Yea, I wondered about something like that. It’s just too much trouble though I think. Designing and conducting the experiments, identifying and accounting for all the variables, and repeating it all over and over so as not to draw conclusion based on insufficient observation.
For example, on those plants I saw at Walmart. They may have also moved them around, changing the amount of light they got and who knows what else. I guess I assumed it was being pot bound and water starved but I don’t know that for sure and I can’t know that for sure unless I run the experiments, and I’m just too lazy for that.
You know, I was guessing it was probably because their roots were restricted to a very tight space. The corn realized it couldn’t get any bigger, so it just tried to go to seed. I’ve seen that before with potbound plants, and sometimes people do it on purpose (for instance, with bonsai).
Yes, this is extremely common in certain plants such as borage. That flower went away, and I’m not even sure which one was flowering now. I’m going to leave it be regardless. I don’t plan on culling any plants this year since I don’t have any leftover seed. Luckily I had two muskmelons germinate from seeds left on the ground from last year’s rotten melons, so now I’ll have two from self germinated seeds (in wood chip mulch amazingly, 19 from the one melon that ripened last season, and three from last year’s seed.
We’re in the same boat, fellow late planter!! The good news is that melons seem to handle the heat much better than squash. I planted at the same time as you and some are now setting fruit, even in the 100 degree weather.
One vine, 4 banana melons/cantaloupes, they are not fully ripe but had to harvest them before frost. I will have to test the seeds for viability, hope to grow this awesomely productive specimen back next year.
