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help with winter melon
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Posted by CrystalGeorgia GA/ 8 (My Page) on Thu, Mar 17, 05 at 16:49
Hi
Just happened to lurk here(I am mostly found in the rose and seeds forums)and saw someone posting about winter melon.
I love that veg and always wanted to grow it.
please can someone point me how to get started, where do i get the seeds etc.
Thanks
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: help with winter melon
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Email for melon seeds
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| Email me for address to send SASE. |
RE: help with winter melon
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| I got seeds from Baker Creek for a small Thai winter melon, and the plant has crawled all over the place and used up a lot of precious water, and still isn't blooming. It's had maybe half a dozen male blooms, but not one female bloom, and none coming on that I can see. Our water supply got so low I finally quit watering it, and it started wilting, but should still be alive now that we've finally had some rain today. Are most winter melons daylength sensitive, or did I just get unlucky? Or does this small melon take longer to grow than some other varieties? Someone who lived here gave me some large winter melons years ago, so I know they will mature here. Thanks. Donna |
RE: help with winter melon
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| Crystal- Winter melon can also call East melon, in Chinese they sound the same, like they called Pumkins South Melon and they call Water melon West Melon... Winter melon should be big as mid size pumkins, and has kind of white powder on it, chinese people use it most for soup and stir fry... It's very easy mix up winter melon with the hairy melon, the plants look the same when young, and both are very easy to grow, these are the two most common vegies growing in the back yards of Chinese people in NY... and lot of them growing in the 5 gallon buckets and the winter melon can grow to about 30 lbs... Yes, you can grow them in your zone, and if you are interest, I can mail you some seeds, but the planting season is over for this year :) Hope this helps Rog in AR |
RE: help with winter melon
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| I grew Doan Gua for the first time this season - a fuzzy/wax melon, which produced 11 fruits on only 2 plants, and it got started very late! The largest was 18+ lbs, and most were over 15 lbs. Had no squash bug/disease problems, stores well (I am storing one experimental one for over 7 weeks now - it keeps exuding more of that powdery wax, which is probably how it keeps so long), and the only problem is the fuzziness, which can give spliters unless I wear gloves. It cooks well in anything I have put it in, absorbing flavors and staying firm, even when cooked over 40 minutes. I have used it in Thai curries, salads, and soups, Chinese stir-fries, and even in a Mexican mole, with great results. I also made a zucchini bread with it, when I had a bunch leftover and was running out of things to do with it. The only problem is it's size - it is so big I have to use it for several days in a row! Dave |
RE: help with winter melon
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I used to have such good luck with my wintermelons plant and
never had any of this new problem with my wintermelon plants.
my plants came out just recently with flowers but no melons,
and I don't know why this is happening, I have older books on
how to grow this melon and it tells me that its a heavy feeder plant and that I need to fertilize my plants every 3
weeks for it to do well. Is it too late for this plant to
still come out with melons, my 7 zone area is still over 90
degrees for another month to come, I know that it is too late to
start more plants but I am hoping to save this season with
some melons, I am so disappointed.
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RE: help with winter melon
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| Linda, I would give your plants some more time. Once they do develop female flowers the fruits will grow quickly. I am in zone 7 as well and our weather will still be warm for a while. This year was my first year of growing winter melon. Since it is for my personal use, I went with the small 7-8 inch wide variety from Evergreen Asian Seeds. I started them indoors in mid April and planted out the transplants in mid May. They grew quickly but it took a whole month for me to see any female flowers. Beginning from mid June, I got fertilized fruits and they grew quickly to the right size and now I am harvesting the first few because they are now covered in white waxy coating. The only thing I do is fertilize with a balanced fertilizer and water heavily when it is hot and dry. They seem to have their own schedule and there isn't a way to hurry them up. |
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