I tucked my melons under the garlic this year. It's my third year trying (unsuccessfully so far) to get a fully grown ripe melon. I think this will be the year.
The garlic will come out in a few weeks and then the melons can have free run. I'm going to find tomato supports for each hill of melons.
I have 7 varieties / 7 hills this year:
Melon, Charantais, Savor F1
Melon, Charantais, Edonis F1
Melon, Anne Arundel
Melon, San Juan
Watermelon, Ice Box Mickeylee
Watermelon, Yellow
Watermelon, Red Sugar Baby
It seems to me that melons are the most difficult crop to grow. I think they need lots of compost, fertilizer, up off the ground, and a long hot dry season with lots of irrigation that doesn't get their leaves too wet. As I said though, I haven't gotten a ripe melon yet, so I'm not an expert....
11 comments:
No success with melons here either. I gave up, lol!
For the first time last year had a great yield , by planting them with black plastic mulch and drip irrigation. I'm trying again this year, but late in planting them due to New England weather.
Best Wishes Roxy
Black plastic - Good idea. I'll put this down after the garlic comes out.
I really like this blog; it is very informative and the pictures are terrific!
Thanks for sharing!
Warm Regards,
Lisa
I gave up on my melons last year, and then didn't get around to weeding out the garden for several weeks, and lo and behold, melons hiding in the weeds and old foliage.
Hi- I just found your blog. I started blogging about my garden (also in Mass.) this year, and your blog is an inspiration. I don't have neighboring gardeners to talk to (and I bore my family if I talk gardening too long) but there is a community online I can share my obsession with! Also, I like the prominence of your dog. My dog Sol is a co-owner of the garden too. As for melons, I got a couple two years ago, and they were delicious, but I decided not worth the work. I may try again another year when my optimism reasserts itself.
Kris
http://baystatekitchengarden.blogspot.com
My charentais melons were languishing last year... it was my first effort. I spoke with someone at a local greenhouse who suggested to me that they fertilize their melons every week. I typically use a very weak organic fertilizer (Coast of Maine) so I started doing that. The difference was immediately noticeable.
This year I am growing bozeman watermelons and charentais.... I don't think irrigation is all that important... you just need a lot of sun and heat.
I think I have some pictures of this year and last on my blog as well. I will put more up if you are interested.
Heat, heat, heat! The melons need temps in the 80s to really take off. Here in New England you need to do everything you can to raise the soil temp. We are experimenting with melons in containers this year. So far so good. Just starting to see the first female blossoms and am hand pollinating.
http://www.media-organic.com/garden-week-in-review-10
The bigger varieties of watermelons can take up to 100 days to mature. Make sure when planting that the last frost for your area is over.
You should leave a plot size of 2 ft x 4 ft. per melon plant. Mound the soil around the base of the vine to allow for drainage.
Watermelons also do well with lots of organic fertilizer or compost material. Like the other readers have said, watermelons need full sun to grow.
Good Luck!
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