For several years now, more and more refined plants from the annual vegetable sector have been available from garden retailers. With a little skill and patience you can refine your melon yourself.
How can I refine a melon?
To successfully graft a melon, you need a young melon plant, a rootstock such as fig leaf squash, a sharp knife and fabric tape. The plants are placed in a pot, cut together, inserted into each other and secured with the tape. The original melon root should then be removed.
The necessary requirements for refining
You usually need at least the following things to refine a melon:
- a young melon plant
- a suitable base, for example fig leaf squash
- a sharp and clean knife
- A suitable fabric band for fixing and closing the wound areas
You can grow the fig leaf pumpkin yourself from seeds like your melon plant. If you calculate the germination time and the growth time required to reach the size that can be refined, you should plan a total of around three to four weeks. So that you can choose the he althiest and strongest plants, you should always sow a few more seeds than you need plants.
The process of refining melons
Place the two plants close together in a pot so that the stems almost touch each other above the soil. It is even easier and gentler on the roots if you sow the seeds together in one pot. However, you will have to sow the fig leaf pumpkins about five days after the melons, as they germinate and grow faster than them. Then make a diagonal cut from the bottom up to the middle of the stem on the melon about five centimeters below the cotyledons; on the pumpkin, make a corresponding cut from the top diagonally downwards. In this so-called ablation with opposing tongue, you then insert both tongues into each other and fix them with a band. A small wooden stick is often inserted into the pot as a support during the growing process.
The process after the refinement has taken place
Some gardeners leave both roots on the plant after grafting and only cut off the upper part of the fig leaf squash. However, its roots are not only intended as an additional supply of water and nutrients. Once the upper part of the pumpkin plant has been cut after a few days and this wound has healed well, the original root of the melon should also be cut off. This is less resistant to various root diseases and should therefore be separated as a gateway for them.
Tips & Tricks
After growing indoors and immediately after grafting, pumpkin and melon plants are relatively sensitive. You should therefore first gradually get used to the bright sunlight before planting them out in the garden.
