Melons

redser7

Planning for the tunnel next year I'd like to give melons a go, in particular Honeydew melons. Has anyone grown these? Can you recommend where I could get seed? There doesn't seem to be seed around for honeydew or much info on growing them. Are they not suitable to northern climes?
Thanks

dardevle

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http://www.theorganiccentre.ie/catalog/80

a few variety of melon available..... while not a honeydew type, i can recommend the "crimson sweet" variety for growing undercover or in a sheltered spot - excellent size and flavour with good disease resistance.



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redser7

Thanks a lot. Did you grow this type yourself? How many fruit could I expect from each plant? Would it work growing it up with support? Cheers

dardevle

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grew them a couple of years back simply as an exercise.... i limited the yield to just 2 per plant but i believe you can get 4-6 per plant depending on conditions -remember the more fruit per plant the smaller the size of melon also with watering and temp considerations, i decided on less yield with better quality.

since i was limited for space i grew them from strings off the crop bars - just make sure the support structure is strong enough to handle the multiple of FULL size fruits.....support the individual fruits with net/mesh -ladies stockings work very well .

if you can achieve the temp constants of 21c and above, then the biggest concern will be watering as they are very thirsty!



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redser7

Excellent, thanks for all the info. I'll give it a bash as an experiment and see if it is worth the space. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall says that bras make great supports. Might cause a few raised eyebrows round the allotment :-)

dardevle

redser7 wrote: »

Excellent, thanks for all the info. I'll give it a bash as an experiment and see if it is worth the space. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall says that bras make great supports. Might cause a few raised eyebrows round the allotment :-)

hope you need DD's rather than A cups to holister them:pac:



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wait4me

Nothing worse than sagging melons :eek:

redser7

Well that's what the bra will be for.
ah here