Suika

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DocDoesFarming
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Suika

Post by DocDoesFarming »

Just wondering if anyone had any experience growing Suika here and if they care to share any tips on producing a good tasty crop.

I planted 2 weeks or so ago, the leaves are looking a bit sun-burnt if that's a thing. I gave them plenty of spacing between them also.
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Zasso Nouka
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Re: Suika

Post by Zasso Nouka »

Are you growing them inside a poly tunnel out outside ?

The main thing is to keep the suika off the soil, ideally with 'melon trays' (as per this post).

Keep them well watered during growth and lots of compost or manure in the soil for feed but once melons start forming make sure they don't get over watered or you risk the melons splitting.

When to harvest can be quite difficult to tell, pro suika farmers know by the sound they make when you tap them but that's not something I've mastered yet. Another way to tell is by counting the days from when the melon formed, you should have the number of days to harvest printed on the seed packet.

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Re: Suika

Post by gonbechan »

I have been watching a bunch of youtube videos about growing melons, watermelons, squash and pumpkins on trellises.
When the fruit forms and is past x size they secure them with a net.

I am dying to try this but can't till we find our forever land.
If anyone does this, please document so I can live vicariously through your exploits. :D


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Re: Suika

Post by DocDoesFarming »

Zasso Nouka wrote:
Fri May 17, 2019 6:55 am
Are you growing them inside a poly tunnel out outside ?

The main thing is to keep the suika off the soil, ideally with 'melon trays' (as per this post).

Keep them well watered during growth and lots of compost or manure in the soil for feed but once melons start forming make sure they don't get over watered or you risk the melons splitting.
Ahh sorry I didn't know there was another post, feel free to merge it with the other.

Thanks for the tips.
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Re: Suika

Post by DocDoesFarming »

gonbechan wrote:
Fri May 17, 2019 7:28 am

That is brilliant, I might to give that a go.
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Re: Suika

Post by gonbechan »

I have seen some videos where they use a rebar net as an arch for growing all sorts of things including suika.
There is one channel where this woman grows a ton of things on arches like that.


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Re: Suika

Post by Zasso Nouka »

DocDoesFarming wrote:
Fri May 17, 2019 6:40 pm
Ahh sorry I didn't know there was another post, feel free to merge it with the other.

Thanks for the tips.
No worries, that post was more about growing Cantaloupe melons so we'll keep this separate.

You can grow small or mini suika vertically if you like but the big ones are best grown spreading out on the ground. When growing vertically you can use melon hooks (メロンフック) to support the fruit, either order these online or buy from your local seed shop. You can get cucumber strut sets from Komeri for just shy of 500円 and use them for all sorts of things. This year we are using them extensively and even growing mini kabocha and butternuts over them as they take up less space that way and you don't have to worry about the fruit getting marked by touching the soil.

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Re: Suika

Post by DocDoesFarming »

Zasso Nouka wrote:
Sat May 18, 2019 5:59 am
You can get cucumber strut sets from Komeri for just shy of 500円 and use them for all sorts of things.
Thanks for the links, I'm surprised at how cheap the strusts are, I was expecting them to be 1000 or more each for some reason.

I build a temp one out of bamboo and string for our cucumbers. When we actually get round to doing them properly to sell (apparently all farm sarters here grow it because of the quick income) I'll be buying those.

Image

I've been setting them up also at the place I'm working on at the moment and the whole process isn't that bad, we don't have one of those plastic mulch layer machines so I'm dreading doing it all by hand next year.

Image

I'm not sure I my bamboo ones could handle the weight of the suika.

Oh I also managed to build a wind-chime that doesn't chime. Just hangs there being useless...
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Re: Suika

Post by DocDoesFarming »

gonbechan wrote:
Fri May 17, 2019 7:30 pm
I have seen some videos where they use a rebar net as an arch for growing all sorts of things including suika.
There is one channel where this woman grows a ton of things on arches like that.

I might have to go this route when we grow the odd stuff for ourselves. Actually thinking about it, I could do this on the bamboo area, lay some heavy plastic sheeting to stop any roots, make some boxes and do that.
Sheeting should stop any new roots from taking right?
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Re: Suika

Post by Zasso Nouka »

DocDoesFarming wrote:
Sun May 19, 2019 5:39 pm
I build a temp one out of bamboo and string for our cucumbers. When we actually get round to doing them properly to sell (apparently all farm sarters here grow it because of the quick income) I'll be buying those.
That's a pretty good bamboo frame, should be great for any number of climbing plants. Cucumbers are a quick income but if your area is anything like ours it can be hard to make a decent income once everyone is harvesting them as the price drops to seriously low levels plus everyone's obaachan is growing a small patch in her garden. You can still grow them but look out for something a bit different, say like mini or snack cucumbers that would appeal to younger customers or kids. That way you can still charge a premium price while everyone else is selling them off cheap.
DocDoesFarming wrote:
Sun May 19, 2019 5:39 pm
we don't have one of those plastic mulch layer machines so I'm dreading doing it all by hand next year.
The horror, the horror :scared-eek: . I used to do it by hand myself and can remember what hard work it is but the main thing is the sheer amount of time you save with a mulch layer. If you access to a tractor then one of these from Agritecno Yazaki will do the job or for something cheaper one of these Hand Layers would also work but you'd need to run a rototiller over the ground first.

I know a lot of people don't like the plastic mulch but it is an absolute life saver in the summer and you can get bio degradable mulch that can be turned into the soil when you've finished with it.

Agritecno Yazaki also import the Jang Seeder which is probably one of the best seeders available.
DocDoesFarming wrote:
Sun May 19, 2019 5:39 pm
Oh I also managed to build a wind-chime that doesn't chime. Just hangs there being useless...
:lol:

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