I bought my daughter (a serious melon-lover) a melon plant (Lady F1, type
of Honeydew) which we planted at the weekend. It's in a mixture of
multi-purpose and grow-bagcompost in a wooden crate, planted in a mound (as
per instructions), with black plastic sheeting aound the base of the plant
to keep the soil warm and the leaves off the soil.
Two days later it has developed a serious floppiness which doesn't appear as
though it may be simply fixed by watering.
Being new to melon-growing, have we done something seriously wrong? Maybe
it's too cold for it outside at the moment, although the plant in on a
south-facing wall which currently is getting a small amount of sun.

"Jo" wrote ...
I bought my daughter (a serious melon-lover) a melon plant (Lady F1, type
of Honeydew) which we planted at the weekend. It's in a mixture of
multi-purpose and grow-bagcompost in a wooden crate, planted in a mound
(as per instructions), with black plastic sheeting aound the base of the
plant to keep the soil warm and the leaves off the soil.
Two days later it has developed a serious floppiness which doesn't appear
as though it may be simply fixed by watering.
Being new to melon-growing, have we done something seriously wrong? Maybe
it's too cold for it outside at the moment, although the plant in on a
south-facing wall which currently is getting a small amount of sun.
Having just come from our allotment where we noticed other gardeners
Potatoes/Tomatoes/Runner Beans, which we consider were planted out much too
early, have been frosted I think it is much too early to plant out something
as tender as a Melon. I wouldn't consider planting one out until after
Chelsea.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

Jo wrote:
Being new to melon-growing, have we done something seriously wrong? Maybe
it's too cold for it outside at the moment, although the plant in on a
south-facing wall which currently is getting a small amount of sun.

It's been close to frosty the last few nights, I think you've probably
caught it a bit of a chill.

I managed 6 melon plants from seed last year, with a total production of 2
melons. I think I needed to hand pollinate them a bit more than I did.
That was my first year of melon growing. But they lived permanently int he
greenhouse, I would never have considered growing them outside.




--

Bob Hobden wrote:
Having just come from our allotment where we noticed other gardeners
Potatoes/Tomatoes/Runner Beans, which we consider were planted out much too
early, have been frosted I think it is much too early to plant out something
as tender as a Melon. I wouldn't consider planting one out until after
Chelsea.

But Chelsea won the premiership last week! Or did you mean the FA cup? ;-)

On 11/05/2010 15:12, wrote:
wrote:
Being new to melon-growing, have we done something seriously wrong? Maybe
it's too cold for it outside at the moment, although the plant in on a
south-facing wall which currently is getting a small amount of sun.

It's been close to frosty the last few nights, I think you've probably
caught it a bit of a chill.

I managed 6 melon plants from seed last year, with a total production of 2
melons. I think I needed to hand pollinate them a bit more than I did.
That was my first year of melon growing. But they lived permanently int he
greenhouse, I would never have considered growing them outside.





I tried growing some outside here in Normandy a couple of years ago and
it was too cold for them. They just didn't grow, they basically
stagnated. I think melons need a greenhouse or some other structure to
keep them warm. Having said that though I remember someone on this group
once saying they'd grown them successfully on an allotment somewhere in
Yorkshire!

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

On Tue, 11 May 2010 16:02:17 +0200, David in Normandy
wrote:

On 11/05/2010 15:12, wrote:
wrote:
Being new to melon-growing, have we done something seriously wrong? Maybe
it's too cold for it outside at the moment, although the plant in on a
south-facing wall which currently is getting a small amount of sun.

It's been close to frosty the last few nights, I think you've probably
caught it a bit of a chill.

I managed 6 melon plants from seed last year, with a total production of 2
melons. I think I needed to hand pollinate them a bit more than I did.
That was my first year of melon growing. But they lived permanently int he
greenhouse, I would never have considered growing them outside.





I tried growing some outside here in Normandy a couple of years ago and
it was too cold for them. They just didn't grow, they basically
stagnated. I think melons need a greenhouse or some other structure to
keep them warm. Having said that though I remember someone on this group
once saying they'd grown them successfully on an allotment somewhere in
Yorkshire!


Could you use a victorian style hotbed?
http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/todo...aqs.php?id=162
--
http://www.Voucherfreebies.co.uk
http://www.holidayunder100.co.uk

On 11 May, 16:49, mogga wrote:
On Tue, 11 May 2010 16:02:17 +0200, David in Normandy





wrote:
On 11/05/2010 15:12, wrote:
*wrote:
Being new to melon-growing, have we done something seriously wrong? *Maybe
it's too cold for it outside at the moment, although the plant in on a
south-facing wall which currently is getting a small amount of sun.

It's been close to frosty the last few nights, I think you've probably
caught it a bit of a chill.

I managed 6 melon plants from seed last year, with a total production of 2
melons. *I think I needed to hand pollinate them a bit more than I did.
That was my first year of melon growing. *But they lived permanently int he
greenhouse, I would never have considered growing them outside.

I tried growing some outside here in Normandy a couple of years ago and
it was too cold for them. They just didn't grow, they basically
stagnated. I think melons need a greenhouse or some other structure to
keep them warm. Having said that though I remember someone on this group
once saying they'd grown them successfully on an allotment somewhere in
Yorkshire!

Could you use a victorian style hotbed?http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/todo...aqs.php?id=162
--http://www.Voucherfreebies.co.ukhttp://www.holidayunder100.co.uk- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I remember in the early days of using polythene in the garden (in the
60's) we used to use either a large clear poly bag or better poly
tubing and putting a cane in each corner to hold it open, with the
plant in the centre; the top would then be tied at night and then
opened in the day to give ventilation.
I have used this on tomatoes and kept it on till they had the 3rd
truss showing.
It acts as a mini greenhouse, and you can lift the polythene from the
soil an inch or two so that with the top open as well it just acts as
a wind break.
Also in those days we used to plant potatoes through black polythene,
just cut a X to plant through then when it came time to harvest, just
lift the edge of the sheet and pick out the number of potatoes you
wanted and put the sheet back down.
We would plant 2 rows about 18 inches to 2 ft appart then put a 3rd
row inbetween with the potatoes staggered between those in the 2 outer
rows.
David Hill