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Green Honeydew melon with dying vine

getgoing100_7b_nj

4 months ago

So, this was a volunteer fom my home made compost. The melon is about 1 month counting from pollination. The older leaves got mildew and the vine stopped growing about a feet after the fruit set. It was in one the unreachable corners of my balcony. Anyhow, the mildew has led to the demise of all leaves , there is no new growth and the vine is split, damaged laterally but scarred over a while back. The melon is small (which is fine) but also green. What, if anything, can I do to get the melon to ripen before the vine is dead? I have elevated thd fruit so it can as much light/sun as possibke, which isn't much.

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Comments (5)

porkchop_mxk3 z5b_MI
4 months ago
If the leaves are all dead, it's not going to ripen.
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getgoing100_7b_nj thanked porkchop_mxk3 z5b_MI
getgoing100_7b_nj
Original Author
4 months ago
I guess the future is bleak for first melon I have ever grown. I I am leaving it on vine as is until the vine dries out. In the meanwhile I used some sphagnum moss for air layering the vine on a node close to the melon. I had a broken part of a vine root in water recently, so I am thinking if it roots, maybe it will grow some new leaves after potting up the new roots. It is still a good 2-3 months before frost so who knows...
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getgoing100_7b_nj
Original Author
4 months ago
Well, the vine shrivelled, so I had to harvest the melon. It is still very green on the outside. Here is what it looks inside. Not quite sweet enough but edible and mildly sweet.
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porkchop_mxk3 z5b_MI
4 months ago
That's good you salvaged something edible. That's happened to me -- the vines die back (usually from disease of some sort) but I'll pick the melons anyway and see if they're edible. I can deal with subpar cantaloupe/charantais, but not watermelon -- those I end up tossing.
getgoing100_7b_nj thanked porkchop_mxk3 z5b_MI
getgoing100_7b_nj
Original Author
4 months ago
Yes, I am glad it wasn't a complete write off. Considering it was a volunteer from my compost and grew on a 3/4' vine in a pot that got very little sun, I will even call it satisfactory outcome. The experience of growing a melon for the fist time is of course priceless.
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