[mellowmick]

First melon is forming. About the size of an acorn. On one of my second batch too; main one still turning out male flowers.

[tetley]

melons successfully ... recently posted

Hello milkman - have just had a look at your melon.  Is it growing outside or in a glass house?

They are going to have a go at growing them outside next year - I wonder what the temperature does in countries where they grow them outside? maybe in the UK cover them with fleece at night? Or perhaps grow them in a coldframe. Any thoughts? O

hi there, I am a newbie to your great forum, also a novice gardener, I live in France(just coming up to our first year here), and planted 4 charentaise melon plants in fairly newly dug ground (had a couple of storms so I dug an area over while the ground was soft- ish) I only put in a couple of handfuls of bought compost and I was very surprised to discover 4 melons have now grown ( i am sure overnight!!), they are in open ground, I am waiting until they are ready...still firmly attached.  They are quite a small variety, they look nearly ready?...they should just break off should they?  
I hope you guys don't mind a 'foreigner' posting on your forum?

[milkman]

Bonjours tetley - ca va? - you need to have a good sense of smell because you need to be able to sniff them!  when they are giving off a distinctive melon scent they are ready and the stalk should come away quite easily.
There I am talking like an expert and I have only ever harvested 1 melon in my entire life!!!

[mellowmick]

Right; Melon plants now pretending to be courgette plants; got at least four fruits developing on each of 6 plants. How many fruits are each plant realistically going to be able to cope with? They're all about malteser size.

[Oliver]

How many fruits are each plant realistically going to be able to cope with? They're all about malteser size.

Hello Mellowmick. At this late stage in the season I would opt for one melon on the plant. Her second melon is now ripe, but the plant is showing decided signs of having had enough and is not long for this world.

Better go for one good one that you can enjoy than several ropey small jobs that probably get spat out? O :shock:

[mellowmick]

Cheers Oliver; This will be my first experience of sacrificing something for the greater good. If I had too many seed spuds etc, I'd always dig another bed just to use them up. Not sure how I'm gonna face terminating potential watermelons! Guess the bullet will have to be bit. :?

[Oliver]

Not sure how I'm gonna face terminating potential watermelons! Guess the bullet will have to be bit. :?

Yes! Know how you feel. She has a job thinning stuff for that very reason. If it has taken the trouble to hatch she hates despatching it to the compost heap, but common sense must prevail!
(She has tried sowing thinly in the past but more time is wasted that way and often the crop is very poor which is also a waste of effort, so ..) :?

[milkman]

Sorry mellowmick can't advise because I've not had the good fortune of having any more than 2 melons developing on one plant... and I've had one plant which hasn't grown any melons on it which is far worse than having too many melons on a plant!

[mellowmick]

This is my divine compensation for having next to no courgettes.

[stompy]

Well i'v been sniffing my melons, and as yet they smell no different. :shock:

Will they ripen off the vine like tomatoes, i am very eager to try one, (now[/b]).

They have stopped growing and i need them to ripen.

Has anyone else had one yet, am i being premature in the wanting one now thing. :?:  :?:  :?:  :?:

[Oliver]

Has anyone else had one yet, am i being premature in the wanting one now thing.

Yes, they had one about 3 weeks ago. Very nice it was too. The other one is still on the bush but probably getting ready to give up the ghost.

She says if you buy a melon from the sm and it is not nice and melon smelly, it stays that way, and will therefore not taste all that fantastic, whereas if you buy one that smells right, it tastes right. So, that probably means mealons don't ripen like tomatoes in the kitchen. But she has never tried!! :?

[milkman]

Patience stompy patience!

[Oliver]

Patience stompy patience!

:? Ditto - Oliver!

[stompy]

Patience is not one of my strong points. :oops:

All it's done around here lately is rain, and it's been overcast now for about three weeks with an average temp 0f 15 deg, i hope it's still warm enough for them to make it.

[Oliver]

i hope it's still warm enough for them to make it.

What about covering them with a bit of fleece? That will keep them warm! My book says they should be kept dryish while they ripen - so I suppose they have to be big enough first, then they can ripen. Its very confusing this business. We are going to try eating ours tonight. Its been getting free houseroom for long enough now...