Sep 5th, 2010
Caring for Ripening Melons
Hold the front page – we have two Melons growing in the coldframe. I only noticed them after I came back from a weekend away. I must admit I had given up on the Melons. I planted them waaaay back in May and have been madly trying to pollinate the little blighters since. It seemed that nature was conspiring against me though. A male flower would open but no female. Then the next day a female flower would open but the male flower had withered and died – doh!
So I flailed around with my pollinating brush (a paintbrush to you and I), wildly dabbing here there and everywhere and crossing my fingers that something, somewhere had hit the right spot. It had. Two spots infact, as I have two tiny Melons about the size of an egg.
I checked in my books what to do next and dutifully snipped off the plant two leaves after each ripening Melon. I am also feeding them once a week with Tomato fertilizer, closing the lid at night and opening it on sunny days. Phew! this Melon growing business is hard work.
The only worry I have, and it’s a big one, is that they pollinated too late and they are too small to ripen in time. This is the first time I’ve grown Melons so I’m just over the moon to have any at all. I think I will let them fly and see how far I get with them. No doubt there will be photos if they ever ripen. Watch this space!
