Can i grow melon in a pot

Also, avoid wetting the foliage. Mulching is important, especially when growing on the ground. Mulch around the base of the plant to boost the moisture-retaining ability as well as for keeping the soil warm.

To keep the plant healthy and productive, remove the side branches. This is going to allow the main vine to grow effectively. Also, timely remove the damaged and diseased stems. You can start fertilizing the plant using a complete liquid fertilizer. When flowers start to appear on the plant, use a fertilizer with less nitrogen. To make the fruits sweeter, mix tablespoons of Epsom salt and tablespoons of household borax in 5 gallons of water.

Stir well and spray this solution on the vines. Cantaloupe plants particularly suffer from charcoal rot, anthracnose, fungal infections, and powdery mildew. Common garden pests like aphids, pickle worms, cucumber beetles, and spider mites can be taken care of with the use of insecticides.

When you are going to notice the color of the fruits changing from green to tan or yellow-gray, it is the time to harvest the Cantaloupe. They also start to smell sweet at this point. Carefully cut the melon from the vine, making sure that you are not damaging the plant in the process. The good news is that with a pinch of creativity and a dash of careful setup, anyone can train cantaloupe to grow vertically on a trellis of nearly any type. I planted a hami melon in a pot at my balcony.

Its climbing upwards n now about 6 feet tall. Plus, despite their crazy length, each vine only produces one or two fruits. Turn to a watermelon variety bred specifically for containers, of course! The vines of this container watermelon are compact.

They reach only 24 to 36 inches in length. Each vine produces two or three to pound watermelons. The rind is dark green, and the interior flesh is red with a great flavor.

If you decide to grow a standard-sized variety, just be prepared to water them A LOT and give them plenty of room to ramble. Regardless of what variety you grow in your pots, be sure to site the containers in a location where they receive a minimum of 8 hours of full sun per day. For growing watermelon in containers successfully, pot size is key. An approximate dimension is at least 18 to 24 inches across and 20 to 24 inches deep.

The glazed ceramic pot shown in this article holds around 13 gallons of potting mix. Be sure that whatever pot you choose has multiple drainage holes in the bottom. Aside from the size of the container and choosing the right variety, the next important factor in growing watermelons in containers is the soil. Choose a high-quality potting mix and blend it with compost.

I mix organic potting soil half-and-half with finished compost. The compost absorbs and retains water, and the potting soil keeps the mix light and well-draining. Plus, the compost adds beneficial soil microbes to the container, along with nutrients. There are two ways to plant watermelons in pots. The first is from seed and the second is from transplants.

Before I tell you how to do both, there are pros and cons of each method that are worth discussing. The seedlings are not subjected to transplant shock since they will live where they were originally planted and never have to be moved. The main downside when growing watermelon in containers from seed is the length of the growing season. If you live in a northern growing zone with a shorter growing season, this might not be enough time.

Transplants have additional benefits, too. Here in Pennsylvania, I sow the seeds indoors in peat pellets in mid-April for planting outdoors in late May or early June. If you opt for growing watermelon in containers by seed, head outside a week or two after the danger of frost has passed. Water the pot regularly — never let your melon dry out, as this will stunt the plant, and you will get fewer melons. Cantaloupe, for instance, requires about 35 to 45 days after blossoming to be ready for harvest, according to University of Minnesota Extension.

The fruit will lose its shine and generally turn from green to yellow, and the stem tendrils dry up and turn brown. Shelley has been writing and editing garden stories for 10 years, and has a Master Gardeners certificate in Oregon. What Size Container to Grow a Melon? Home Guides Garden Gardening. The pot you choose can be made from sturdy plastic, terra cotta, or breathable fabric.

When I got started with the task of transplanting my young plants from seed trays into containers, I realized that none of the pots I had on hand were truly big enough. As the plants are still smallish, I decided to transplant them anyway. Before you get growing, find a full sun location where your container will receive hours of sunshine per day.

This can either be a sunny area of your house, under artificial light , or outdoors. Cantaloupes prefer soil with a mildly acidic pH of 6.

You can either direct sow seeds in your container or start them in seed trays. For those in warmer areas, sow in containers outdoors anytime after your average last frost date, provided your growing season is long enough to give your chosen variety time to mature. Since I live in frigid Alaska, I started mine in seed trays a couple of months before last frost. Because I planted them pointy-side-up, only half the seeds germinated. To sow seeds in containers, dig a half-inch-deep hole and drop two seeds inside, pointy-side-down.

Do the same thing in seed cells. To encourage them to germinate quickly, you can cover the pot or seed tray with plastic to trap humidity inside. Just make sure to remove the covering the moment the first green shoot pokes through the soil.

Keep them evenly moist, in a sunny spot or under a grow light. I left mine in their trays for two months, and one of the plants started getting droopy and unhappy. If you are transplanting your seedlings to an outdoor container, make sure you harden them off first. To do this, place them outside in a sunny location for a few hours per day, gradually increasing the amount of time over the course of a week. To transplant, all you have to do is dig a hole the size of the root ball, gently remove the seedling from the tray, and set each one in its new container.

To make this easier, water the seedlings about half an hour before transplanting. Backfill the hole, give the seedling a slow, deep watering, and add half an inch of extra soil on top for support. Then, place the containers near a sunny windowsill, under a grow light, or in your chosen location outdoors. When the plant is about four to six inches tall, fertilize with a balanced liquid fertilizer such as NPK according to package instructions.

Fertilize again in about two or three weeks, or when flowers start to develop.