Plant a honeydew melon in the garden and harvest fruit yourself

Plant a honeydew melon in the garden and harvest fruit yourself

Where do you get the plants from?

In some garden centers, young watermelon plants can now also be purchased for the outdoor season from the beginning of May. The fruits can also be grown from the seeds in commercially available fruits. However, these must first be freed of any pulp, as the seeds can otherwise go moldy in the moist soil before germination.

also read

  • Grow the honeydew melon yourself in the garden
  • The season of the honeydew melon
  • Can you freeze a honeydew melon?

What is the right location for honeydew melons?

For strong growth, honeydew melons primarily need the following ingredients:

  • sunlight
  • warmth
  • water
  • nutrient

The location for honeydew melons should therefore be as bright and warm as possible. Growing honeydew melons therefore works particularly well in greenhouses, as these can also compensate for the cooler climate in this country compared to the countries of origin. If the young plants are brought out in good time in spring, the fruits will also ripen by autumn if they are grown on a sunny mound of earth or in a raised bed. If possible, the soil should have already been mixed with manure or another fertilizer in the previous autumn, so that no fresh manure or compost has to be added during the cultivation phase.

How are honeydew melons planted?

Honeydew melons feel particularly good when they can let their tendrils grow upwards. You should therefore place the plants sufficiently deep in the substrate, but also offer the honeydew melons a trellis or a net as a climbing opportunity.

When can you prefer honeydew melons?

Honeydew melons can be planted outdoors from around May when the nights are frost-free. When growing in a greenhouse, this can sometimes happen a little earlier. The seeds should be planted about four weeks before planting as they will also take about one to two weeks to germinate.

How are honeydew melons propagated?

From a botanical point of view, honeydew melons belong to the vegetable and are therefore not propagated by cuttings or sinkers. Since the plant parts of the honeydew melon die off completely at the time of harvest, new young plants only emerge from the germination of the seeds contained in the fruit.

When can you expect fruits to be ready for harvest?

In this country, honeydew melons can only be grown seasonally due to the climate, as the temperatures cannot be kept constantly warm all year round, even in a greenhouse. The time of harvest depends heavily on the time of sowing and the location. As a rule, it takes until around September or October for the plant parts of the honeydew melon to die and thus generally indicate that the golden yellow fruits are fully ripe.

What distance should one keep between the honeydew melon plants?

Since honeydew melons can grow and tend to grow vigorously with good fertilization and care, a distance of at least one to two meters between the individual plants should be maintained, depending on the availability of climbing opportunities.

Tips & Tricks

In the last few weeks before harvest, honeydew melons need a lot of water. You should therefore water the plants regularly so that the fruits do not suffer any loss of quality due to dry phases.