Minnesota Midget Cantaloupe/Other Melons

[scarfguy]

Thanks lynnee!  You always provide great information.

Since this is an experiment, I'm gonna let it grow awhile longer without pruning. Lots of vines mean lots of flowers which means maximum practice at playing the pollinator.

I'll be happy if I get one edible melon. I'll concentrate on pruning with the next melon adventure.

[lynnee]

It's fun watching your cantaloupes, scarfguy--I'm learning, too! I think that I'm going to try black tomatoes before replanting cantaloupes, but I'm definitely going to try cantaloupes again.

[scarfguy]

SO... yesterday I saw my first female flowers.  Three of them actually.  This morning two were fully open and I tried my hand a pollinating them.

The description of the Minnesota Midget says that it produces 4-6 melons per plant.  That would be grown outdoors of course.  So my question is, if my pollination is successful and melons start to develop, should I keep pollinating or should I stop at 4-6?   In other words, will the plant try to ripen more fruit that it can support?

[lynnee]

You are going to find out for us the answer to that question! My guess is that you should hold it to 4-6 melons per plant, since we already know that fewer vines will produce larger melons.

[scarfguy]

SO... lynnee...   I think my question has been answered.

Over the last couple of days, I pollinated about 6 female flowers.

NOTE: That the female flowers did not develop on the main vines. They were all on short side shoots off of the main vines. So, don't be too aggressive at pruning off the side shoots.

It's early but it looks like my pollination has been successful. The little melons on the stems have begun to swell and grow (unless it's my imagination or wishful thinking)...  

The interesting thing is that after pollinating 6 flowers, there are no new female flowers developing.

SO... when they say that the plant produces 4-6 melons per plant, it looks like MOTHER NATURE is in charge of that limiting factor not me!

[lynnee]

Yay, little melons! The best thing about Aerogardens is that things grow so fast. They're ideal for testing new plants and theories about growing them.

[scarfguy]

UPDATE:  47 Days.

I initially had about 6 flowers that I pollinated.  Of the 6 only 2 seem to be viable and growing. The other ones have turned yellow and are falling off.  I think I was successful at pollinating them but I might have damaged the pistil and/or stigma trying to get the pollen down in there.  They are delicate and care must be taken.

Female flower production stopped for awhile but is now resuming slowly.  I have 3 or 4 that should be receptive for pollination in a few days.

[lynnee]

It appears that you can pollinate all the females, and let the vine decide how many melons it will develop at the same time. No wonder we get attached to our AG plants! They have minds of their own. Love your photo, scarfguy!

[scarfguy]

UPDATE:  Day 50!

I can't believe how big this melon has grown in the last 3 days.  It's a happy melon... so far (crossing fingers)

It looks like I have 3 or 4 that are beginning to develop. I've pollinated about 10-12 flowers. The others have wilted.

I'm really happy with this setup. Plenty of room for vines and the ability to get light to all areas of the plant plus some occasional winter sunshine coming in the window.  My lights are each 100 watts with an aerogarden light panel (45W) at the top.  If I turned them up all the way, I can flood the plant with 445 watts of full-spectrum light.  As it is, I have the lights dimmed to about 35-40% which seems more than adequate to make a happy plant.

One of my concerns was whether the bounty bowl was big enough for the root volume.  So far, there are quite a few roots but the bowl is only about half full and there is plenty of water room.  I am having to top off the water twice a day, however.

At this time, I have cut off most of the growth tips.  Any new growth would be growing out of the range of the light and just be a liability to the plant.  We'll let it turn it's attention to fruit production!

[lynnee]

Your setup looks great--happy people, happy plant!

[scarfguy]

UPDATE: Day 58!

I have mixed feelings today.  I'm happy I have two melons growing but disappointed that there are only two so far.  I've attempted to pollinate over a dozen female flowers and they have all wilted.  I don't know if my pollination technique is questionable or if the plant doesn't want to produce any more.  It's interesting that the two that have developed are next to each other leading me to think that maybe the micro climate at that location might be more conducive to successful pollination. The furnace register is right behind that area and it might be slightly warmer than the rest of the plant.

Watering has become an issue. Lots of roots but not over powering the bowl. However, it's drinking a lot! I have to fill the bowl 3 times a day now.  Along with that, it's using nutes like crazy.  I adjust the nutrient concentration to an EC of 1.8.  By the end of the day, the EC is 0.4 !   I've been adding nutrients daily. I don't know if that's a good idea or not since the standard is about every 2 weeks. I'm using HydroDynamics Ionic bloom mix at the recommended dosage and spiking it with a bit of Kool Bloom. (Cal-Mag as appropriate).

On the otherhand, the mutant eggplant is growing great!  I'm hoping it won't get much closer to the lights.

It has a bunch of blossoms coming.  One has already flowered but it's buried so deep in the foliage, I can't get a photo of it.

Thanks for following!

[lynnee]

The watering issue is one that I'd never have anticipated, scarfguy! But of course cantaloupes need a lot of water when they're developing. (My Mini Munch cucumbers drink extra water when they're producing.)

You should consider hooking up an Aerovoir or some other large-capacity water supply that will keep the water level constant. It will make the maintenance easier. When you think about it, it's amazing that you're getting cantaloupes to grow in a Bounty Elite!

You are probably correct in thinking that your pollination fails because the plant can't sustain more melons. Adding a water reservoir might fix that issue. My Fairy Tale eggplants really took off when I added an Aerovoir--all plants seem to love a constant water level.

[scarfguy]

lynnee, I've been considering an Aerovoir for some time now. Just haven't pulled the trigger yet.  I think I'm gonna use the 2 gallon bowl from a farm model next go-round.

[lynnee]

scarfguy, the 2-gallon Farm bowl will help, but your plants will still appreciate having a larger water supply. My "immortal" eggplants were in a Farm with an Aerovoir.

maskedsonnet has a 5-gallon reservoir set up. Maybe she can tell us what she uses, and how she supports the weight of the water supply? In her photos, the reservoir is covered with fabric.

[maskedsonnet]

I use a plastic water dispenser paired with 3 and 5-gallon (depending on what fits on the shelf the AG is sitting on) water bottles usually used in water coolers. You can get empty bottles on Amazon or at WalMart both and fill them up at home! The dispenser I could only find in Amazon, and unfortunately the one I bought is no longer available. I tried searching something similar and only came up with ceramic ones, which you can't really drill through without risking shattering it. This post shows my setup, originally using the clear tubing that came with my first farm, and this one explains how it works, including a bad drawing! I started having HORRIBLE problems with algae, though, so I switched to this black tubing instead. I cover my reservoirs for the same reason - easiest way to keep algae out is to deny it the light it needs to grow!!

[scarfguy]

Thanks for all the info, maskedsonnet. 

I went to buy an aerovoir and see that they are out-of-stock.  They have been out-of-stock for some time. Also they are not listed on Amazon.

Question:  There are two holes on the aerogarden decks.  Can two aerovoir's be attached to a single aerogarden?

[maskedsonnet]

Yes! No matter how many reservoirs you have hooked up to the garden, the water will stay in equilibrium until they’re drained. Once drained you’ll eventually lose the siphons after the water level falls too low for them to circulate between the bases and the AG itself. Having two may get you to watering once a day or less instead of three times, which I’m sure would be a relief! That vine is enormous and beautiful, I applaud you for it!! Unfortunate that the AeroVoir is out of stock, although having it out of stock for a while makes me wonder if they’re planning to roll out a new version. Maybe one with a larger capacity.

[lynnee]

scarfguy, It's my intention to use two Aerovoirs with a Farm 12XL when I get my cantaloupes going. The only hard part of setting up reservoirs is getting them at the right height so that the bowl won't underfill or overfill.

There are some automatic watering systems available on Amazon--I was hoping for Aerovoirs. I can send you the Aerovoir height measurements for the Farms and Bounties, if you want them.

[scarfguy]

Thanks,

Since the height specs of the aerovoir relative to the farm and the bounty are constants that you have determined by your trial and error,  I would think that information would be useful to many of us...

Perhaps you could have Shawn post it as a sticky post in the appropriate category for all to reference.

[lynnee]

scarfguy, I'll measure my Aerovoirs tomorrow and post the height info. The Aerovoirs are designed to be the right height for AGs without the need for trial and error, as long as the AG and Aerovoir are on the same surface. (They come with an extra stand that you use with the Farms.)

I only ran into filling issues when I wanted to place an Aerovoir inside a plastic bin to protect a rug from water spills. The bin only raised the Aerovoir about a quarter inch, but that made the bowl slowly overfill.