It's the emergence of many actually, just thought the singular made for a better title. I am so excited. As I last posted, barely three days after I had started the seeds, the cantaloupe seedlings were already emerging from the soil. Cantaloupe is cited in many sources as being a seed that readily germinates; but I was still surprised by that rate. I also placed some seeds between two damp towels in a sealed bag in the fridge, as I had learned this can be done to accelerate germination - I am not sure how much speeding up I can add to an already pretty fast rate. Nonetheless, I do intend on planting the cooled seeds after a week or so and comparing the germination time in both cases. In this post, I try and summarize all the relevant information I came across about starting and growing cantaloupes, you can also view the factsheet here (embedded below).
In the factsheed included in this post and embedded below, you can find all the useful data that can help you set up optimum conditions to start your cantaloupe seeds. There is not much information I can give beyond what is summarized there and what I had already discussed in my earlier post about starting seeds.
However, there are two points I would like to highlight here which I think contributed to a succsessful start:
- positioning and temperature: I placed the seed containers on a plastic tray in a shady area of a balcony with estern exposure where the containers don't get direct sunlight; they do however certainly get warm over the day and the plastic tray insulates against sharp temperature drops overnight
- protection and moisture: I covered the pots with cut out plastic bottle bottoms in which I pierced some holes for aeriation, and the trays with plastic fridge bags; this helped retain the moisture, I only needed to mist-spray the seeds every morning just enough to wet the soil serface, and the condensation on the inside of the bags indicated sufficient moisture content in the soil - in addition to the moisture retention function, the bottle bottoms and bags provided protection against any drafts or wind
Check out this factsheet - you can also launch a full-page view here - for all the key information you would need for planning to grow and starting cantaloupe from seed (I will be following it up with another one focusing on the grown cantaloupe plant):
I am evidently ending up with more seedlings than I had expected. If all goes well, I will have definitely more to transplant than I can fit into the planned container, even if I crowd it. There is a small patch of land at the back of my house which I had been planning on turning into a small vegetable garden once I have established my in-house container garden. I think I will be pushing forward with that earlier than originally planned, and hope I will be able to work the soil into a suitable growing medium for the young cantaloupe plants within the next month (four weeks being the time it takes the seedlings to grow into trapnsplant size) - I would hate to see any of the beautiful sprouting seedlings go to waste.
updates on cantaloupe seedling growth and progress will follow
