If you like eating melons, you don't have to buy them in the supermarket. You can also grow melons yourself. Here are 6 tips to make it work.
Tip 1 - Propagation
» Sowing
Specialist shops sell high-quality melon seeds (mainly from America), which are first sown in small pots on the window sill or in the greenhouse, similar like tomato plants. Ideally, you should put the individual seed cores in potting soil about 4 weeks before planting out, water them in lukewarm water and cover them with a translucent film.
Of course you can also sow your own seeds, for example from a watermelon. To do this, simply remove the seeds from the inside of the fruit, wash them, dry them well and keep them until you sow them. But beware: not sufficiently dried melon seeds can become moldy and are then no longer germinable, i.e. worthless as seeds.
» Keeping the growing pots warm
It is important that the growing pots always get enough heat from the ground - for example by turning on the heating under the window sill. But you can also put a styrofoam plate under the potty.
Tip 2 - rearing
» Caring for melon seedlings
After about 10 days the melon seedlings are clearly visible in the seed pot. Now you can remove the foil. From this point on, however, you must water the melon plants regularly - caution: you must avoid waterlogging so that the roots, which are still fine, do not become moldy. You should also never expose the small plants to direct sunlight. Solar radiation is far less in greenhouses. As a rule, you do not have to protect the melons any further.
» Repotting melon plants
If the melon plants in the pots are getting too big or are they too close together, then you have to repot them again so that they can grow during do not stop growing after rearing.
Tip 3 - use plants
» Planting melon plants at their future location
After about a month, the melon plants are ready to be planted at their future location - planting distance approx. 80 to 100 centimeters. It doesn't matter if it's agreenhouse or an outdoor bed - you must be careful not to damage the delicate roots when planting.
» Choice of location
When it comes to choosing a location outdoors, you should choose a sunny spot that is as sheltered from the wind as possible.
» Soil preparation
Planting outdoors is not recommended before mid-May. First of all, you should loosen the soil well and, if possible, enrich it with well-rotted compost or cow manure. To do this, you should work the compost into the soil about 2 weeks beforehand, let it settle and only then put the melon plants in it and water them well (again, avoid waterlogging).
» Protecting melon plants
In the first few days/weeks it is advisable to protect the melons with a transparent garden film.
Tip 4 - Caring for melon plants
» You now have two options:
Either let the melons climb upwards (a climbing aid is required) or you let the melons branch out, which in turn causes them to branch out grow in width. You can achieve branching if you cut off the main shoot after about the 6th plant leaf.
» Watering melon plants
You must now water your melons regularly, but always moderately, as they do not tolerate too much moisture very well. You also have to make sure that there is never waterlogging. You should also always water the melons in the morning or mid-morning with slightly lukewarm rainwater.
» Melons in the greenhouse
If you grow melons in the greenhouse, you should open it wide for several hours a day during the flowering phase so that the bees can see the melon flowers can pollinate.
» Place the melons on polystyrene plates
As soon as you can see the fruit of the melons, you have to make sure that they are not lying directly on the damp ground - so it's best to put them down small styrofoam plates under the melons. This will prevent the fruit from going rotten in one spot.
Tip 5 - Fertilize melons
If you plant the melons in a previously well-enriched soil, you should only fertilize them immediately before flowering and immediately before fruit formation. You can use vegetable fertilizer and tomato fertilizer for fertilizing.
Tip 6 - Harvest melons
» When are melons ripe?
Depending on the type of melon, the fruits ripen differently. Fruit ripeness can be recognized, for example, by the withering of the leaves, the incomparable scent of melon and theClay - Knock ripe fruit with your knuckles. A deep tone indicates the ripeness of the fruit.
» Harvest
When the fruits are ripe, you can separate them from the bush with a sharp knife. As with the pumpkin, the fruit base (stalk) should always remain on the fruit, which means that it can be kept for longer.