My muskmelon plants(Ambrosia, Earligold, and Jung Classic Hybrid
varieties) are doing quite well so far--bees and others are pollinating
yellow flowers, and a few small melons are already beginning to grow,
but I'm not sure how to go about pruning them. I read in the Vegetable
Gardener's Bible that you should prune the ends of side shoots once
they reach five leaves, but I'm having trouble discerning which are the
main shoots and which are the side shoots amidst the mass of foliage.
It seems there are between 2 and 4 main shoots that arise from the
stem--are these really the main shoots are some actually side shoots?
Also, I've seen varying recommendations on the spacing for these
plants--I planted mine in 3 by15 foot raised beds roughly 20 inches
apart and they're starting to overlap. Too close?

AP in 5b

"fisherman34" wrote in message
ups.com...
My muskmelon plants(Ambrosia, Earligold, and Jung Classic Hybrid
varieties) are doing quite well so far--bees and others are pollinating
yellow flowers, and a few small melons are already beginning to grow,
but I'm not sure how to go about pruning them. I read in the Vegetable
Gardener's Bible that you should prune the ends of side shoots once
they reach five leaves, but I'm having trouble discerning which are the
main shoots and which are the side shoots amidst the mass of foliage.
It seems there are between 2 and 4 main shoots that arise from the
stem--are these really the main shoots are some actually side shoots?
Also, I've seen varying recommendations on the spacing for these
plants--I planted mine in 3 by15 foot raised beds roughly 20 inches
apart and they're starting to overlap. Too close?


I don/t believe in pruning unless you/re trying to raise county fair
specimens.

You say everything is going well, so let it be. Kepp the bugs away, keep
they irrigated, keep them feed and you/ll be well rewarded for you efforts.

20" seems a little close for muskmelon, unless the seed were bred for
compact growth habit. Not to worry about the overlapping. The usual result
of crowding is smaller fruits.