MELONS ARE FAST RUNNING OUT OF TIME

Growing melons outdoors is fraught with difficulty in many parts of New Zealand as if they take too long to set their fruit, there’s every chance it won’t fully ripen before the warm weather runs out. Melons need a reliably hot summer to germinate, flower, set fruit, fatten it up and ripen, and the weather hasn’t done them any favours this season. Like pumpkins, if they aren’t reaching maturity by now, they might start to soften and rot in the cooler