In terms of taste, melons are counted as fruit, but due to the fact that the plants die off with the harvest, they are actually a vegetable. The propagation and breeding of melons is therefore carried out by extracting the seeds from the ripe fruits.
Choosing the right varieties
When choosing the right melons for growing in the garden, you should not only consider personal taste, but also the amount of sunlight and the space available at the planned location. Large watermelon varieties such as the Crimson Sweet require a lot of space for their long tendrils and the fruit lying on the ground. Smaller watermelons such as the Sugar Baby and Galia or Charentais also fruit on climbing vines and can thus be well suited to greenhouse cultivation.
Obtaining the Seeds
In principle, the seeds for growing melons can not only be bought in well-stocked specialist shops for seeds, but can also be obtained from fruits you have grown yourself or bought in the supermarket. While hybrid varieties with poor chances of further propagation can be avoided by the choice of seeds when growing your own, you usually have to rely on luck with purchased fruit. First remove any sticking pulp before you gently dry the melon seeds and store them in an airy place. Otherwise they can easily become moldy and lose their ability to germinate.
Grow melons and plant out
In order to get good breeding results from your melons year after year, you should only ever take seeds from fruits that meet your breeding requirements. In this way, you can breed varieties with fewer seeds or plants with particularly vigorous growth step by step. In order for the melons in the garden or greenhouse to really ripen in this country, you should prefer them on the windowsill from April. Please note the following tips:
- Use of decomposable plant pots to protect the melon roots
- slow accustoming of young plants to direct sunlight
- Only plant out the young plants when the nights are frost-free
tips and tricks
The young plants of the various types of melon are a real delicacy for snails, so ensure adequate protection against snails after planting out.
WK