The vines are fairly vigorous (already reaching the top of my 8 ft trellis) and from my 3 plants, I recently had 5 flowers set fruit. Now I have to decide on how to support the developing melons, which seem to double in size on a daily basis and will average anywhere between 6 and 12 lbs when ripe. Any suggestions?
On the cantaloupe front, the copper fungicide I applied to the vines a couple of weeks ago seems to have done the job. The subsequent leaf growth has remained blight free and the disease seems to be under control. However the cucumber beetles have been much harder to control. Spraying with pyrethrin and using yellow sticky traps only helps to a certain extent. Between the groundhog attacks, blight and now cucumber beetles, the plants have never had a chance this summer to really take off, which probably explains why I only have 4 large Athena melons developing from 5 plants. More fruit appear to have set, but for the moment, the plants seem to be focusing all of their attention on ripening these four.
On a side note, I'm still waiting on my two Petit Gris french melon vines to set fruit. Next year, I think I'll stick to growing all of my melons on trellises.
I've seen photos of people putting their melons in a sling of stretchy fabric like panty hose or spandex. It is fun to see the melons growing. I have some growing in my community garden plot this year - just babies so far - at my home garden they just don't do anything.
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be tough to support melons of that size on the netting. Do you have something a bit more sturdy at the top of the netting? Then you could sling them off of that.
ReplyDeleteI second the suggestion to create a sling for them. Pantyhose works really well and if you use real pantyhose (rather than knee highs) you have the whole length of a "leg" to work with and can connect to your frame support rather than the netting.
ReplyDeleteI second the suggestion to create a sling for them. Pantyhose works really well and if you use real pantyhose (rather than knee highs) you have the whole length of a "leg" to work with and can connect to your frame support rather than the netting.
ReplyDeleteI've ordered predatory nematodes for the cucumber beetles and Japanese beetles.
ReplyDeleteMy problem is squash bugs. We're not growing cucumbers or melons next year, it's not worth the work involved. Anna in MD. suburbanrancher.wordpress.com
Pantyhose seems to be all the rage these days. LOL. But I don't know if I would have the courage to buy some. I'm figuring my interaction with the store clerk would be something along these lines:
ReplyDeleteMe - "Excuse me, Miss? Which brand of pantyhose do you think would best support my melons?"
Store clerk - "Freak! I'm calling the cops!"
Those vines look amazingly healthy! Hey, just ask E.G. what his pantyhose line is at the store LOL... actually he probably bought them all out!
ReplyDeleteMy cantaloupes are the same way. They have each set one fruit and are working on just that. Any other females that form just get yellow and fall off. Sadly my eggplants are doing the same thing.
ReplyDeleteAnna - Thanks for the suggestion! I think my next move will be to find a more natural, biological solution.
ReplyDeleteOur eggplants are also very lazy about setting fruit, but we are having no trouble with the cukes, probably because this year, I grew them on the deck in a container. For the past two years, first the gophers and then the rabbits got them.
ReplyDeleteI also think that a sling might help your melons stay on the trellis but I have no explanation for why the plants are not producing, but the weather might be an issue. I have not planted melons very often as they rarely do well for me, and the one time I did have good luck, we had an early, hot spring, and a hot but wet summer.
I have had virtually no luck with cantaloupes this year. I've had two fruits set on 7 vines and they are stuck at the size of a golf ball. It could have something to do with the fact they are all growing in containers. My watermelons, on the other hand, are doing pretty well. A lot of the smaller ones do dry up and fall off but we have about 7 coming along nicely and a stready stream of potential prospects.
ReplyDelete