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Melons.
Although Melons need quite a bit of
warmth to grow, keen gardeners in Great Britain have grown them for a
long time. Back in times long past, the gardens of the “Big
Houses,” had specialist Melon and Cucumber greenhouses built that
were half sunken. These were easier to maintain the heat in that they
needed than in the normal shape of greenhouse. With modern strains and
technology, all that is needed is a warm greenhouse, or even an
unheated poly-tunnel is all right as Melons will appreciate the
conditions that it will provide. Melons are definitely not hardy and
are an annual that is grown much like indoor tomatoes, or cucumbers.
However, Melons do need quite a bit more space per plant than Tomatoes
and although Tomatoes are often said to “Grow On A Vine,” they
don’t, whereas, Melon plants are climbers and have tendrils. Indeed
Melons can climb as high as Runner Beans. As a climber they can go up
cheap netting for support, but the individual melons themselves do
need a separate netting cradle support, hanging from the roof, made
for each Melon. A cheap way to make ideal cradles is to use the nets
that shop bought fruit such as Oranges are often sold in, or an
alternative would be to use nylon stockings. Obviously the larger
fruit types like Water Melons would need a lot better support than
Honeydew, or one of the other smaller types.
Unlike Cucumbers, Melons must be pollinated
to fruit and it is a good idea to leave the doors open on warm summer
days for insects to enter the greenhouse and to cause pollination, or
else the flowers may need to be pollinated by hand. This can be done
by transferring pollen, from the male flower to the female, with a
small paintbrush. Male and female flowers are borne on the same plants
and the simple way to tell the difference between the two is that the
female flowers have small embryo fruit at the back of the flower.
Melons are not easy to grow well in Great Britain and require some
dedication and a good summer although; they are easier to grow than
Cucumbers. Even seed germination is not straight forwards, as like
many other flat seeds, they need to be sown on their edge to
germinate, or else they have a tendency to rot.
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