Melon Honeydew 10 Fruit Seeds

Packet Content (approx.): 10

Sowing

Honeydew melon is just like the cucumber in that it is a real heat lover. Sow indoors or in a greenhouse from mid-April. You can also use a mini greenhouse, using some fairly large turf pots filled with good potting compost, or just in a simple potting tray. A combination of seedlings, plugs and a mini greenhouse makes it very easy. Best is, if you can somehow heat your mini greenhouse from below.

The seeds will germinate, no problem, if you can guarantee a temperature of at least 20 °C (day and night). Do not allow the seedlings to dry out! Plant one seed per pot - poke it into the compost to a max. 0.5 cm deep with the end of a pencil and cover with potting compost. Stand your mini greenhouse in a good spot on the windowsill.

The seeds will germinate within the week, depending on the temperature. A few days after germination, alter the humidity in the greenhouse by opening the lid. Once the seedlings reach a height of 10 cm they must become acclimatised to the normal air humidity. To do this, remove the mini greenhouse lid for one hour on day one, then 2 hours on day 2 etc.

After five days, they will be used to normal humidity and they can be potted up to larger pots. This will be necessary sooner than you think as the water melon is a fast grower! Allow the young plants to enjoy 20 °C for as long as possible to encourage good growth.

If you do not have a mini greenhouse, a simple seed tray covered with plastic held up with bamboo sticks will suffice. Just prick holes in the plastic to vary the humidity and allow acclimatisation.

Ready for potting on and growing on in frost free greenhouse or on sunny windowsill ready for planting out as soon as last frosts have passed

Honeydew has a round to slightly oval shape, typically 15?22 cm (5.9?8.7 in) long. It generally ranges in weight from 1.8 to 3.6 kg (4.0 to 7.9 lb).

The flesh is usually pale green in color, while the smooth peel ranges from greenish to yellow.

Like most fruit. Honeydew's thick, juicy, sweet flesh is often eaten for dessert, and is commonly found in supermarkets across the world.

This fruit grows best in Greenhouses, Polytunnel and Conservatries and is harvested based on maturity, not size. Maturity can be hard to judge, but is based upon ground color ranging from greenish white (immature) to creamy yellow (mature). Quality is also determined by the honeydew having a nearly spherical shape with a surface free of scars or defects. Also, honeydew should feel heavy for its size and have a waxy (not fuzzy) surface.

Support the plants with canes and pinch out the growing points when the main stems reach the greenhouse roof.

Harvest as required.

Top Tips

Keep the soil / compost moist - watering around the plant, not the foliage.

Fruits are ripe when they colour yellow ever so slightly, the flesh around the stem becomes slightly soft - and they smell strongly of melons!