How to Grow Melons: Everyone Can Grow a Garden (2019) #10
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ก.ค. 2024
- Garden writer Susan Mulvihill shares her no-fail tips for growing melons, esp. in colder climates. From Susan's in the Garden, SusansintheGarden.com.
Pre-order Susan's new book, The Vegetable Garden Pest Handbook, on Amazon: (www.amazon.com/gp/product/076.... Publication date: April 2021.
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Blog: susansinthegarden.com/
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Email me: Susan@SusansintheGarden.com
HI Susan, thanks so much for your answer. I'll give that a try and hope it works better this year.
My pleasure.
Aaaaahhhh wwwaannna perfect Melon!!!!🌻💚😂🤣🤣🤣😭 One thing that I learned from the farmers market since we live way out here in the middle of nowhere and can't get a good melon in a grocery store if you try...? is the little ladies that sell the watermelons tell me to rub the melon and feel for bee pricks because they go for the sugar after it rises to the skin and dang it if they aren't right !!!perfect watermelon every single time!! God bless!!!
Lady u r a generous. So much detail and explanation you really love what you do. Thank you for sharing the knowledge. I will give it another try here in Florida were bugs and fungus kill the plant before even flower or create a fruit.
Wow I’m in the Caribbean ...this video is what you should call gold
i live in the caribbean too... I have a couple melons growing...:)
Took some quick notes back on 6-17-22 on this TH-cam video. I was reviewing my notes today, 9-10-22, and was struck by how logical & concise they were. Have subscribed & thumbs up! Love cantaloupes & other melons. Thanks for such a good job.
Well, thank you so much for letting me know! I hope your melons are wonderful. We've been harvesting this year's crop for the past couple of weeks and they are delicious.
These are some of the BEST tips I have ever heard. Very thorough. Thanks much!
Thank you, JM!
very interesting...
nice, clear, enjoyable video. thank you! my first 2nd time, at cantaloupes. East Coast, USA.
I will try all these tips on my melon seedlings. Thank you.
I love your channel Susan! So glad I found you (or the channel found me). You're providing a wealth of information! I'm also in a Zone 5 climate - in Michigan, so I'm always glad to find another Z-5 gardener.
Nice to meet you Christine! I'm glad you are enjoying my videos so far. The next one will be a tour of my vegetable garden... first one of the season! Happy gardening!
Brilliant, hoping to grow them for the first time this year in NW Wa. Our seedlings are looking promising! Thanks for the great tips😉
Thank you for this great Vedio! I am high up on the mountains. We plant no earlier than Memorial Day weekend.
The first seed shown was the Ha Ogen! That's the best melon ever bar none. 80 days and unbelievable flavor and texture. Ancient species from the middle East. Very old.
great info- thank you. I will be growing cantelope for the first time this year.
You will be amazed at how sweet it is when you grow it yourself!
Wunderschönen Melonen genug Sonne gibt....
Thank you for all your help in growing melons. I learned so much. I checked out Gardener's supply and one of their articles said, "Melons are also a little fussy about watering. They need moderate, consistent watering from germination until the fruit achieves the size of a tennis ball; then preferably no water at all until harvest." Have you found that so?
Wow, I haven't had any problems like that. I water them regularly through the entire season.
Thanks for sharing this and in the right time. I’m growing melon for the first time this year. I’m living in Norway, so we have a short season, but I will try. Happy gardening to you, Susan.
And to you, too, Benni!
I bought the Ha Ogen seeds and have 4 gorgeous starts in my greenhouse! Can't wait to bring them outside along with all your suggestions! Thank you!!
Well tell us how it worked out !!
Thank you! You are so easy to pick up practical tips from. I follow you from Sweden. And the trick with the direction of the seed, I had forgotten.
Thank you, Maeder Karin. And hello from Spokane, Washington!
Thank you, Maeder Karin. And hello from Spokane, Washington!
A wealth of information in your video! I can see that I have a ways to go on my organic garden. Thanks very much for sharing your tips and some valuable insight.
Glad it was helpful, Geoff!
Most helpful video ! Thank you
I live in Florida, so having warm ground is not an issue, but all we have is sugar-like sand, so amending the soil is critical. But I'm new at growing my own fruit and vegetables, so I appreciated your clarity in explaining things. Thank you very much for a great video!👍☺
Thank you, Lori. I'm glad it was helpful. Yes, compost is the way to go for both sandy and clay soil. Take care.
Awesome tips! Thanks!
Ms. Susan thank you! Planting ours today!
Wonderful!
Great video, Susan. I appreciate you showing how you set the beds up with drip irrigation and plastic cover. I’m going to try that this year to cut down on weeding. I might just try some melons, too!
InstaBlaster...
Thanking for sharing lovely l will try with the method you explain. God bless.
I love the video Susan. My wife has implemented your tips this year successfully. I will comment at the end of the season for results. She got very successful seedlings and so far we are doing pretty good. Thank you for sharing
Thanks for your nice comments, Pablo. I look forward to a report! You will LOVE your homegrown melons.
I was partly raised on Grandpa Jude's Kentucky farm and I to know if that gentle tug release the brown dryout stems you will have a ripe and ready melon.
Love this video and at 69 I'm trying some of your tips, maybe all your information
Thanks for the teaching
Thank you, John. I'm looking forward to some juicy melons this summer!
Good tip for starters like me
I'm in the UK and growing melons for the first time, I was surprised to see how many you packed into such a small area, everything I'd read indicated a much wide spacing. I don't have much space so I'm going to try increasing the density in some of my beds. I also like that you only prune after the plants are growing strongly, rather than just allowing 4 side shoots to grow and only one melon per side shoot. You method of pruning seems easier : All the best - Steve
Hi, Steve. It's nice to meet you! I'm glad you found my video helpful and am wishing you great success.
Great tips thank you
Many thanks!
This was a great video. Thank you so much. I think I will try to grow some melons 😊
Thank you. Homegrown melons are the best!
Thank you for that. That was very educational. I've just placed my order for the floating covers. I wish you could speak on insect since mine were were sucked dry by aphid last year before I knew what happened. This year I have Sevin but would like to try and avoid using any insecticides. 👍🏻
Hi, Krane. Yes, please avoid using insecticides at all costs because they cause more problems than they solve. While the Sevin would kill the aphids, it would also kill the beneficial insects (predators of aphids) that would have taken care of the problem for you. On my website, I have an Organic Pest Control guide with information on many vegetable garden pests that includes organic methods for controlling them. Here is a link: www.susansinthegarden.com/guides/organic-pest-control/.
Thank you! =D
Very useful , trying this test in the Uk
I think digging is only required with clay soil or mixing sand soil. .. I dug up 4 oakTree seedlings today from raking someones yard.....its all about if the surrounding area. Gets falling undisturbed leaves and branches. For recycled "fertilizer"
Thank you I love melons,but I haven't had any luck growing them.
Perhaps this is the year!
Hi Susan, your video is excellent! Everything I needed to learn about melons. My seedlings are fully grown and are ready to be planted. I was wondering if I could grow melon on a trellis or vertically to save some space. What do you think?
By the way, how many melon plants did you put in your melon bed?
Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge!!
Hi, Michelle. Thank you for your nice comments. Yes, you absolutely could grow them vertically although when they melons themselves are getting to be full-size, you might have to support them with little slings of some sort. In our 3'x8' raised beds, I usually plant about 10 seedlings. Take care.
Thank you for your kind reply! It was very helpful.🙏🏻
I am so excited to see my melons growing!
Take care😊
I grew a bunch of watermelons a few years ago and when I cut them open they were white, light pink or a combo of both with air pockets like tracks. I was so sad I tried tasting them anyway only to be highly disappointed. So I’m thinking I’m gonna try another type of melon. Hopefully I can grow cantaloupe. Thanks for the tips ❤️
Hi, Ashley. I think you will find cantaloupes to be much more flavorful! One of my favorites is Tuscan Napoli. It might be hard to find this year as many seed suppliers are temporarily closed due to such high demand for seeds. So if you can't find any cantaloupe seeds this year, there's always next year!
On watermelon you have to wait until that curly think where it attaches to vine to dry that is when they are ripe. Hope that helps you.
@@teresascott525 Great tip! I've heard that, too. Thanks, Teresa.
Great video well done. Could you please let me know the size of the bed ? can you plant again when the plant has died? Your help would be much appreciated.
Hello, Bernadette. We grow about 10 cantaloupe plants in a raised bed that is 3' wide by 8' long. Re: your question about replanting, it would depend on how long your growing season is, since the plants require quite a long time (75-80 days) to produce mature fruit.
Thanks for this video, Susan. I'm a little late into May but in India we still have hot sun until the Monsoon rains begin in late June. Even then, our cool temperatures are warm by your standards and we don't get frost at all. Wondering if I should go ahead and plant musk melons now?
Hello! It is very nice to meet you. It is difficult for me to advise you since you live in a region with a very different climate. But I would assume you could start your musk melons in a couple of weeks, with the anticipation that the weather will be more conducive to growing them... provided the monsoons aren't too much for the young plants. I hope this helps!
Thanks Susan. I’m in a very warm sub tropical climate in New Zealand but I found your video really informative.
Is the plastic sheeting you’ve used made from recycled plastic products or is it newly manufactured plastic?
Hi, Tina. I completely stopped using the plastic sheeting (as of about 3 years ago) because I didn't like advocating the use of more plastic in our lives. And it hasn't really made much of a difference in the plants' performance, so I'm very happy with my decision!
@@SusansInTheGarden you’re amazing. Good for you 💚
Learned a lot about melons today. I grow mine on tomato cages vertically. However I haven’t been pruning and I may be over watering. I will prune tomorrow and hopefully my next cantaloupe I harvest doesn’t taste like garbage. Can’t wait to grow more next year. Thanks
Thank you, Ronald. Good luck!
One of many fruits I quit purchasing many yr.s ago, store fruit is garbage. I can't use plastic, just hate finding scraps of it endlessly.
Thanks for video we just planted this week and in montana it should be safe for frost will that white cover keep them from frost
Hi there. The lightweight floating row cover gives frost protection down to 28 degrees F. But if your temperatures might go that low, I'd double-up with a tarp or blanket as well, to be on the safe side.
In hawaii
Would it be possible to cut the solar mulch and use the smaller piece in a container?
I don't see why not, as long as there is enough surface area in the pot to heat up with the mulch.
What are the measurements of your beds? (The above ground ones you built)
Hi, Ashley. 21 of the beds are 3' x 8'. 2 are 3' x 16' (for raspberries). 1 is 4' x 16', and 3 are 4' x 8'.
Hi Susan, any tip about melon pollination?
Hi there. As long as you have pollinators around, the plants should start producing young melons pretty soon.
You mentioned adding a layer of compost to the soil before planting. Do you fertilize the melons at all? A friend suggested well-rotted manure, but I have a feeling it would make the plant produce leaves rather than fruit.
You are absolutely correct about that, Sue. The manure would provide too much nitrogen so you'd get lovely lush foliage and very few melons. You can add some bone meal to the soil; this organic amendment provides phosphorus which helps crops that need to bloom and set fruit.
@@SusansInTheGarden--thank you! I've just recently found you and subscribed and I'm learning a lot
@@suecox2308 I'm so glad, thank you for taking the time to let me know and for subscribing!
The knee stand with handles can you reply where I could find one. I'm disabled and this would be great to help me stand up. Thank you ❤
Hi, Karen. I bought mine from Gardener's Supply (gardeners.com). They have several different types.
@@SusansInTheGarden thank you!
I'm having such a hard time growing melons (cantaloupes) and suspect it has to do with nutrient deficiency, do you really only put on that one layer of compost and no other fertiliser during the growing season?
Hi, Helen. That has been the case for many many years, yet the plants still produce lots of fruits. But starting last year, I've been giving them a bit of fertilizer at planting time. My routine is to make a slightly deeper hole than the seedling needs, sprinkle some tomato fertilizer (high in phosphorus) in the bottom of the hole, cover the fertilizer with a little bit of soil so the roots won't be resting directly on it, and then plant the seedling as normal.
what lovely accent, I can't speak with that accent even if I tried.., love from London
What accent?! Ha ha.
Susan's In The Garden American's strong accent
@@SusansInTheGarden That's what I was thinking. Of course, I've lived in Spokane for 45 years! Love your videos.
Susan's In The Garden I don’t know what they’re talking about it’s just American lol.
I live in California San Diego, rn they're growing indoor and get sun from the window. Is that ok? They're growing tho. It's too hot outside and don't want their leaf's to burned
It sounds like they're growing OK but the flowers need to be pollinated by bees. You could hand-pollinate them, though. Here's how: www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/melons/hand-pollinating-melons.htm.
@@SusansInTheGarden thank you
HI Sue I live in Greeley Pa I just gotten honeydew melon from a local gardener friend i saved the seeds can I plant them now and get melon this season ? I am very unfamiliar to growing a garden I have always wished to do that so this will be my first try . Im so excited but can these seeds from a melon i cut up for my family grow ?
Hi, Patricia. You can certainly give it a try but if the melon is a hybrid variety, that means the seeds that you saved would not have the same traits as the melon you ate. But there's nothing wrong with planting them anyway and seeing what you end up with! I always use seeds from a garden center when growing melons, cucumbers, squash and pumpkins because this family of vegetable crops commonly cross-pollinate so you end up with something different from what you originally grew. I hope this makes sense! But the bottom line is, grow a garden! No matter what you plant, you will learn from it and have great food to eat. Take care.
Hi Patricia just wondering how it went with the melon seeds?
Are your raised beds orientation north to south? I assume they are.
Never assume! :o) In theory, our beds should be oriented from north to south but we created our raised bed garden 30 years ago when we didn't know any better! However, the paths between them are 4' wide so we really haven't had any issues with plants shading their neighbors.
I'm in UK I tried to grow melons in my little greenhouse last year all I got was flowers. I'm trying again this year, I got flowers on both plants they are in a pot in my greenhouse how can I try and make them produce fruit please
Hello! Are bees and other pollinators able to go into your greenhouse? The flowers need to be pollinated in order to produce melons. Perhaps you could either leave the door to your greenhouse open during the day or move the pot outside for the summer?
What do you fertilize with?
Hi, James. I add some bone meal to the bed while preparing it before planting the seedlings. Bone meal is high in phosphorus, which promotes blooming and setting fruit. And I give the newly-planted seedlings some fish emulsion fertilizer shortly after planting them and 2 weeks later. Then that's it.
If I plant this outside in Arizona will they die? It's like 100 degrees out here
Oh my, that is hot! I would recommend placing a 30-50% shade cloth above the planting bed to give them some protection. I've never planted melon seeds in that type of heat so I'm hoping the shade cloth will help. Let me know.
@@SusansInTheGarden thank you!
I have a question. I have a cantaloupe that is about a foot tall/wide right now and making baby melons from the middle stem. Should I prune those off ?
If the plant is healthy and growing well, I'd leave them in place.
@@SusansInTheGarden thank you
@@SusansInTheGarden you are going to LOVE this one!!!!
Being a newbie gardener, I still attempted growing seedlings. Putting little names on tiny popsicle sticks. They must have gotten mixed up some how because those ‘little cantaloupes’ are zucchini’s!!! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
@@gardengirl2420 Oops! Well, enjoy those zucchinis!
What are the dimensions of your beds?
Hi, Kandace. Most of the beds are 3' wide by 8' long. We have 2 beds that are 3' by 16' for the raspberries, and some 4' wide beds in another section of the veggie garden.
ഇതു പൊളിക്കും
Sind die Kerne Schafft Eckes......? Vielen Dank
I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you are asking. I tried using a translator but it didn't make sense!
first time, they bore baseball sized fruit.
Hoping for larger melons for you this time!
I grew cantaloupes last year for the first time and while they grew beautifully they were absolutely tasteless. Very disappointing!
Oh no! What a shame. The 2 varieties I've been growing (Tuscan Napoli and Ha Ogen honeydew) are super sweet. I think lots of sunlight helps.
Maybe you watered them too much as they were fruiting. I'm growing melons for the first time this year so I've been doing research, and I've read that as they fruit the soil should be dryer to produce a sweeter melon.
I tried growing cantaloupes once and had a dozen beautiful melons. They were all getting ripe and I was going to pick them the next day. So I go out the next day and.... THEY ARE ALL GONE!!! GRRRRR!!!!! I hope someone chocked on them!
Oh, that is just so wrong. I'm sorry to hear that.
Melon thieves! The scourge of the earth!
A suggestion. Go online and look for a cantaloupe called Old Time Tennessee. You won't be dissapointed.
That was very informative. But try not to cover your eyes since some people and cultures believe it to be a sign of deception.
I understand and I hate to wear sunglasses during the videos, but I have extremely light-sensitive eyes. If I don't cover them, I will get a migraine. I try to shoot videos on overcast days, but lately it's been extremely sunny.
To women,
Don't get offended by the title of the video.
If you're referring to "Everyone Can Grow a Garden," that is the title of the series of videos I've been producing for 3 years. It is meant as a positive, encouraging concept.
@@SusansInTheGarden sorry Susan.
Wie kann man es richtiger Beschreibend....Lernen Sie als Wissenschaftlich & Studieren an Universitäten....Bringt es mir als Brockstube ins meinen Augen....Keine Schade, nur keine Vorwürfen Spielen......