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Posted by susan (U14016651) on Tuesday, 25th May 2010
hi, i have just been given 6 melon plants but have no idea how to look after them any advice please they are in the greenhouse for now thankyou
, in reply to message 1.
Posted by Formby_Asparagus (U7704501) on Wednesday, 26th May 2010
ping
Mine are planted in the GH border with loads of home made compost dug in, then tie the main stems to strings suspended from a wire strung between the end walls and nip off side shoots after four leaves. When they form flowers pollinate the female (which has a tiny melon behind the petals) with a paintbrush dabbed in a male flower, and finally rig little 'hammocks' to support the melons as they swell.
Hi - there is a great website that someone on the board has, here is the page about melons
Hope it is useful to you!
thanks to all that replyed moreto it than i thought but i will have a go
richardbees has it.
And if this works-nothing like a firm young melon in the hand-but male sexist comments apart..
[IMG]/IMG]
cat......a nice touch of the Benny Hills!
I did win First Prize "Melon" at the 1995 City of London Flower Show in the Guildhall....
...but there were only four exhibits
Has anyone artificially pollinated melons before? The website above mentioned says this :
"Artificial pollination is necessary to set fruits: strip the petals off a male flower and push the exposed centre into a female flower. "
I need some more info please, from someone who's actually done it.
Yes.
for your bog standard melon, stripping the petals off a male flower and poking the stamen into the middle of the female flower always works - and you are unlikely to get successful melons without doing it..
...I use the same technique on butternut squash.
It's a bit early yet in the UK to have well defined flowers but in a few weeks you'll see female flowers with clearly defined green mini mellons behind the petals whereas the male flowers will just have petals surrounded a clump of pollen coated stamens.
And do check daily as you will find that you get a lot of males first,the females being somewhat shy to begin with.
And then as soon as you do see a female politely introduce her to a male before she sulks and falls off.
smilingcat
I do apologise, how could I have been so insensitive to the sensibilities of this forum to use such words as 'p0king' and 'str1pp1ng' in a post re pollination...?
richard
no puns here but i've searched the previous threads and now wonder if I've made a mistake planting 2 into a growbag in the G/H? I was given the plants from a friend at work so hadn't really planned a larger space for them. Any feedback on whether melons in growbags are feasible?
The danger is from drying out which growbags tend to do - I never use them for this reason.
Can you cut the bottom out so they root into the border soil or is your G/H all paved?
Unfortunately the G/H is a lean to on the patio agaist a fence - it was the only way of fitting one into my tiny garden. Its really only used for bringing on seeds to then take to the allotment - although this year I have got some chillis in pots in there too. I've got one of those drip feeders though so hope I can keep them damp. If i had some space on the allotment I could have used a poly tunnel - maybe some better planning needed for next year!
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