My melon experience

[Nicolejoker]

Hello! =) My name is Tanya, I am a melon grower from Russia (St-Petersburg). This year I had the following varieties in my garden: Ambrosia (hybrid, USA), Roxolana (hybrid, Holland), Harvest king (hybrid, USA, if I am not mistaken) and two French heirloom varieties: Petit Gris de Rennes and Charantais.

July

1. Ambrosia. I've read a lot of great reviews about this melon. I worried a little if it would feel good in our climate. I guess it would be bigger and set more fruits in warmer conditions but I am very happy about it! I will definitely grow it again next summer!

ambrosia

2. Roxolana. A new favorite of Russian gardeners, an improved Collective farm woman melon. White fleshed, I don't know in what aspect I could compare it with Ambrosia but it is another melon I will definitely grow next season.

roxolana

3. Harvest king. The first melon was very good (although all melons were pretty small - 1 pound). I was very pleased when I tried it and I couldn't wait for other melons to ripe. But when they did they were good not not as delicious as the first one. Maybe they overriped... I don't know... Anyway, I am going to give this variety a second chance!

harvest king

4. Petit Gris de Rennes - a famous melon from the north of France. I did not like it... I think our climate is not good enough for this variety or maybe I harvested them at the wrong moment. I am not sure I will grow them again. At least not next summer.

petit gris

5. Charantais. I liked this variety more than Petit Gris but ALL melons split... They were sweet but crispy, an apple texture if I can say so... I prefer soft melons that melt in your mouth. I think I can give this variety a second chance although I don't think I can avoid this splitting.

charantais

Thank you very much for reading about my experience. =)
Next summer I want to try a Crane melon. If you have already tried it or can recommend other varieties, I would appreciate your piece of advice a lot!

[HoneyBerry]

Thank for such a nice post. I have never heard of these melons before. You melons are beautiful. They seem like heirloom melons. I love organically grown heirloom fruit, but am more familiar with heirloom tomatoes and heirloom apples. Thank you again.

[jal_ut]

Ambrosia has been a good melon for me here.

[Taiji]

I agree; thanks for such a nice post Tanya. I google-earthed St. Petersburg for fun and see that it is at about 60 degrees north latitude. That should give you very long summer days with lots of light. Also, your elevation is not much above sea level which would help with warmth somewhat. (not a mile high anyway as I am here)
I prefer the soft melt in your mouth melons too.
Looks like you had good success! Did you grow anything else?

[applestar]

They look great! They look scrumptious and your descriptions are making me want to try growing the ones that did so well for you

I have not perfected my melon growing techniques yet. Partly due, I think, to our summers not being super hot. It's normal to have night time temperatures fall down to 68°F or so, and I have heard that melons want night time temps in mid-70's, which doesn't happen too often nor over many consecutive nights here.

I'd love to hear more about how you grew yours.

[imafan26]

They look great. I haven't tried to grow that many melons. I have better luck with gourds.

[Nicolejoker]

Thank you so much for your replies!
Dear Taiji, actually I am more a watermelon grower, I had 30 watermelon varieties this year.

Dear Applestar,
1. I start seeds in the end of April (Apr.24-28), in the middle of May (May,14-15) I transplant seedlings.
2. I prune melons to encourage faster setting of female flowers. They say modern hybrids don't need such pruning but I prune them as well.

Have a look please! You can see here that the main stem is pruned.
3. I stop waterring when a fruit stops growing. Now it's time for it to accumulate sugar.

[Taiji]

That is really impressive Tanya. It looks like you are growing everything indoors?
You certainly know what you're doing with melons. I've never had too much luck with watermelons myself.

[imafan26]

It looks great. How big is the hoop house? How long is your growing season?

[Nicolejoker]

Taiji, most people here, in my region grow tomatoes, eggplants and peppers in greenhouses. There are some varieties you can grow outdoors but it doesn't worth the effort. You need to cover them, uncover, cover again. Or you can grow them in a greenhouse where they literally grow themselves. =) Outdoors we grow summer and winter squashes, potatoes, green peas, cabbages, beans, cucumbers (but they need some protection in May and early June).

Imafan, I have 2 greenhouses. Last year I've got the first one (3x4 meters) and I was so impressed with it that I got another one this year. The greenhouse in the picture with watermelons is 8x3 meters but it's divided into 2 sections: 3x5 (for melons and watermelons) and 3x3 (for tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and eggplants).
As for growing season, well, for example, we plant potatoes on May,9- it's a great holiday in Russia (The Day of Victory) so everybody has several days-off and everybody goes to the country to plant potatoes. =)) We harvest winter squashes in the end of September.
This year I started watermelon seeds on May,1, on May,14 I transplanted them in the greenhouse, and on August,1 we had first watermelons.