On Wed, 6 Sep 2006 Rick Eggleston wrote:

Any views here on Melon varieties?

This year I grew Ogen and Sweetheart which seem to be the two varietes most
recommended for a cold greenhouse.

I had an extraordinary experience this year. If I'd tried to grow melons
I wouldn't have been able to. In fact a year or two ago I did plant some
melon seeds and I had one plant which I grew on in my conservatory. It
produced one melon about the size of a marble.

This year I dug out my compost heap - compost which had been there for a
few years - and spread it on my allotment. After a few weeks I noticed
some rather strong-looking seedlings which I couldn't identify. Soon
they were growing rather like courgette plants but the leaves were
wrong. My neighbour suggested they might be melons. Oh yes, I remembered
that my wife was in the habit of throwing kitchen waste, including melon
seeds, on to the compost heap. Yes, it was possible they were melon
seedlings. All I could see, though, were just some small flowers. No
sign of any fruit. This was in July.

We went to France as usual for the whole of August and returned on the
31st, and a few days later I went up to the allotment. Imagine my
surprise! On two melon plants there was a total of twelve cantaloupe
melons!

I cut the largest and brought it home and let it ripen for a few days.
It weighed just two ounces short of three pounds. This evening we cut it
open. It was ripe, very juicy and full of flavour, as good as one bought
from a shop.

To say that I was astonished is an understatement. I had no idea that
cantaloupe melons could be grown in England out in the open, let alone
in a greenhouse. Is this normal or is this a result of the exceptionally
hot July. But yet the melons actually grew in August when it was much
cooler and wetter. I would be glad to hear of anyone else's experiences
in growing melons in the open in the UK.

David

--
David Rance http://www.mesnil.demon.co.uk
Fido Address: 2:252/110 writing from Caversham, Reading, UK