Hi All,
Can I grow Melons from the seeds of shop bought Melons?

In article ,
Neil Cairns wrote:
Hi All,
Can I grow Melons from the seeds of shop bought Melons?

Yes. But don't expect them to fruit! That isn't because the plants
won't do so, but because melons are very tricky in the UK, need to
be grown under glass, and the varieties sold in the shops will not
be the specialist ones needed for semi-reliable cropping in the UK.
Don't bother with watermelons - they need a LOT more heat.

Now, the same does NOT apply to pumpkins and many squashes, which
are much hardier. I grow some Katsuba squashes (a hubbard type)
from supermarket seed, and they are fine. Not a brilliant crop,
and only some fruit ripen, but adequate. Butternut squashes are
trickier, though.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Neil Cairns wrote:
Hi All,
Can I grow Melons from the seeds of shop bought Melons?

Yes but you might have to do the 'birds and bees' bit! For this you
need a sable brush from your art shop.

One trick I saw somewhere long before that seemed to have helped
germination was just before planting time, snip out the pointed end so
that you see a tiny gap. Initially youll get some fruits dropping off
whilst still small but you'll know when you have success. I copied the
idea I saw in a Victorian book and supported the fruit with a cradle or
hammock of fruit netting if growing along steel horizontal lines as we
did as the fruit can become very heavy. We got one or two to the size
of a rugby ball and they were of course delicious.

You might want to pick out the leader stem after some time as we got one
stem to a length of about 25 feet.


Richard.

--
We trade our health in search of wealth,
We scrimp and toil and save;
We trade our wealth in search of health,
But only find the grave.