and because all of the seeds germinated i have two growing in the open garden
All of them are now flowering but i haven't bothered hand pollinating as yet as
I have no idea how many melons each plant can grow to maturity or how large the plants grow so this year is going to be trial and error. Hopefully we may get a melon to try

My 'collective farm woman' melons are from realseeds. Excellent germination, all but one seed came up. Realseeds (just up the coast from me) They only sell seeds that they know will grow in the uk, so chances are you'll get some melons. You'll soon know if you have a female flower, the only way to describe it, is the female flower has a small 'ball' behind her flower the males don't. It is worth getting a soft brush and helping them pollinate.

They say in the UK aim for 3-4 melons per plant to give them enough time to grow as we don't seem to get very consistent summer weather at the moment...

Realseeds sell excellent quality seed but expect us all to know how to grow them. From what I've learned melons don't like a consistently wet stem and as such most folk grow them on mounds so that the excess water will drain quickly from the main stem. If yours are level then may I suggest the top of a plastic 2 litre bottle cut off to fit your plant. Split it in half and adjust it to fit your melon stem with the portion that you screw the top on snuggly fitting around the stem and the wider plastic approx 2" deep protecting the stem from getting extra wet when watering. Don't forget to add extra holes around the top to prevent excess condensation and rotting of the stem. I hope this makes sense.

As for the rest,hot weather and feed them well.

As for the 2 outside if they are in a nice sheltered hot spot and you planted in rich good soil then it's up to mother nature. Again it wouldn't hurt to protect the main stem from the worst of the wet we usually get July and August here.

Please let me know if you have any melons growing

[Vince G]

Growing Emir in the polytunnel. Coolish summer 3 years ago meant they weren't that sweet, but last 2 years have been delicious. You open the door and can just smell when they're ripe.

If you have a greenhouse, polytunnel or some kind of coldframe, I'd really recommend this variety.

[veggiechicken]

I have some melon seedlings waiting to be potted up - once I've decided where they're going.
Not sure of the varieties but I know there's Minnesota Midget (which I've grown before); Rugosa di Cosenza Giallo; Arava and Arancino.

[Vince G]

by the way, I grow them up wires in the polytunnel so they don't take up space on the ground. Going to take some pics of various things at the lottie on Saturday to post as am quite please with how things are going this year in spite of the chilly spring, so will post a pic of the melons. They chuck up many vines per plant, so I wait until I can see fruit forming and thin out the others

[BUFFS]

i have two melon plants gone into the greenhouse border, each climbing up a cane ladder type frame, doing well at the moment, as we have had our best weather for 12yrs over the last month, we have had so much sun and warmth, its great, we usually get 2-3 days sun at a time ,but this has been day after day, and we see the storms down south and think that for once its not us, this weather can go on as long as it likes, as for the last 3yrs we lost our melons in the greenhouse, when we got sharp, cold nights in the augusts, and they died on the plant each time, so we are hoping for a warmer august this year..

[Jungle Jane]

Last year I grew two emir melons outside in black buckets,this year I’ve potted up seven so far,there’s a couple more still to plant,emir are the only variety out of around seven varieties I’ve grown over the years that have produced melons.

[Bluenowhere]

First time growing melons.

Got two Emir in the polytunnel looking good so far with potentially the start of fruit. Very exciting.

[chris_m]

First time growing melons.

Got two Emir in the polytunnel looking good so far with potentially the start of fruit. Very exciting.

Wish I had. Mine's been popping out flowers for over a week now - but initially only female ones, now only male ones. I believe that makes pollination a tad tricky

[Earthgirl Jen]

i have two melon plants gone into the greenhouse border, each climbing up a cane ladder type frame, doing well at the moment, as we have had our best weather for 12yrs over the last month, we have had so much sun and warmth, its great, we usually get 2-3 days sun at a time ,but this has been day after day, and we see the storms down south and think that for once its not us, this weather can go on as long as it likes, as for the last 3yrs we lost our melons in the greenhouse, when we got sharp, cold nights in the augusts, and they died on the plant each time, so we are hoping for a warmer august this year..

BUFFS sounds like you are onto a good one this year,(fingers crossed) As long as they make some good growth now in the 'hot' weather we stand a chance... x

[Earthgirl Jen]

Last year I grew two emir melons outside in black buckets,this year I’ve potted up seven so far,there’s a couple more still to plant,emir are the only variety out of around seven varieties I’ve grown over the years that have produced melons.

How many melons do you think have set out of your seven Jane, so far? you lucky Lady we usually get warm dry weather at the start of the season but being 'way out west' usually means we get the 'wet and windy' as soon as the jet stream shifts

[Earthgirl Jen]

Wish I had. Mine's been popping out flowers for over a week now - but initially only female ones, now only male ones. I believe that makes pollination a tad tricky

I woke up to 5 female flowers this morning Chris but had to wait until lunchtime before a few male flowers started opening. So 'like a mad woman" I had my little make-up brush at the ready to hand pollinate, only time will tell if i'm successful or not... I'm hoping your luck changed as well as mine

[Jungle Jane]

How many melons do you think have set out of your seven Jane, so far? you lucky Lady we usually get warm dry weather at the start of the season but being 'way out west' usually means we get the 'wet and windy' as soon as the jet stream shifts

My plants are quite small with buds that are probably male. Last years photos show the melons set in July,I got one from each plant I don’t think they would’ve had time for two. Two melons were growing on one of the plants but they were both really small compared to the singular melon on the other plant,so I cut the smallest one off & just did one per plant last year.

[Earthgirl Jen]

My plants are quite small with buds that are probably male. Last years photos show the melons set in July,I got one from each plant I don’t think they would’ve had time for two. Two melons were growing on one of the plants but they were both really small compared to the singular melon on the other plant,so I cut the smallest one off & just did one per plant last year.

Well Done Jane at least you got some melons. They are a little addictive aren't they. Well I have had another 4 female flowers appear on the collective farm woman melons today! I thank the lovely weather we are having at the moment, we have to get in early in the West. I also have 2 female flowers on the sugarbaby watermelons now hand pollinated, fingers crossed they take. I could be all 'bluff and bluster' and shouldn't wish my week away just to see if they have taken

My extra large gooseberry (Collective Farm Woman Melon) is now approaching the size of a small satsuma... lol...