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melons

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ruud:
Can anybody tell me how to grow melons outdoors or is it totaly a no, no.I have had different variaties from all over the world,but most of them came from the states.Somehow yanks love melons,squash<summer and winter>,pumpkins and other relatives.So i want to now how to grow them and with variaty is the best for my purpose.

Mrs Ava:
Well, a gent on our site had half his plot over to, what looked like Galia melons, and for just a couple of vines, he must have had 20 melons  :o  They all ripened and looked gorgeous!  I think if you can provide an open site which is a sun trap, and can provide the plants with plenty of water, then give it a go.  I don't suppose you would get giant fruits, but each of his would certainly have provided 4 nice big juicy quarters.  I am going to have a go with ogen, texas cantelope and an italian one that looks like a honeydew on the piccy.  In some of the seed catalogues they do advertise melons for outdoors so give it a go.  ;D

ruud:
Hi E.J. i have read once,that you can heated up the soil with horsemanure.So melons like hot feet.lol

john_miller:
I do mine as follows:- Sow early May, three seeds to a 5cm pot. Germinate at 23C, grow on at 15C. Prepare the soil as normal. Melons need average fertility. Cover the planting area with black plastic mulch (a black plastic garbage/trash/rubbish bag can be cut open if you don't want to buy a roll of plastic). This will heat the soil and keep weeds down. Make a small hole in the plastic and plant the three seedlings through it in one clump (I do this in late May). Cover with a cloche/bell jar/ floating row cover (I don't know what that is called in Europe). If you use the latter leave on until the first flowers (which will be male) open. Remove and side dress with a nitrogen fertiliser. You may need to remove cloches etc. earlier to allow the vines to run. Make sure that the area around the plastic is well weeded before the vines run out over it.
 If you have access to U.S. seeds then try to get hold of cv. 'Goldstar' from Harris Seeds in Rochester, N.Y.. This was developed for the relatively cool North-East U.S.. Cutivar  'Early Dawn, also developed for the same area, has an award of merit from the Royal Horticultural Society in the U. K.. Why I have no idea- it has a relative maturity only two days ahead of 'Goldstar' and is seen here as a good way of killing your market because it is so inferior flavour wise- but may be a variety that will do well for you too. Other North East companies with a selection of melons are Pinetree and Johnny's Selected, both in Maine, and Stokes Seeds in Buffalo, N.Y. (actually they are Canadian but I don't know their Canadian address).

aquilegia:
Where my mother-in-law works, someone threw some melon seeds on the flower bed as rubbish. Last summer they grew and she got a couple of gorgeous melons off them. They pretty much fended for themselves other than normal watering, so that can't be that hard. (It was a very sunny spot and they really did well after the heat wave last year - remember that? warm. mmm!)

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