How to grow melons in your garden
If you plan on growing melons in your vegetable garden, the best thing you can do is learn about how to grow them before doing it. The reason for this is that melons, no matter what type, are not as easy to grow in a garden as you might think. In fact, in some areas it is nearly impossible to grow melons because of the cold climate. The reason it is hard to grow melons in cold climates is that melons are vine type plants that require a warm and long growing season, your colder climates do not have a long growing season so it is harder to grow melons. If you do live in a colder climate you can still grow melons successfully, you will just have to start the plant indoors so that the plant has enough time to grow.
Here are the steps you will need to take to successfully grow melons.
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Step one:
You want to make sure that you choose the perfect location for growing melons in your garden. When choosing the location you want to make sure that the area you plant the melons in gets plenty of sunlight. You will want to make sure that the area is well protected from any winds because if the melons get cold at all they will not produce.
Step two:
Prepare the soil for the melons a few weeks ahead of the time you will begin planting. When preparing the soil for melons you will want to mix in plenty of compost to ensure the ground is fertile. You will also want to make sure that the area has good drainage, so that the melons do not rot. The pH level of your soil should be 6.0 to 7.0. Make raised beds in the soil for planting the seeds in and cover the beds with black plastic mulch. If you do not want to cover the hills with black plastic mulch, you can cover them later with straw or compost after you have planted the melons.
Step three:
If you buy transplants from nurseries, you can wait until after the danger of frost has passed to plant them outdoors. If you want to start from seeds, you will need to start them at least a week or two before you expect the last frost. You cannot plant melon seeds outside until after they have been hardened off, which is about three weeks after the last frost.
Step four:
When planting the melon plants you will want to cut a slit in the plastic above each hill that you created earlier. Place the plant in the soil about an inch deeper than what it was growing when it was inside the container. Make sure that you have the proper spacing set out with the plants so that they are not overshadowing each other.
Step five:
Keep the plants covered with row covers or something similar to protect the new plants from the cold and from insects. You can keep the plants covered up until you see flowers starting to appear. If you don't take, the covers off the plants will never be pollinated.
Step six:
You need to make sure that the fruits do not rot. To ensure that they do not rot you can place a board underneath the fruit to keep it up out of the dirt. If using aboard you will want to do it when the fruit is about half way grown, too late and the fruit might already is rotted.
Step seven:
Be careful not to over water your melons after they have started producing fruit because the fruit will taste better if they don't get too much moisture in them. You should stop watering at least a week or two before they ripen to get the best flavor. Before taking them off the vine wait until they are ripe because they will not continue to ripen once they are off the vine.
