Miles Collins

Growing melons underglass in England

I decided to grow one or two melons this year, I liked the idea of eating some fresh fruit for breakfast instead of the usual porridge or muesli. As is the case with my chilli growing I can never grow anything in small amounts. In a hot house at the bottom of the garden stand six large pots of melon plants against a wooden trellice, testament to my over planting.

I blow hot and cold with melon, sometimes I have a flashback to my childhood when my best friend’s mother gave me a big slice of watermelon. I’d never heard of melon before let alone seen it in a shop (it was circa 1974/75) and my friends Uncle who was in the Merchant Navy would regale us with stories of picking fruit in faraway lands interspersed with the rolling up of shirt sleeves and matching a tatoo to the port in which he had eaten the fruit. Looking back with a somewhat broader mind I wonder if the ‘exotic fruit’ might have had an alternate meaning…

I digress, this year I chose canteloupe melon to grow. I hate to see melon in restaurant menus unless it is paired with something else and a little imagination has been used. ‘Fan of Melon with Exotic Fruits’ is a crime against restaurant menus and I could happily ‘nuke’ any restaurant still serving it. I have purposely grown the melons to produce more, smaller fruits, it’s more practical for my situation.

Seeds were sown in a propagator in late March, I had read that germination can be erratic so I decided to sow some extras. Naturally they all germinated! The seedlings were potted on as soon as the first three or four true leaves began to show and they were moved to the heated greenhouse during April and May.

By early June they were in large containers with supporting canes and trelice, unwanted shoots were removed and the compost kept moist with same temperature water. As the fruits grow they require some support either in a net of on a platform of some sort. For photographic purposes I temporarily removed the supports should anyone want to point out my potential faux pas

A Pair of Melons…..

Right now they’re like bullets but should we go more than one day of sustained sunshine then perhaps they might ripen. I live in eternal hope.