I had such high hopes when I’d first transplanted this Hami melon plant. It had two growing points – the main stem, that was flowering at the time, and a new branch that started growing from the base of the stem just after transplanting it.

I thought I was so smart when I planted out my pumpkin and melon plants to give them a bigger playground to grow in. Well that sure backfired in my face. Between the rainy weather and voracious, sneaky snails, the Australian blue pumpkin, one of the butternut pumpkin and both Hami melon plants didn’t stand a chance. Their leaves were eaten up, then the stems (dashing my hopes of leaves growing out again), and what was left of the stems withered away quickly.

A lone butternut pumpkin plant bravely remains. It was the strongest of all the pumpkin plants, and I hope it retains its vigour and becomes extremely productive. At the moment the first half of the stem is bare of leaves and looks like it is dying off. I’m not panicking yet since the second half appears to still be green and healthy. It is probably taking root along that second half of the vine, which I see as a good thing since these roots will help the plant acclimatize itself to the garden soil. As long as the plant is left unmolested by snails and trampling dogs, I think it stands a good chance of growing well here.

The surviving butternut pumpkin plant – hopefully biding its time and adjusting to the new environment.

Coming back to melons and gourds, I am left to start from scratch. A new lot of winter melon, shark fin melon and Australian okra plants are now saying hello to the world. Hopefully joining them will be more pumpkin, melon and bean plants, depending on my success in germinating the seeds. Lucky for me, I enjoy growing plants from seeds. Or trying to, anyway…

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