Feb
01
2010
Rockmelon update
By corine
About 3 months old - 1 of 10 expected melons
Fun fact: The skin of a young rockmelon is smooth. As it matures, the skin roughens with brown scar-like markings until it eventually looks like what you see in the supermarket!
Nice rock melon. I have never had any luck with growing melons, any pointers? Where abouts are you based?
I am based in Point Cook. First thing first, I chose this variety because it has much less runner and has a higher yield per plant compared with the traditional ones. In my opinion, this is a fantastic variety for urban planters.
They really enjoy any fertilizer that you would normally feed your tomatoes with (Dynamic lifter for tomatoes is great). The potash give them a kick to flower and the bees with do the hard work for you! One thing I do make sure is not to over water them – water well twice a week is all I do. If it has fruited, make sure you lift the off the soil to prevent rotting.
Oh yes! And heat! they love the hot weather (not over 40C, of course). Mine was slow to begin with but really exploded when the heat came. My melons gets about 6 hrs of sunshine a day.