LoM I agree with Dave that your soil was probably too cool to encourage them to quickly germinate. They CAN germinate after a while when the soil warms up if they don't rot. You might put black plastic around the area where you planted them to keep the soil warm. Even black plastic garbage bags weighed down with rocks would do it.

We are in the SF Bay Area also. We just plant the seeds directly into the ground. They take off quite fast. I think we usually plant in March but this year we have alot of rain so I think it will happen later. After all these years with this melon it seems that it doesn't really matter if we do a headstart in pots or not. The plant actually seems hardier when it is sown outdoors. HwLee... our very first year we grew these were from 4 seeds that were given to my mom. We harvested well over 200 melons that summer and autumn! I did tend to the vines often with Miracle Grow etal...Since I didn't remember where the root of it was I sprayed the entire plant every 2-3 weeks. As the years past I didn't even bother to fertilize or even water. It grows like a weed! We barely watered them after the vines were about 3 feet long. And my mom has even cut up and dried some of the melons. They actually make a much tastier stock. Though they are darker in color. Wellspring... These melons if they are fully matured can keep for years. The way my mom has taught me to check for fully matured melons is to check the hardness of the skin. It is full ripe if you can't put your thumb nail through the exterior. We just leave them until I can see the stem of the melon starts to turn brownish. And still you can use the seeds from that same melon to dry. I have done this frequently. You can also use these melon like a hairy gourd melon when they are young. I think in a similiar thread somebody told me his Filipino wife harvest shoots and stirfried them. I'm a bit leary since they seem so hairy! Good luck your SFM this year! I was trying to post some pics but the files are too big for GW.

I am trying to grow a seed crop for distribution to other seed savers of 3 varieties of long beans (Vigna unguiculata cultigroup Sesquipedalis). Many pix posted in Garden Galleries > Great Vegetables. Thus far I have successfully saved seeds from only one variety.. details below the questions. Hummingbirds still happily frequenting them wherever they are planted. They will leave first week October to migrate south again... 1) What is the coldest night temperatures at which these plants will mature quality seeds? We are about 6 weeks yet from frost, but we are now only 2 weeks from 50 degree nights, and I know these are considered tropical plants. 2) How many pods can I leave to ripen seeds and still get a vegetable harvest from these plants? I have an eager consumer for the Anna's Taiwan Green... I barter them for dinners in my friend's restaurant... This bean failed for 2 other growers (both Taiwan-born), so there is exceptional interest in my producing a crop of this favorite vegetable. Currently I am hiding ripening pods behind the foliage where they do not show when I send my friend internet photos of the wall of her beans.... More discussion: Thus far I have successfully saved seeds from only one variety.... Yardlong, Purple Pod. Most of these seeds I got from first bloom before the extreme heat and drought, but I am also bagging blossoms to ensure that all plants are well represented in my seed saving. During our month of 100+ degree heat, both purple varieties were blooming and setting pods but most of them were totally empty or had only a few seeds (2-3). The variety from the Philippines, considered day-length sensitive, is now blooming abundantly as the temperatures have dropped to 65 nites / 90 days and we near the equinox. The earlier bloom... apparently stress induced... succeeded mostly in causing me cross-pollination problems. I have hummingbird cross-pollination problems, and now a few bumblebees as well, so I am bagging scores of blossoms daily against these bigger nectar feeders. Another variety, Anna's Taiwan Green, was planted later and is just now blooming. I consider it isolation planted, as it is 150 yards from the purple varieties, separated by buildings, low trees, and a bamboo grove... and theoretically in a different hummingbird territory. The hummingbirds begin at dawn in this area with blossoms of okra, longbeans, and bitter melon, plus still some trumpet vine in uncleared areas. They got lucky... Those visiting the purple pod beans are adding them to a floral menu of maypops (Passiflora incarnata), a few wild morning glories, and blooms of cherry tomatoes and lima beans. Thanks for your assistance. I have posted... Under Forum "Beans, Peas, and Legumes"... a further discussion of problems growing these beans this year in Arkansas. They have failed for 2 Taiwan-born gardeners... and my own beginner's experience suggests they may have somewhat limited soil fertility preferences, plus I am unsure of water requirements.

Hi all, The cat litter is the approved Tesco low dust that is popular with Bonsai growers. It is not clumping. I have received the water soluable Miracle Gro. I will use it once per month during this dormant season rather than the usual two weeks, with one watering every week on the large plant and every two weeks on the pups. Size of the chick flint grit is about 3-5mm on average as is with the rest of the mix. Should the mix continue to stay wet more than expected, I will try some larger stuff I have. @ewwmayo No, though I prefer rain water to any tap water when possible. When it's not plentiful saving it seems ideal. I will stop reusing. Unfortunately two of the oldest leaves have started dying at the base and a few inches up the leaf itself. It's dark at the base and the leaf surface is brown and extremely dry, like a past harvest corn plant(or dead corn plant for that matter). I think more of the oldest leaves will fall away eventually. It may be a sign the plant is trying to get rid of the old and sick parts so it can continue growing.