Also, some oak leaves do contain tannins which '... are mainly physically located in the vacuoles or surface wax of plants. These storage sites keep tannins active against plant predators, but also keep some tannins from affecting plant metabolism while the plant tissue is alive; it is only after cell breakdown and death that the tannins are active in metabolic effects.' Meaning Tannins do have a physiological effect on the growth of plants. The good news is that 'the leaching of highly water soluble[8] tannins' into the soil will not last long since they will wash away with the rain. Tannins are polyphenolic compounds found in some oak trees. I want to stress the 'some', and not say that all oaks have them. Plants, like every other living thing, will stop and start different metabolic processes depending on the environment. Some oak trees are allopathic, and some aren't. It all depends on the situation. http://www.bio.miami.edu/dana/161/evolution/161S11_germination.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tannin#Presence_in_water_and_wood

The melon looks good, Pat. First time growing melons for me too this year. I happened to be at Rona's a few days before Fathers' Day. They had all their veggies on reduction and I picked up a pot of 5 yellow melon plants, as well as a pot of 5 cantaloupes for 59 cents. I just couldn't pass up a bargain like that even though I'd never grown melons before nor did I have any space left in my garden. What I did was lay down 5 bags of soil next to my fence. I pierced all along one side of the bag which became the bottom side, and made two holes on the other (top) side and I planted a melon plant in each of the holes. The vines took a couple of weeks to get going, but then they started growing really quickly and kind of all over the place. I have no cantaloupes yet, but I have 5 melons. They range from egg-size to a diameter of 6 inches. The oldest melon seems to have stopped growing now and I noticed this morning that the tendrils near the stem are turning brown. All the label said was 'Yellow Melon', so I have no idea if it's reached its proper size for picking. I'll look out of other tell-tale signs, such as the rind getting dull, etc. to judge when it should be picked.

The emerging leaves are pale, telling me that it's not getting the bright indirect sunlight it needs. The soil mix looks fine, very similar to what I use, but it's not getting watered enough. These plants love water, they just don't like wet feet. If that makes any sense. With the soil mix that you're using, you can water it much more often. Mine stays outside for most of the year and I water it almost daily. Plus, I rarely fertilize it and it still grows like a weed. That's because it gets all of the bright, indirect sunlight that it wants. It doesn't matter how much fertilizer you "feed" a plant, those fertilizers aren't food, and they won't do any good if a plant isn't getting the sunlight it needs to photosynthesize. Plants manufacture their own food, and they can only do that through photosynthesis. As for the aerial roots, you won't really see many of those until the stems grow much longer. Just give your plant much brighter indirect sunlight and more frequent waterings, and it will take care of the rest itself. These plants are called monsters for a reason, HaHa... Also, don't bother misting. Monsteras love humidity, but will grow perfectly fine in the interiors of our homes. My place uses gas heat, which pretty much strips any moisture out of the air during the winter months, and it doesn't phase my monstera one bit.

I'm not used to 115 degree temps but it sounds like it could be watering too frequently. Bougainvaillea likes to dry out a little between waterings. Dig down a few inches before watering and see if it's still damp. Water soluble fertilizer or granular?