Growing in the Garden

Environmental Science

Honeydew Melons

1. Fruit
2. This plant needs full sunlight to grow, so I think our San Diego weather is perfect even in the coming winter because we get a significant amount of sunlight during that time. I think that it would be really cool to plant a honeydew melon and they are delicious so no one can argue with that.
3. They are grown from seeds or seedlings. Germination: 3 to 5 days 60˚F to 95˚F. Other than that there are no needed special preparations
4. Takes between 65 to 86 days to harvest. A pretty manageable amount considering the time we have this semester. I think two months is a really good time. Not too long but not really short. I think that it would be easy with the timing and the weather so honeydew might be my number one plant I want to grow. I think in terms of long term growing, it might be a good idea. We mostly meet the specific needs that this plant has to grow for a long time. For ex. Sunlight, warm soil, etc.
5. The seeds need to be about a foot apart when planted, so it has the same situation with the potatoes. I don’t really know how much each pair of students get when it comes to the area of soil, so I’m not sure how much we can grow. But overall it doesn’t take as much space and with a given amount of space we can grow a reasonable amount.
6. This fruit prefers well drained warm soil, which in our case won’t be a problem because it’s really warm here. Soil needs to be high in organic matter with a constant pH level between 6.5 and 7.5. It’s manageable. It needs a significant amount of moisture only until it reaches the size of a tennis ball. Sandy or light textured soil that warm quickly tends to be the best.
7. Needs a large amount of moisture until pollination. When it reaches the size of a tennis ball only water when soil is really dry.
8. It says to avoid planting by cucumber family crops, such as melons, squash, pumpkins, etc.

Potatoes

1. It’s a vegetable, root crop
2. Most websites say that you should plant potatoes in late summer or early fall so it can grow in cool weather to be a winter/spring crop. It wouldn’t want the potatoes to grow during the hottest months of the year. I’m not sure if that’s the case for our San Diego weather but I think that the coolest days we get is during the winter.
3. It doesn’t say anything about any special preparation. Just before planting be sure to mix plenty of compost into the gardening area. One problem I came up on is that gophers like to eat them so it might come up as an obstacle later on during the gardening process.
4. It takes 2-4 months to harvest so I believe that it fits the timing for our project. I think that it would be a good vegetable to grow. I’m not sure if it will benefit the garden in terms of the future. I guess if it’s maintained then we can keep growing them but it’s not for sure.
5. You have to plant the seed potato pieces about two inches deep into the ground and about 1 and a half feet apart. With our space given I think we can grow just a small amount because they don’t take a large amount of space but I don’t think we can grow a significant amount for exhibition.
6. Some websites recommend to grow the potatoes in soil that with the pH between 5.0 and 6.0. it seems that growing them in soil with a higher pH makes them more prone to decease call scab, which are small rough spots in the potatoes. It also says to not plant the seeds in an area where tomatoes or eggplants have grown before because it can attract some pests and cause some problems.
7. It needs a significant amount of water. Soil should be rich and moist but not too soggy. Soil should not dry out and soil should contain moderate levels of nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, and sulfur.
8. No companion plants, but like it says before, don’t plant in areas where tomatoes or eggplants have been grown.