Melons

[vegalot]

I like to grow something every year that I have never tried before, this year it was asparagus peas and Galia melons.
The peas grew well, but none of us really liked them, luckily we found someone who did, so they won't get wasted.

As for the melons, well I didn't really expect to get any melons, a fruit would appear, then die off after the flower showed, I found out that I should be hand pollinating them, which I did.

They started like this..



and within a few days became this..







Does anyone else grow them? If so, how many fruits should be grown per plant, at the moment I have 2 on one plant and 3 on another, could I safely leave more on?

And does the skin change as they ripen?

[davina112]

I am attempting melons for the first time this year.
How do I hand pollinate ?
There are lots of flowers, but no fruits

[vegalot]

You take a male flower off the plant, remove all the petals and place the middle bit into the female flower, then give it a shake, seemed to work for me. The female flowers have a large bump behind them, the males a smaller one.

Male is on the left.



All of my female flower have grown on side shoots, I don't know if it's the same for all melon types.

One of my plants has only had male flowers so far.

I just hope there is enough growing season left for them to ripen, as the fruit, or so I'm told, only ripens on the plant.