melons

[gwynnethmary]

just got our new greenhouse up- is it too late to sow melon seeds? Is there anything I can sow now?  And what is best for staging, wood or metal? OH likes making things, but I think wood might cut down the amount of light too much.

[gwynnethmary]

[Jeannine]

 I think you might be dissapointed if you sowed now, they need a long growing season.. you might do it if the summer was a good long one and if the variety was an early one but it is  a bit late in my opinion.

You might find  a good sized plant on a garden centre.

Tying up a spot in a greenhouse is tough if you don't get anything from it.

If we were talking squash, I would say yes to a summer one and no to a winter at this time .

However if you have lots of spare space and want to gamble on a long summer.....everything is a learning experience and you would be more familiar with the growing habits for next year!!

I used to have to lift my staging out of my home greenhouse in the summer so for  me the collapsible types were better.

XX Jeannine

[gwynnethmary]

Thanks Jeannine- I thought it would be too late.  Maybe I could concentrate on taking cuttings from the pelargoniums or something- I guess I'm just itching to actually use it!

[Jeannine]

If it is going to stand empty, why not set it up for winter salads, you can use large pots or deep trays, I have some trays from the bottom of fridges about 7 inches deep X28 inches wide x14 inches long,all our apartments got new fridges and guess who nicked all the trays while waiting for the dump truck to take the old ones  away.

I always grew salads in the winter in the UK, there is a post somewhere on here with pictures. You could do  baby carrots in a deep pot, set off some Winter Lisbon salad onions, make sure they are Winter Lisbon or another variety that will go over the winter, make a box to grow baby salad leaves in, I can send you seeds of a mix that I make with all types of lettuce in if you need a bit, you can even transplant some when they start to come up as they are all different. Get Hubby to build you a growing bed on legs, off the floor will be warmer, and use that as a salad bed.   Have a length of fleece to help with the really cold nights.

I used to keep one or two Sungold tom plants in there, tucked up at night, when the freeze comes you will lose them but until then even though they stop growing and the leaves wither, stop watering but leave the fruit on, they will slowly ripen the fruit, we made it a game to see how close to Christmas we could get,we usually managed a few, even if it meant bringing them in to finally finish, or move the whole plant into the garage where it us warmer, they would be OK, even when the plant looks way past dead, the fruit slowly ripen.

I would have salad most of the year from my small greenhouse that was at home. Spinach will grow through the winter in there, but don't plant it when it is still hot weather.

I rather enjoyed doing this  as it didn't bother the main greenhouses on the lottie.

You do have time to do Christmas spuds, almost the right time to plant them too.In big pots,or bags, then raise the pots of the ground with timber  to keep them off the cold floor. Get a few new potatoes from the store if you have nothing else, I wouldn't suggest it in the ground but in pots is a greenhouse I would do it, or keep a few of your own earlies if you have grown some, that is better still, you can use a growbag, shake it well to get the soil all to one end then open the narrow end and plant in that, you can roll the edges down a bit to give  some strength. I use to grow Charlottes like this but Rocket are earlier.

Come Christmas, you could have salad and new potatoes, carrots and even maybe a couple of toms with your dinner, all home grown.

It is a bit of fun for the winter months.

Loads of other ideas will come along.

XX Jeannine

[gwynnethmary]

What a lot of good ideas Jeannine!
Actually, my lovely hubby has made me a growbag trolley for our tomatoes, and I do have some mixed salad leaf seeds.  Maybe I could sow some at the end of the summer when the toms come out?  Could I get away with using the same growbag, if I added some fertiliser?
I like the idea of Christmas spuds, but haven't seen seed potatoes in the shops for a few weeks now.  I'm growing second earlies at the lottie, and they should be ready in about 3 weeks.  Would one of those do, do you think?

[Jeannine]

Go for it, and yes I guess you could  use the old soil  for the leaves if you give it a good nitrogen feed ,  I don't recycle so not sure , but someone might come along with a better suggestion. I don't know about the spuds though, they need good soil , Charlottes are second earlies and that was what I aways used in the UK so yours should be fine. There are lots of articles on the net about growing spuds for Christmas, on here too. Don't forget the radishes .

Pick a carrot that is for baby production not a big overwintering one..mini finger, or something like that, or use my favourite Mokum.

T&M actually do a selection of spuds timed for planting now for Christmas but I think they are quite expensive..take a look.

XX Jeannine

[cleo]

I think it is too late for melons.

Staging?-if OH is good at making things get him to make some trestles and a slatted wood top.

Then you will having staging for when you want it and ,later, it can all be taken down to use the space for growing larger plants.

The trestles and top could go outside to keep young seedlings away from slugs and snails while they grow or you could us it for trailing plants or pots of say geraniums

[flowerofshona2007]

I thing Jeannine should have her own tv show on gardening !!! the way you explain things is wonderful hun and you have so many great ideas im learning all the time from you (((hug))).
I have not posted much for a while but have been keeping ontop of the reading  ;D
I missed doing my melons this year but intend to be ready next year and might talk OH into a polytunnel for my birthday so i can grow all year.

[Jeannine]

Thank you...  but it would have to be called  Muddling Through!!

Squash, melons and corn have always been a real interest to me,I  have put a lot of time and study  into them and have got a good data base of info that I have built up over many years so my  own records are pretty useful but after that I am not much help for most things.

I have always used a greenhouse to grow winter food in and I enjoy it and would like to expand on this.

Most veggies I grow are very basic and I do a lot of reading, but usually when asked I refer folks to other people for most veggies..

XX Jeannine

[calendula]

I also would be itching to get going in a new greenhouse - about now I will be sowing pak choi and chinese cabbages and I grow these on in the greenhouse over winter in cheap window boxes and not only do they keep the slugs and snails off them this way they get to stay looking shop perfick  ;D you could give these a try if you like them