Wanted: Charentaise type melon seeds

[smallblueplanet]

Have just decided it'd be fun to have another go at growing a melon in the unheated greenhouse. So I'm looking for a small charentaise type - small so it reaches fruiting size quickly and charentaise because they're my fave variety of melon.

Does anyone have a couple (or more) spare to swap?

[timethatthetaleweretold]

I was planning to offer you some of my Minnesota Midget seeds, but wasn't sure if they were a charantaise type.

So I googled. Google led me straight to a page from 2008 where you were explaining that you had grown Minnesota Midget and it wasn't very nice!

Sorry I can't help.

[smallblueplanet]

Lol! Kind offer all the same.

Nah we weren't that impressed with them, but as they were the first ones we grew it is possible that we picked them too soon. The one that I posted the photo of wasn't too bad - it ripened while we were away on hols, we got back to it thinking it had gone over but it was just right...

[timethatthetaleweretold]

I'm just impressed you've done so well with melons.

Will make sure to give my midgets enough time to sweeten, as per your tip.


I'm gratuitously re-posting your minnesota midget jpeg because it looks like a fine fruit.

[T8Ter]

Hi SBP, I have some sweetheart and charentais seeds you can have, they are both sow by 2010, but should still be viable, if you'd like to try them just pm me address and I'll pop in an envelope.

[smallblueplanet]

Thanks for the kind offer T8Ter but have just arranged a swap for Sweetheart. What are the charentais, do you have a link to the original seller? I'm always a bit uncertain about growing stuff that is just a 'generic name' type.

Did you have any succes with either?

[smallblueplanet]

I'm just impressed you've done so well with melons.

Will make sure to give my midgets enough time to sweeten, as per your tip.

I'm gratuitously re-posting your minnesota midget jpeg because it looks like a fine fruit...

It was a good melon and not too bad a taste. It does look bigger than pix I've seen of MM, where they're 'cricket ball' size. I wonder if it was something different?

[T8Ter]

Hi SBP, the charentais are just lidl generic, I had mixed results, one good melon from those, 3 from the sweetheart. The best results I've ever had though have been from water melons which grew really well, having said that, the space they take up, compared to the crop of chillies/toms/cues I'd get in my limited space means I won't grow them again.

[smallblueplanet]

Thanks for the info. Where did you grow them? What did you think to the sweetheart?

I'm not a huge fan of watermelon, all those pips pip me off!

[T8Ter]

Hi SBP I grew all varieties in the greenhouse, the sweetheart were really tasty, lovely deep orange flesh, but as I say, the space they took would give me a much better return in other crops, it was a novelty to grow them though.

[smallblueplanet]

Hi SBP I grew all varieties in the greenhouse, the sweetheart were really tasty, lovely deep orange flesh, but as I say, the space they took would give me a much better return in other crops, it was a novelty to grow them though.

Thanks. We grew our melon in the corner of the greenhouse border and up along a metal shelf that's along the inner eave of the greenhouse - so not really taking up much space - a plants worth of soil and only the cuke would also grow along the shelf.