Kiwano (horned melon)

General tips / questions on seeding & planting

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Westi
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Don't ever stop posting on here Elmigo, you have piqued our interest. OK mainly sharing your successes & not growing them ourselves but your successes have been pretty impressive with fruit that should never grow outside of their natural habitat. We appreciate your tenacity & perseverance for sure & you give us hope to keep fighting for the mundane stuff we grow - at times badly thanks to the weather!
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Elmigo
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Aw, don't you give up either! I wouldn't call them successes though, except for the kiwano. Almost every plant seed can sprout into a seedling, almost anywhere. If you live on the north pole you may aswell sprout kiwano in an igloo. Maintaining the plant is the difficult part, especially if you're starting it for fruit!
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Good point Elmigo! Seeds are programmed to grow but nothing more!
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Elmigo
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This year I'm definitely trying kiwano again, but my little balcony experiment of last year turns into a real greenhouse experiment for this year! I ordered a greenhouse and it arrived yesterday, now I have to make room for it and build it. Hope I'm still on time!

It's a little too early to sow kiwano now, but soon kiwano will be sprouted in the windowsill, where currently the brassicas sprouting. :mrgreen: I promised a few to keep updating about kiwano.
Last edited by Elmigo on Thu Jan 30, 2020 2:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Primrose
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Glad the greenhouse project is under way.
Am sure you'll be using every centimeter of space in it once it's up and functioning.
Good idea to buy a small thermometer for it (possibly a Maximum and Minimum type) so you can track daytime and nightime temperatures and compare them to those which exist indoors on your window shelf.
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oldherbaceous
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Morning Elmigo, when you get your greenhouse up and completed, it is always a special feeling you get when you first enter it for proper....
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.

There's no fool like an old fool.
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Geoff
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It won't be big enough - they never are!
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Primrose
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That comment made me laugh Geoff. You're so right! I bet Elmigo is already wondering how he can use his patio slabbed area to maximise his growing space!

And then fast forward a few years and you suddenly find yourself in the position where I,m now in where you have more growing space than you can physically cope with and are looking for easy maintenance options so you don,t have to dig and plant it :lol: :(
Elmigo
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Primrose wrote:... buy a small thermometer ... track daytime and nightime temperatures ...

I never even thought of this. Thank you so much for this great advice! Looking for one right now...

There is no doubt, not a single little doubt, that I will very soon run out of greenhouse space :lol:
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retropants
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Ha ! Indeed you will. Even with a gargantuan 20ft x 10ft old cedar one, 30 tomato plants, 10 peppers & 10 chillies was not enough!

Now I just have my wee 6x4 lean to at home. Must not sow too many seeds!!
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Good Luck Elmigo! Looking forward to feedback on your experiences over the seasons!
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giaur500
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Elmigo wrote:This year I'm definitely trying kiwano again, but my little balcony experiment of last year turns into a real greenhouse experiment for this year! I ordered a greenhouse and it arrived yesterday, now I have to make room for it and build it. Hope I'm still on time!

It's a little too early to sow kiwano now, but soon kiwano will be sprouted in the windowsill, where currently the brassicas sprouting. :mrgreen: I promised a few to keep updating about kiwano.


Do you remember my pic showing how kiwano is able to grow? I'm sure your greenhouse will be too small :D If possible, I advise to try in the open air and full direct sunlight. Rather use your greenhouse for more thermophilic plants. If you afraid low night temperatures, you shouldn't, kiwano can handle them as long as days are warm.
Last edited by giaur500 on Sun Feb 02, 2020 10:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
Elmigo
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Perhaps I'll try both to see what works best in this area! I really don't want to risk a whole year if it fails :shock:
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I sowed two pots of Horned Melon seeds today from those which Elmigo kindly provided.

Elmigo - some advice please. They,re on my lounge window sill as I don,t have a heated propagator. Do you think our room temperature of between 18 - 21 will be warm enough to enable germination or should I be putting them in my airing cupboard ?
I don,t know how long germination takes so would have to remember to check them every day. I realise you only had last year as yiur own experiment with them so are not an expert but at least you know more than me ! I imagine probably the warmer the environment the better?

Have you started yours off yet?
Elmigo
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Have you ever grown cucumbers or melons before? If so, you can treat them the same way except sowing a little earlier. Last year I was a little too early sowing them in february so their growth was a little bit slowed down, but they will survive for sure! I think I'll start them in one or two weeks too.

If you haven't grown cucumbers before then it's basically just keeping them as warm and bright as possible with as much sunlight as you can provide. I just ordered some growing lights so I can start some plants a little earlier. I'm completely new to all this tech stuff but it seems to work for others.
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