Mark Anderson wrote:
In article says...
My problem is that I'm not sure I want to dedicate three large (greater
than 20 gal) containers for these melons. Can these melons be grown in
5 gallon bucket sized containers successfully?
Not really. The melons grow high up on the vine. The support system will
topple the pots, unless you let the vines trail onto the ground. And, unless
you're home all day to water, or find an automatic watering system, the pots
will dry out too quickly. Can't you grow them in the ground?
I don't have any ground to plant. My entire veggie garden is on a
rooftop so I'm stuck with containers. Plus space is at a premium up
there. I will have horizontal trellises for these (and the cukes) to
climb over and stay above the surface.
I do have a container that's a little more than 10 gallons and I'm
trying out a new container soil mixture that includes a healthy dose of
sphagnum peat moss that should help retain water. Right now I'm
thinking of putting one in a big pot, one in the 10 gal pot, and give
the other away.
If you have only one big pot, plant two of your seedlings in it and let
the other one go.
I *have* grown melons in containers, but it took LARGE containers, lots
and lots of trellising, lots of training and pruning and babying the
vines up the trellis, and drip irrigation and the yield was so small it
wasn't worth it. If I try to grown melons again, into the ground they
will go.
I'm concerned that you are doing this with seeds given you by a
neighbor. Are these seed company seeds guaranteed true, or are they from
you neighbor's last year's crop that was unfortunately planted near the
cucumbers and squashes? I'm leery of planting harvested seeds simply
because of cross-pollination that may bring forth some very wonky
results indeed.