Melons

For the first time I had successful germination and had 4 different varieties growing well.  Some in the greenhouse, some outdoors.  There were loads of flowers but sadly, not a single fruit    As my cucumbers that normally do well have done badly this year too, I'm not going to be put off.  I WILL grow melons next year!

For the first time I had successful germination and had 4 different varieties growing well.  Some in the greenhouse, some outdoors.  There were loads of flowers but sadly, not a single fruit    As my cucumbers that normally do well have done badly this year too, I'm not going to be put off.  I WILL grow melons next year!

I grew 2 Sweetheart melon plants in my greenhouse; the one in a large planter on the staging produced 6 melons of varying sizes (smallest was cricket ball sized!), the one in a large growbag on the floor only one (5" across, 17" circumference, but I notice the skin is splitting now.  )

Apart from the less than ideal weather, pollination seems to be the main problem; there were lots of male flowers but only tiny amounts of pollen in each, so even hand-pollinating didn't always work.
At one point it looked as if I might have got 20 fruit on one plant but the plant itself seemed to know better and I think about 3 would have been a more realistic number to aim for to get them all to a good size before the plant died.

They are absolutely delicious though; really juicy, sweet, orange flesh with a wonderful flavour!