Page 15 - Simply Vegetables Spring 2025

Banana Melon
Melon, Blenheim Orange, RHS Late
Fruit & Vegetable Competition, 2023
looks a lot more professional tied up to
twine. Next season I may make up some of
my own growbags out of polythene sacks
or packaging. Small ones could be two
deep, i.e. one on top of the other, with holes
cut in the bottom of the top one and the top
completely cut away on the bottom one.
When the commercial growbags went off
the market In 2022, I went over to twin 12
litre Autopots, these worked great the first
year, but it was noticeable that the plants
didn’t fair too well in year two. The 60/40
clay pebble, coir substrate was supposed
to be good for three crops, this obviously
wasn’t going to happen so I abandoned
the Autopots for the time being. Using the
clay/ pebble substrate for one season only
is far too expensive. The local Hydroponics
shop did mention cleaning up the clay balls
in a pillowcase. I can’t help thinking that
the whole thing is getting too complicated.
I can, of course use my own medium in the
Auto pots.
The last two seasons I have been making
my own compost and using 10 or 15 litre
pots, in fact I fill up the greenhouse with
these pots containing, tomatoes, sweet
peppers, chillies, cucumbers, melons and
watermelons, only the compost is different.
The formula for the melons, watermelons
and cucumbers is 3 parts peat (I cannot
get bales of peat substitute) 1 part sharp
Melon, Prescott Fond Blanc
sand and one part top soil. All the pots are
in saucers, so when they get going, I am
watering from the bottom, little and often, if
the weather changes consider not watering
at all or place on an heated propagator or
mat – more on heat later.
THE CULTURE
It is no use sowing in early Spring, because
you will be planting them out before we
arrive at summer temperatures – if indeed
we do. So mid to late May, is normally early
enough (East Midlands). Thermostatically
controlled propagators are mandatory,
a small seed tray filled with universal
compost is sufficient to germinate the
seeds, which like beans should be planted
on their edges to reduce the risk of rotting.
To save propagator space I sow the seed
in small seed trays, this is of course heresy
as all books tell you to sow in a pot, well
you could sow two seeds to a pot and
Simply Vegetables 15