Melon growing question

[Mark0820]

I have read that once a melon starts to form and grow, you should pinch the vine just beyond the melon. This supposedly lets all of the nutrients be used to grow the melon as opposed to the melon sharing the nutrients with more growth on the vine.

Has anyone ever tried this before, and how did you like the results?

[Cole_Robbie]

I'm just guessing, but I think it would be counterproductive. It's fine to pinch off blooms and other melons if you are trying to concentrate growing energy into one melon. But if you killed part of the vine, you would lose the photosynthesis taking place in those leaves. Every leaf is a factory.

[Tania]

I heard this recommendation, but I never pinch mine. I think the plants need all the leaves to feed the fruits. This is just my uneducated opinion

[Mudman]

Also heard of it, never tried it, and had lots of success without it. Also I prune my tomatoes to a single vine, so I know pruning, but I have never quite been able to understand what and where I am suppose to prune off the melons from the explanations given on this technique.

[kath]

I'm watching this thread because I was hoping someone would say that pruning is easy and very beneficial. Why? Because I'm growing several cantaloupe types and small watermelons on a trellis this year and I'm running out of room to place the vines. They just want to grow horizontally, not vertically so that's been a challenge and a time-consuming task. I'd love to start snipping the ends off if I didn't think it would hurt the plant.

kath

[fortyonenorth]

I think its a European practice employed when growing under glass. It doesn't yield more melons and, as pointed out above, fewer leaves = less photosynthesis and the resultant nutrients, etc. Also, less leaf cover can lead to sunscald.

[meadowyck]

Kath, I as well have heard folks talk of this but never knew anyone that did a trial on this. I would say if you have more than one plant give it a try to see how it goes. If you only have one plant, maybe you could think about growing more next year and giving it a try.

[chance]

I pinch the vines off when they reach the edge of their allotted space. This causes them to branch out. I pinch the new branches when they have reached the edge of the plot. This has worked for me, some years better than others.

[Barbee]

How many sq ft are you giving each plant to begin with?

[Mark0820]

Originally Posted by Barbee

How many sq ft are you giving each plant to begin with?

Last summer, I grew 9 plants in a space of 4' x 15' (three hills of three plants). I have limited space, so this probably wasn't ideal, but the production seemed to be pretty good. I think I harvested around 22 - 25 melons. Based on the feedback here, I didn't pinch any of the vines.

It was my first successful year of growing melons. It was also the first year I had an area to plant them in full sunlight (which seemed to make a huge difference).

[Barbee]

That sounds like a good crop for a smaller area!

I do prune my plants but have never pinched the vine past my keeper melon. I think I'll try it on one plant this year and see what happens.

[raindrops27]

Barbee, that is a beautiful melon! Do you start your melon seeds indoors before plant out?

[Barbee]

Originally Posted by raindrops27

Barbee, that is a beautiful melon! Do you start your melon seeds indoors before plant out?

Yes I do start them indoors about 2 weeks prior to plant out. I germinate at about 95 degrees bottom heat in a 6 inch pot then transfer to a one gallon pot as soon as I can see the nub of the first leaf. I line the 1 gallon container with newspaper so that when its time to transplant to the garden, the newspaper holds the root system in place.

That melon was named Clydean and weighed 196 lbs. I was sure I finally had a 200 lb melon this year but I was a measley 4 lbs shy. I'm gonna do it this year!!