For a number of years now, more and more grafted plants from the annual vegetable sector have also been available from specialist garden retailers. With a little skill and patience, you can also refine your melon yourself.

The necessary conditions for finishing

You usually need at least the following things to refine a melon:

  • a young melon plant
  • a suitable base, for example the fig leaf gourd
  • a sharp and clean knife
  • a suitable tissue tape to fix and close the wound sites

Like your melon plant, you can grow the fig leaf pumpkin yourself from seeds. If you calculate the germination time and the required growth time to the graftable size, you should plan a total of about three to four weeks. In order to select the healthiest and strongest seedlings, it is always a good idea to sow a few more seeds than you will then need plants.

The process of refining melons

Place the two plants close together in a pot so that the stems are almost touching above ground. It is even easier and gentler on the roots if you already sow the seeds together in one pot. However, you must then sow the fig leaf gourds about five days after the melons, as they will germinate and grow faster than the melons. Then make a diagonal cut from the bottom up to the middle of the stalk about five centimeters below the cotyledons of the melon, and make a corresponding cut from the top diagonally downwards for the pumpkin. In this so-called ablation with counter tongue, you then insert both tongues into each other and fix them with a band. As a support during the growing together, a small wooden stick is often put into the pot as a holder.

The process after finishing

Some gardeners leave both roots on the plant after grafting and only top off the fig leaf gourd. However, its root is not only intended as an additional water and nutrient supply. As soon as the upper part of the pumpkin plant has been cut off after a few days and this wound has healed well, the original root of the melon should also be cut off. This is less resistant to various root diseases and should therefore be separated as a gateway for them.

tips and tricks

Pumpkin and melon plants are relatively sensitive after growing indoors and immediately after grafting. Therefore, before planting them out in the garden, they should be gradually accustomed to the blazing sunlight.

Category:

Vegetable garden