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Fruit of the month

Melons

Fruit of the Month

Melons will crop outside in a good year

Anyone who has travelled to warmer climes such as Florida or the Mediterranean will have envied gardeners there the fact that delicious melons are so easy to grow in the warmer conditions. However, there are lots of varieties that will grow well in the UK, given a favourable summer, even outdoors and they are certainly well worth a try.
They need not be as difficult as some gardening books would have us believe either. True that some varieties do benefit from a degree of training to ensure that there are enough female and male flowers present at the same time to produce fruit, but it is possible to simply allow plants to trail along the ground, in the same way as ridge cucumbers – they will largely take care of themselves.
If last summer has left you reluctant to rely on the great British weather to produce a crop however, then try them in a greenhouse, polytunnel or cold frame.
Plants develop quickly after germination, but they do need a long growing season so sow as soon as possible. April is the latest time for sowing this crop.

Sow seeds singly into small pots, planting each seed on its edge to encourage water to drain away. Sow about 1cm (1/2in) deep in multi-purpose compost and place in a heated propagator set at 25C (75F).
Germination will take about 10 days and once the seedlings have established well they can be moved from the propagator and kept on the greenhouse bench or warm windowsill to grow on, ideally at a minimum temperature of 22C (70F), although they will survive in significantly colder conditions.
Once the roots have filled the pot, pot up into a slightly larger container to keep the plants happy until ready for planting out after the last frost. Be sure to harden plants off well prior to planting out at the end of May/beginning of June – later in northern districts.

Pinch the growing tips out of the plants once they have produced four true leaves to encourage branching. If growing in the traditional way under glass or if growing up supports outside, the resulting branches can be trained along a trellis or cane support and pinched again once they have eight true leaves if very vigorous. If growing in the open plot, the sideshoots are allowed to trail along the ground.
When planting on the plot, plant on a ridge allowing 60-90cm (2-3ft) between plants and 1.8m (6ft) between rows. To make the ridge, simply take soil from each side of the row and mound it up. The ridge will prevent water from sitting around the stem during wet spells, causing rotting, while the troughs either side of the row can be used to fill with water in dry spells to keep the plants well supplied.
Flowers should appear as the season progresses and it is a good idea to pollinate the female flowers (those with the little embryo fruit behind the petals) by hand to ensure setting.
To do this, remove a male flower, pull off the petals to leave the pollen bearing anthers exposed, and either brush pollen onto the tip of the stigma (female central stalk), using one male to pollinate several females, or just push the male flower into the female and leave it there. Male flowers usually greatly outnumber females and often appear first, but don’t despair, given the right conditions, females should soon follow.
As the fruit develops and swells ensure that plants get plenty of water and feed at every watering with half strength tomato feed.
If you are lucky and your plants produce lots of female flowers it is best to limit the number of fruit allowed to develop to a maximum of two or three per plant.
Suitable varieties for outdoor/cold frame cultivation include ‘Amber Nectar’, ‘Collective Farm Woman’, ‘Honeydew Green Flesh’ and ‘Emir’.

For more advice, see this month's issue, available to buy online!