Kitchen Garden Forum

Following on from my 'CJS Towers' thread, I have an old grape vine in the greenhouse that I grow (and trim) to provide dappled shade, instead on a 'wash' on the glass. Planting a Cucumber close by, I was very surprised at the speed that it climbed in to the vine?

Both vine and cucumber seem happy? Anyone tried this before? I got to thinking, would a Melon (small stripy type, Cantaloupe?) do the same thing?

I would have room for a 'Melon' plant next year?

CJS

I do the same, our grape is a very old and vigorous, I pull one long vine into the greenhouse for an early crop, the grapes have just started turning red in the greenhouse, the ones left outside are still green and smallish, I keep the doors open for good ventilation. Wondering if melons need the sunshine to ripen and sweeten? It's my first year growing them and I have 6 melons about the size of a tennis ball at the moment, they are outside.

Nature's Babe wrote:I do the same, our grape is a very old and vigorous, I pull one long vine into the greenhouse for an early crop, the grapes have just started turning red in the greenhouse, the ones left outside are still green and smallish, I keep the doors open for good ventilation. Wondering if melons need the sunshine to ripen and sweeten? It's my first year growing them and I have 6 melons about the size of a tennis ball at the moment, they are outside.

Encouraging, melons next year then. I wonder if I keep the seeds from a Cantaloupe melon bought from the Supermarket, plant them next spring, will they grow normally?

CJS

CJS you might be lucky with saved seed, I'm thinking of trying a couple of these next year, maybe the minnesota midget, and the prescott fond blanc

http://www.realseeds.co.uk/melons.html

I find them more generous with their seeds than most seed companies too,
they are heritage varieties, so I can save seeds for the following year, a one off expense.