Cucamelon mystery!

[Vicy]

Hi

I planted cucamelon seeds 2 weeks ago and they've finally sprouted.

I don't know why, but I was expecting them to grow like wildfire but they seem painfully slow. Is there anything I can do or feed them to make them thrive? They currently sit in my conservatory and are watered every other day. I live in UK so our climate is about 16 degrees average a day and 10 at night.

 

[Meadowlark]

They really like hot weather and of course full sun. The hotter the better. I like to feed mine some Epsom salts periodically.

 

[Chuck]

Too cool a temperature. Anything below about 20C really slows them down. I also give mine a handful of Epsom salts at planting and once or twice during the growing season.

 

[Andrew_]

I grew them for the first time last year. They didn't really do anything until late summer, then they produced loads.

I'm UK too.

 

[davidinsydney]

I grew cucamelons last year. They are
extremely slow growing when they germinate. It probably took a good 4-6 weeks after they germinate to see any sizeable growth. Like others have mentioned, they do take off after this.

 

[YumYum]

If you can keep them a tad warmer, I think they will do a little bit better but I think you are doing good at this point.

 

[Vicy]

Cucamelon update- you were all right, they are mental now-I've re-potted to large container and just waiting on some larger bamboo canes to support! They have so many trails it's hard to control them but I'm assuming the best you can do is add some sticks and leave them to it!

 

[YumYum]

I've never delt with a cucamelon but it looks a bit leggy or thin or something. Are they getting enough light?

 

[Chuck]

I've never delt with a cucamelon but it looks a bit leggy or thin or something. Are they getting enough light?

No, not near enough sun. They should look like a cucumber, many many more leaves.

 

[Vicy]

Oh no.

I'm In Manchester UK so not the most sunny climate! We've had a really good spell past week or so. They were next to the conservatory but only got sunlight for about 6 hours each morning. I've moved to side of house where there's light until about 7-8pm.


Anything else I can do?

 

[Chuck]

Oh no.

I'm In Manchester UK so not the most sunny climate! We've had a really good spell past week or so. They were next to the conservatory but only got sunlight for about 6 hours each morning. I've moved to side of house where there's light until about 7-8pm.


Anything else I can do?

Just because they are not getting enough sun doesn't mean that you won't get some cucamelons. You probably will get a few, just not nearly as many as you would.

 

[Vicy]

I've moved to the lightest area of my garden so it should get 9-10 hours decent sunlight as opposed to 6.

I used the broad bean netting to add support as the sticks alone were not great.

Hopefully this will help but at the end if the day I accept my climate etc isn't ideal, any cucamelons to try would be a bonus as never had them!

 

[Ruderunner]

My experience with members of cucamelon is that they love to spread or climb. How you do it depends on the fruit, cucumber are quite content climbing and the vines are strong enough to hold the fruit. Watermelon vines can't support a full grown melon.

I typically use sections of chain link fence as a trellis for my pickles.