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Many people who live in a temperate climate often react with surprise that melons can be grown successfully in their country. However, anyone who has grown cucumbers in their greenhouse could also grow melons. The two plants are from the same family; Cucurbitaceae. Melons do require a little more care than cucumbers, but the additional effort required is fairly minimal, so why not give it a try. It still surprises my friends and family when they see melons growing in my greenhouse.
Seeds
Melon seeds are available from any good garden centre. Popular varieties are cantaloupe, honeydew and piel de sapo, with cantaloupe being the most readily available. You could also try using seeds that you remove from a melon that you have bought, but doing this will not guarantee you good fruit, and in some cases the resulting plant will not bear any fruit.
Planting
Plant the seeds between mid-April and the end of May, in 3" (75mm) pots in standard potting compost. The seed should be about 0.5" (12mm) below the surface of the compost. Water the seeds in and place the pots in your greenhouse, or on a sunny window sill. Make sure that the compost does not dry out, but don't over-water it.
In a few days, you should have seedlings with their two "seed leaves" or cotyledons. These are actually part of the seed contents and are not true leaves. A few days later, the plants will have produced their first "true" leaves. When they have at least 2 of these true leaves it is time to transplant them to their final growing place.
Transplanting
Melons can be grown directly in the ground, in large containers, large pots or growing bags. Whatever you choose, make sure it is big enough to accommodate a large root system, and that it has sufficient drainage to prevent water-logging. Use soil containing a lot of organic matter, or potting compost. Plant the seedlings in their new container and water in well.
Support
Melons grow on a vine, just like cucumbers, so they will need some kind of support. This could consist of canes, bamboo sticks, and/or strings. As the melon vine grows, you will need to tie it to the support to prevent it collapsing under its own weight.
As the melon plant grows, tie the strongest stem to the support. Use plant ties or string to do this, but don't tie them too tightly - the string might cut into the stem as it thickens up. Nip out any side-shoots, just as you might with your cucumber plants.
Once the melon has reached the top of its support, pinch out the leading shoot. This slows down the growth of the plant, which then starts to put more energy into producing flowers and fruit.
Watering
This is the key to success with growing melons. If you have a drip watering system in your greenhouse, this is ideal, because you want to avoid getting the plant itself wet. If not, water directly onto the compost as closely as possible, or insert a pipe into the compost and pour the water into it.
Keep the compost moist, but do not over-water. If there is too much water, the fruit tends to over-expand and split open.
Flowers
The melon produces both male and female flowers. If your garden attracts a lot of pollinating insects and is warm enough to keep the greenhouse door open, this job may be done for you, but it's worth doing it yourself, just to make sure. Take a small, artist's paintbrush and gently brush the inside of each flower in turn. The idea is that pollen is transferred from one flower to the next. This needs to be done, otherwise your plant will not bear fruit. Try to do this job when humidity is high.
After a few days, the female flowers will start to produce fruit. This will be seen as a small ball behind the flower. If you don't see any, wait a few more days, or try pollinating with the paintbrush again.
Any flowers which are not producing fruit are male and should be pinched off.
Feeding
Feed your melon plants once a week once the fruit has started to form. Use a liquid tomato plant food according to the directions on the bottle.
More Support
As the fruit gets bigger, make sure that the vine is well supported - the weight of the fruit can easily break the plant, putting all your efforts to waste. When the fruit reaches the size of a tennis ball, they will need further support. You can fashion a support for each melon out of some garden netting. Form a bag around the melon that is big enough to allow the fruit to grow to full size, and tie the bag to a strong support. personally, I use strings tied to the frame of the greenhouse roof to hold the bags up.
Maintain Humidity
This is important for the health of the plant, particularly on hot days. If your greenhouse has a concrete or stone floor, soak the floor in the morning. Alternatively, simply stand buckets of water in the greenhouse.
Enjoy
When your fruit has reached full size, enjoy it! There is nothing more rewarding than eating fruit and vegetables that you have grown yourself. One packet of seeds, which costs less than the price of one melon, can produce more melons than you can eat!
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