On Sun, 22 Jun 2003 11:03:48 -0500, "Rona Yuthasastrakosol"
wrote:

Along with the now dead basil, all but one dead cilantro, and 1 dead, 1
fading, and two living tomato plants, I also bought 2 canteloupe (musk
melon) plants. The little plastic thing that comes with plants said to
plant them 4-5 feet apart. So, I planted them about 4 or 5 feet apart.
However, I noticed on the little plastic thing that it actually says "Plant
in hills of two, 4-5 feet apart." Since I only have two plants, should I
have planted them right next to each other? Also, I didn't make a hill. I
just stuck them in the ground, level with all the rest of the ground. Was
this a mistake? They haven't died, yet, unlike most of my other plants, so
I'm hoping I haven't screwed them up beyond repair. I could still replant
them the right way, I think. Couldn't I?


Leave them alone. They'll be fine.

'Hills' in this sense doesn't mean 'hills', it just means
planting a couple of seeds or plants together in a group.
Very confusing.

There's no need to have them planted that close together
anyway.

The directions on seed packets are very often not applicable
for home gardeners, but are a hangover from commercial
gardening and/or out-of-date.

Rona, I think you would benefit by reading a couple of good
books on gardening. I'd suggest 'Square Foot Gardening' by
Mel Bartholomew. He has a website too:

http://www.squarefootgardening.com

He's a bit dogmatic and insists that there's only one way to
do things at times - which should be ignored - but his ideas
WORK, and you can modify them to fit your own particular
circumstances.

Pat