Greenhouse - a wonderful invention of mankind, helping to grow various plants in areas unsuitable for their natural growth in open ground. But you really want to treat yourself and your loved ones with fresh herbs, fragrant spicy herbs, juicy fruits with delicate pulp. How to do this, for example, in the far north? There are two ways out - to bring from afar and hope that delicate vegetables will normally tolerate long-distance transportation, or grow on the spot, erecting modern greenhouses. The second option, upon closer examination, may turn out to be more interesting, since it can be used to organize the cultivation of a huge number of garden crops, including melon growing in a greenhouse.
Naturally, growing a melon in a greenhouse should begin with its proper construction, because the expediency of the whole event depends on this in the first place. Since melon is a sun-plant and is thermophilic, then it is necessary to allocate a room to it as well - sunny or well-lit, as well as well-heated. The root system of a melon is quite branched, and at the same time it can reach 1 m in depth, therefore, when organizing melon cultivation in a greenhouse, it is necessary to take this into account. In addition, the melon is capable of releasing stems up to 4 m in length, therefore, it requires large areas. The solution can be the creation of vertical trellises up to 2 m high, allowing the melon to grow up rather than in breadth, as well as pinching the top of the main stem after 4 knots. In this case, it is necessary to carefully monitor the place of the appearance of future fruits and additionally tie them up so that the stems do not break under the weight of ripening melons. This can be done using twine or netting.
Melon seeds are planted in the soil, depending on the type of soil, to a depth of 2 to 4 cm, but most often for greenhouse cultivation, seedlings in pots are preliminarily prepared. Usually planted 25-day or 30-day seedlings. Due to the branching of the stems, the holes are made at a fairly large distance, given the characteristics of the variety. Since there are a lot of melon varieties , at the same time you can try to grow several, to experimentally determine which ones are better suited for greenhouse conditions.
Melon loves well-drained loose soil, so before planting in the soil you can add peat, straw chop or sawdust. She also loves high humidity, but not waterlogged, especially during the flowering period, so you need to water the areas with melon often. Melon has male and female flowers, but due to the absence of bees in the greenhouse, flowers will have to be pollinated by hand, preferably in the morning.
Melons respond well to fertilizer application. Topping up melons is not feeding tops of cucumbers in a greenhouse. It should be carried out more often, approximately every two weeks. For a better harvest, starting in the fall, it’s worth introducing not only a complete set of mineral fertilizers, but also organic ones (rotted manure or humus). In general, for fertilizers, feeding melons is almost the same as feeding cucumbers in a greenhouse - superphosphates, potassium sulfuric acid, ammonium nitrate. Moreover, not only plants planted in the ground are fed, but also seedlings in pots.
Depending on the variety, the ripening period of the melon varies significantly. Common for all varieties of signs of ripening can be considered a change in the color of the fruit, the appearance of melon aroma, as well as the ease of separation from the stem. Melons are usually consumed fresh, although some processing options for storage are possible, for example, as jam or dried and dried.
Growing melons in a greenhouse is a painstaking and rather laborious process, but the result in the form of juicy, aromatic and fleshy fruits is probably worth it.