Melon – Queen Annes

This apple-sized Queen Anne’s Pocket Melon (Cucumis melo L.) is a highly aromatic and fragrant fruit originally used for carrying in pockets of Victorian women before the days of deodorants.  The scent is very strong and a mixture of a ripe cantaloupe and pineapple with a slight hint of jasmine.  Its origins can be traced back over 300 years.  The fruits are attractive with velvety orange rinds and striped in carmine and gold. They each weigh up to 1lb, prolific crops and best when trellised.  The fruits are edible, rather bland, but the scent is exquisite.

 Cultivation advice Melon – Queen Annes 

• Sow April to May in pots of moist seed compost and cover with a 1cm (½inch) layer of compost or vermiculite. Ensure temperature is maintained at around 20C to aid germination. Keep the surface of the compost moist but not waterlogged; germination will usually take 7-10 days.
• When at the 2 leaf stage, transplant seedlings on into at least 10cm (4 inch) pots for a few weeks before potting on into larger containers or direct into the greenhouse border, or use 2 plants per growbag.
• Provide support for the plants to climb.
• Pinch out the tip of growth after 4 true leaves are produced, then train 4 lateral branches to the 6 leaf stage before again pinching out.
• Pollinate if necessary, by transferring pollen from the male flowers to the female blooms (with bump beneath the bloom).