On Wed, 09 Mar 2011 18:14:51 +1100, David Hare-Scott wrote:

General Schvantzkoph wrote:
On Wed, 09 Mar 2011 08:12:37 +1100, David Hare-Scott wrote:

General Schvantzkoph wrote:
I'd like to be able to grow a melon. I do fine with tomatoes, peas,
corn, strawberries, blueberries and beans but I've never been able to
get a melon to grow.

I live in Massachusetts, near the New Hampshire border so I have a
short growing season. Has anyone been able to get a melon to grow
around here? I'd like a suggestion for a variety suited to this
climate and tips on how to handle it.

How long is it usually between the last frost of spring and the first
of autumn?

The season is June through September

What is the typical (not maximum) temperature mid afternoon in high
summer?
The hottest couple of weeks in the summer are in the 90s, most of the
summer is in the 70s or 80s.



I see why you have had trouble in the past, your season is short and not
very warm. I cannot help with a quick growing melon but I do have one
other trick that you may not have seen. If you haven't tried this
before it will give you several weeks head start in spring.

Conventional wisdom is that you should sow cucurbits directly and not
transplant them because they are susceptible to transplant shock and are
often set back considerably by transplanting. However, you can
transplant them without problems if you do it without disturbing the
root ball.

The best seedling container for them is the plastic tubes that are used
for tube stock. These are about 15 cm (6in) high, and 5cm (2in) across
and taper towards the bottom. The ones with square cross section are
better than the round ones as the roots don't go round and round. Sow
one seed per tube in soil heavier than normal seed raising mix, these
are big strong seeds and will deal with this quite well, the reason is
to form a coherent root ball. Sow more than you need so you can choose
the strongest seedlings.

Keep them in your hothouse, coldframe or whatever, once the cotyledons
open they will need bright light and some sun. Plant them out after the
last frost. They will come out of the tube with the root ball (well the
root truncated square pyramid) intact and slip straight into your
prepared plot with no shock. This will work for melons, cucumbers or
any other cucurbit.

David

Thanks