Hales Best Jumbo dates from the 1920s and remains a favourite cantaloupe type. It combines earliness, vigorous growth and wonderful fragrance with delicious flavour. The fruits have a distinctive netted rind with light ribbing and take around 12 weeks to develop in good conditions. This heirloom is well worth growing.
Did you know a melon flower needs to be visited by a bee three times to ensure proper pollination? Grow some pollinator-friendly flowers nearby to help them along.
SOW: in April & May one seed per pot (seed depth 10mm), water, cover & keep at 18-20°C until germinated. Uncover and grow on in a warm spot, potting on at 2 leaf stage
GROW: when they have 4 proper leaves plant 2 per grow bag in a very warm & sheltered spot or the greenhouse & pinch out the growing tip. They need to be visited by a bee three times… hand pollinate to help them (from male to female flowers, the ones with a bump under them). After midsummer pinch off blossoms & smaller fruits to direct energy into the larger fruit.
ENJOY: it takes about three months from germination. Watch for the rind to change from green and remember that fruits continue to sweeten after picking.
🍃Top Tip: Warmth is the key to success. Try one or more of these ideas:
• Prewarm planting soil with black plastic or cloches • Create a hot box around the root ball by insulating the container or planting over a hot compost heap • Use a natural mulch such as grass clippings around the plant • Grow under protection in a greenhouse, grow house or well-ventilated conservatory
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