This will be my first year. Everything grows in container, I have 70 fruit trees, some are in containers. I have 4 plants there. But I don't have room.
Here is mine this year.

KFredenburg said:

How do you germinate your watermelons @ElPolloDiablo?

No, melons. I have no room for watermelons.
Nothing fancy: tiny pots filled with either home-made compost or potting medium (whatever I have available at the moment) outside the house in a sheltered location. I used to seed them directly in the field: tree seeds in a hole half-filled with home-made compost or manure, again according to availability, and keep only the best seedling.
But two years ago slugs and grasshoppers became more of a problem than they already were so I have to keep seedling protected for as long as possible, and it seems this year not even young plants are safe...

SoCalGardenNut said:This will be my first year. Everything grow is in container, I have 70 fruit trees, some are in containers. I have 4 plants there. But I don't have room.
Here is mine this year.

Wow! They look great SoCal! So I guess I'll try my honeydew in melons...I'll see how it works out...

ElPolloDiablo said:

No, melons. I have no room for watermelons.
Nothing fancy: tiny pots filled with either home-made compost or potting medium (whatever I have available at the moment) outside the house in a sheltered location. I used to seed them directly in the field: tree seeds in a hole half-filled with home-made compost or manure, again according to availability, and keep only the best seedling.
But two years ago slugs and grasshoppers became more of a problem than they already were so I have to keep seedling protected for as long as possible, and it seems this year not even young plants are safe...

Hmm, that germination process is new to me. It proves effective though, yes?

Kim,
Here are pictures of my melon, they were sort of in a raised bed, the roots never were in the ground. This is Charentais melon. This was my previous house.





This is from last year. But my watermelons didn't do well, I had them packed, but the soil was mostly clay.

SoCalGardenNut said:Kim,
Here are pictures of my melon, they were sort of in a raised up bed, the roots never was in the ground. This is Charentais melon. This was my previous house.





This is from last year. But my watermelons didn't do well, I had them packed, but the soil was mostly clay.

I'm drooling from the first picture SoCal! They look delicious!

I could dive face-first into that cantaloupe! I wonder why there isn't any such thing as cantaloupe ice cream?

You know, come to think of it Deeby, I think there is cantaloupe ice cream. I went to a flea market one time and there was cantaloupe ice cream and many other flavors I didn't even know about.

That must be absolutely wonderful. And Farmer Dill says he has lemon ice cream. I'm so envious!

why did you tell me about lemon ice cream? I'm drooling up a storm LOL! It sounds soo good!

I found more pictures of melons from my previous house.
Charleston Grey, this is the big type, but I can only grow them this size.





Sugar Baby, my sister said it's very sweet, I think I withhold water 4 weeks before harvesting it.




And here is Burpee's Ambrosia, very sweet, my massage therapist said she cut just a tiny piece to savor the flavor slowly, she said it's unlike the melons from the store.






All these pictures bring back memories, the previous house, the garden was big and wonderful, I could grow everything, but the inside of the house was terrible. In my new house, it's the opposite, a trade-off. Lol

Oooo it looks so good SoCal! Lol I hope my melons are as good as yours this year.

In the last picture that is a cantaloupe right?

Gorgeous melons!

KFredenburg said:In the last picture that is a cantaloupe right?

It's this type from Burpees
https://www.burpee.com/vegetab...

Ah, ok. Thanks for the link!

KFredenburg said:

Hmm, that germination process is new to me. It proves effective though, yes?

You usually get about the same germination rate as written on the package (IE 80%, 90% etc). Just be sure to seed when night temperatures are above 50F.
Some folks add a nitrogen-rich liquid fertilizer to speed up the germination process but to be honest I am not a fan of excessive nitrogen in the ground.

Old seeds (2+ years) require to be soaked in water for at least 12 hours and germination rate falls off dramatically but it's all over the place: with 3-year old zucchini seeds I have seen germination as high as 50% while melon seeds about the same age have never been over 25%.

I am going to try some seeds that I saved from last year. They are musk melons from Howell Michigan. Very famous and sweet.

ElPolloDiablo said:

You usually get about the same germination rate as written on the package (IE 80%, 90% etc). Just be sure to seed when night temperatures are above 50F.
Some folks add a nitrogen-rich liquid fertilizer to speed up the germination process but to be honest I am not a fan of excessive nitrogen in the ground.

Old seeds (2+ years) require to be soaked in water for at least 12 hours and germination rate falls off dramatically but it's all over the place: with 3-year old zucchini seeds I have seen germination as high as 50% while melon seeds about the same age have never been over 25%.

Haha I am new to the vegetable and fruit seed growing process so all of the percents confuse me LOL.

ijon said: I am going to try some seeds that I saved from last year. They are musk melons from Howell Michigan. Very famous and sweet.

Let us know how it turns out!