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This is my very first attempt at gardening. I was blessed to try an Israel Melon for the first time this summer and I immediately fell in love with this "fruit of the Gods". Just to make sure that I was not dreaming, I gave melons to my entire family. We all love these melons. I live in a townhouse, therefore I only have patio space here in town. Because I found out that the melons should be planted after the last frost, I decided to try to grow them on my patio for now so maybe we can have some for Christmas dinner. I dried the seed and planted them in a potting soil mixed with some sand from my home town. These seeds popped up and were up to four to six inches in a matter 2 1/2 to 3 weeks. I am truly facinated a the germination rate of over 90%. My fear is that now I have more plants than I have space to support. I also need advice on how to properly care for my babies. (HELP?)
Hi, cwj. I am not familiar with Isreal melon. I looked it up and found that it can refer to several types of cataloupe-like melons. Anyway, you did great to germinate so many, but don't feel you have to plant them all. We all start more seeds than we expect to grow in case of failure to germinate or other accidents (my cat ate the seedlings, i tripped and dumped the whole thing on the floor, etc LOL). You can grow them in a self-watering container such as the one I used in the article, or any large container will do if it has drainage. Plant only one to a container. If you want to plant an extra one in case one fails that's ok, but once they take off, you MUST remove one. The roots cannot sit in water, nor can the plants be allowed to dry out. A soil mix like the one you used to germinate the seeds would be good, but not too much sand or they will dry out too quickly. One important thing. Does your patio get at least 6-8 hours of sun a day?
These melons will be larger than the baby ones I grew, but that's ok. I grew a small watermelon in the same container this summer. I used a tomato cage to support the vines. When the fruit begins to develop, you will have to give each melon some support or the weight will pull it off the vine before it is ripe. Try making a 'sling' out of pantyhose and tying it to the trellis. Speaking of telling when it is ripe, the melon will slip off the vine easily when ripe.
A new tip I learned this summer. Crush a Tums tablet occasionally and add it to the water along with a tablespoon of Epsom salts (you can get both at the drug store). The added calcium helps make the melon sweet.
Here's my watermelon with a sling made from a piece of an old t-shirt.
