MELONS
Sow: February to April
Plant: May to July
Harvest: July to September
January: Buy seed.
February: Make the first sowing if heat can be guaranteed.
March: Sow six seeds in a 12cm/5in pot. Cover with a polythene bag. Keep at 20–25˚C/68–77˚F. Don’t exclude light. Germination takes 5–7 days. If seed cases stick, remove very carefully.
Prick out and pot on seedlings from Feb sowings into individual 8cm/3in pots.
April: Keep plants above 15˚C/59˚F and don’t overwater. Pot on as needed.
May: Plant out in the latter half of the month, but only if temperatures are reliably above 15˚C/59˚F. Always harden plants off first. Plant out 30cm/12in apart in a hotbed, or on a mound of soil, once temperatures settle and danger of frost has passed. Slit the bottom of growbags before putting two or three melon plants in each of these.
June: Most melons will be planted out in June, once temperatures are settled. Tie strings to the frame for support. Watch for first flowers – females have a small melon-shape swelling behind them. Use male flowers to pollinate if necessary. Water very carefully to avoid root rot. Spray leaves in hot weather.
July: Support fruit in nets so that stems don’t break. Harvest first melons when ripe. Pile fresh compost around the base of the stem. Keep pollinating female flowers. Twirl stems round strings as they grow.
August: Keep stems tied in to strings if they don’t twirl round naturally. Keep harvesting fruit when ripe and before it splits. Watch out for red spider mite. Spray overhead in hot weather.
September: Harvest any last fruit and remove plants.
MELON TROUBLES
Slugs: March to June
Red spider mite: May to September
Whitefly: April to September
Aphids: March to October
Powdery mildew: May to October
Gummosis: May to October
Grey mould: March to October
Root rot: March to August