Hi melons and chia are two things I have not had success with each time I have tried germinating the seeds. anyone successfully grown melons from seed? I have tried banana melon, jenny lind and tiger melon without a single seed growing. Another puzzler is chia, the seeds are very gelatinous and I have used them as sprouts with alfalfa, but when I take a closer look the seeds haven't actually germinated, neither when I put them in soil. be grateful if anyone has suggestions to try
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no definately no underfloor heating here!, we freeze in winter but thats another story.....
guess what, a few days ago I discarded the pots with the failed seeds in disgust and this morning after the rain there was a little banana melon seedling peeking at me! yay! fingers crossed....
thanks Silja,
I might try the noir melons from koanga next year, as they say they are the easiest to grow. I have started some more seeds off and waiting to see if slightly warmer nights might please them, I keep meaning to set up a heating pad I have from a waterbed to try and keep seeds at constant temp, but its a matter of rooting through a large pile of junk...unfortunately my hot water cylinder is insulated and the cupboard doesn't really get warm, same with the top of my new fridge
Hi, I've read that rockmelons are not so easy to germinate and love an even temperature (same as capsicums). I had luck with germinating Noir and Jenny Lind by placing them in a small plastic "hothouse" and then in the airing cupboard. Once they started to show I moved the little plastic "hothouse" to a north facing window sill. Once the seedlings came to about 7cm height I transplanted them into larger containers, still on the windowsill. My Jenny Lind seedlings have died by now ... no idea why. But the Noir are still going with one of them having a healthy set of roots while the other two seedlings are definitely in need of more roots.
I planted rock melon and water melon seeds in my plastic hot house. I've now planted the seedlings in tyres outside and they seem to be growing. (I've planted a few more seeds as back-ups in the hot house just in case!) Not sure of my timing!
thanks mel, I'll try anything lol
yes my seeds get a window seat in a van in my back yard, it gets pretty hot in there when the sun is out, I've got a thermometer in there and it gets to around 40! I guess it could have been getting quite cool at night lately, I will try the melons again shortly, just wanted some tips first
Just found this no idea if it will help as you might of already been doing this:
Chia seeds can be started in a tray of soil, a soilless growing medium or even on a paper towel. About one to two tablespoons of Chia seed will be enough for a five inch square tray.
First, moisten your growing medium and spread seeds out evenly over the top. Keep seeds moist by misting them every day or two. You can cover them if you like and keep them in a low-light area until they germinate, which can take up to two weeks. Once the hulls have fallen off, move the seedling into the light
Ive managed to sprout Spaghetti melons big enough to plant out, My rockmelons and watermelons nope. Im guessing the weather isnt right yet for them so Im going to wait another 3-4weeks and try again, hopefully the rain and cold will be gone by then!! Im guessing youve been (trying to) raise them underglass or something along those lines to make it a bit warmer? If not the warehouse has cheap plastic raisers that might be worth a go?
Chia Ive never heard of! Off to google ;) Its not a seed that needs to be tricked by putting in the fridge for a couple of weeks is it?
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guess what, a few days ago I discarded the pots with the failed seeds in disgust and this morning after the rain there was a little banana melon seedling peeking at me! yay! fingers crossed....
I might try the noir melons from koanga next year, as they say they are the easiest to grow. I have started some more seeds off and waiting to see if slightly warmer nights might please them, I keep meaning to set up a heating pad I have from a waterbed to try and keep seeds at constant temp, but its a matter of rooting through a large pile of junk...unfortunately my hot water cylinder is insulated and the cupboard doesn't really get warm, same with the top of my new fridge
yes my seeds get a window seat in a van in my back yard, it gets pretty hot in there when the sun is out, I've got a thermometer in there and it gets to around 40! I guess it could have been getting quite cool at night lately, I will try the melons again shortly, just wanted some tips first
Chia seeds can be started in a tray of soil, a soilless growing medium or even on a paper towel. About one to two tablespoons of Chia seed will be enough for a five inch square tray.
First, moisten your growing medium and spread seeds out evenly over the top. Keep seeds moist by misting them every day or two. You can cover them if you like and keep them in a low-light area until they germinate, which can take up to two weeks. Once the hulls have fallen off, move the seedling into the light
Chia Ive never heard of! Off to google ;) Its not a seed that needs to be tricked by putting in the fridge for a couple of weeks is it?