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?

rona

--
"Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and they will
**** upon your computer."
--Bruce Graham

In article , "Rona Yuthasastrakosol" wrote:
... 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?

Hi Rona,

If they're doing OK, just leave them - you'll probably stress them more
by moving them than by leaving them alone. The need for a hill depends
on the rainfall and temperature where they're growing - having a hill
improves drainage and allows the soil to warm up faster in the spring.
If you're concerned about drainage (or need to give them more water
without having it all run away), you could dig a shallow circular trench
about a yard (meter) or 2 in diameter around each plant. But if the
plants are happy now - don't make changes! :-)

cheers,

Marj

* * *
Marj Tiefert: http://www.mindspring.com/~mtiefert/
Marj's Mini Mall: http://stores.tiefert.com/
Coleridge shop: http://www.cafeshops.com/coleridgestore
Marjorie's Morning Star: http://newsletter.tiefert.com/
science editing services: http://science.tiefert.com/

"M. Tiefert" wrote in message
y.com...

Hi Rona,

If they're doing OK, just leave them - you'll probably stress them more
by moving them than by leaving them alone. The need for a hill depends
on the rainfall and temperature where they're growing - having a hill
improves drainage and allows the soil to warm up faster in the spring.
If you're concerned about drainage (or need to give them more water
without having it all run away), you could dig a shallow circular trench
about a yard (meter) or 2 in diameter around each plant. But if the
plants are happy now - don't make changes! :-)


Thanks! I'm not really concerned about drainage because, well, I didn't
know I had to be =:-o! But now that I know about it, I'll just watch out
for puddles and water accumulation. We usually have pretty dry and hot
summers in Winnipeg (save for thunderstorms) and our backyard drains fairly
well (AFAIK, I never really paid attention until now!). If I see that my
plants are about to drown, I'll start making trenches. Much protect the
poor little ones, after all. I've killed almost all of their friends!

Thanks again for the advice!

rona

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

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?

Cantalope, like watermelon, enjoys being left alone...it's sometimes
risky to transplant them, especially if the dirt ball collapses and
the roots are disturbed. Give them a 6 ft tall garden fence or
chicken wire to climb up, sandy soil in full sun, mulch and manure tea
and you will have a great season. Also keep the deer away...even
though the vine has spikes, they like to eat all the leaves they can
get their mouths around. Also, the raccoons, skunks and opossums like
to eat the fruit, even before they're ripe. Be cautious when
time-to-pick nears.

Dan (who realized today that there'll be no monarda flowers this
year...deer browsed all the tops off).

I'm hoping I haven't screwed them up beyond repair.


Try to remember that God designed most plants to basically grow without people
getting there hands on them at all. If the growing conditions are favorable and
nothing else eats them first all you have to worry about is how to tell when to
pick the melons off the vine, and whether to use a melon baller or just slice
and bite.

Pat Meadows wrote:

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.

if you read SqFt Gardening it is very important to read his website
articles and to use more up-to-date sources of info. His book is
twenty years old and has not been updated. In it he advocates working
the dirt to an 18inch depth. I followed that lead when preparing my
garden. However on the website he says that that thinking is old and
6-8 inches is all you need if you use the right planting mix. His
frost dates were also a month off in the book so don't rely on that
(another point of initial confusion for me when I started).
DiGiTAL_ViNYL (no email)

On Mon, 23 Jun 2003 09:14:31 -0400, DigitalVinyl
wrote:


if you read SqFt Gardening it is very important to read his website
articles and to use more up-to-date sources of info. His book is
twenty years old and has not been updated. In it he advocates working
the dirt to an 18inch depth. I followed that lead when preparing my
garden. However on the website he says that that thinking is old and
6-8 inches is all you need if you use the right planting mix. His
frost dates were also a month off in the book so don't rely on that
(another point of initial confusion for me when I started).
DiGiTAL_ViNYL (no email)

Right. (I don't know about his frost dates, haven't checked
them.)

I also find 4 feet too wide for a bed - can't reach it all
easily. 3 feet is much better for me. Actually, we're
using round raised beds (tire gardening).

Pat

Pat Meadows wrote:

On Mon, 23 Jun 2003 09:14:31 -0400, DigitalVinyl
wrote:


if you read SqFt Gardening it is very important to read his website
articles and to use more up-to-date sources of info. His book is
twenty years old and has not been updated. In it he advocates working
the dirt to an 18inch depth. I followed that lead when preparing my
garden. However on the website he says that that thinking is old and
6-8 inches is all you need if you use the right planting mix. His
frost dates were also a month off in the book so don't rely on that
(another point of initial confusion for me when I started).
DiGiTAL_ViNYL (no email)

Right. (I don't know about his frost dates, haven't checked
them.)
In our region tomatoes usually go out around mother's day (mid may).
He recommends at last frost, April 1-April 30. April is too cold-you
would need to be ready with protection often. There were a number of
different recommendations based upon whose book I was reading. It can
be very confusing. The one that made the most sense was BOUNTIFUL
CONTAINER where they often discuss what nighttime and daytime temps
should be. A quick visit to weather.com and I got historical average
lows and got a much better idea.

I also find 4 feet too wide for a bed - can't reach it all
easily. 3 feet is much better for me. Actually, we're
using round raised beds (tire gardening).
I've got a 2.5ft deep bordering against the house. I tend to keep one
hand against the house to reach deep in the back. Guess it depends
upon length/reach of your arms.

DiGiTAL_ViNYL (no email)

On 23 Jun 2003 02:48:20 GMT, (Jack1000) wrote:

I'm hoping I haven't screwed them up beyond repair.

Try to remember that God designed most plants to basically grow without people
getting there hands on them at all. If the growing conditions are favorable and
nothing else eats them first all you have to worry about is how to tell when to
pick the melons off the vine, and whether to use a melon baller or just slice
and bite.

Amen. Unless we grew up with gardening parents and neighbors, we all
started as newbies. And are still learning. The most successful pea
crop I ever had was from tossing spent vines on the compost pile.
Plants sprouted in the fall, paused during the winter, and went
absolutely mad the next spring. No trellis or rows or anything -- they
just climbed (clomb?) on anything nearby. And every day for a month, I
harvested a cup of edible-pod peas. I can hardly suggest that as the
ideal method for growing sugar snaps, but it *does* point to the
opportunistic habits of plants.

"Pat Meadows" wrote in message
...
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

thanks so much for the help, and the book titles! I had gone to the library
last winter and taken out a book, but it wasn't really a how-to book. It
was mostly a garden planning book (I *thought* it looked good). There are
so many books to choose from, it's difficult to sift through them. I'll
check my library for Square Food Gardening.

Thanks again, and also to Digital Vinyl for emphasizing the need to check
the website, too!

rona

"dstvns" wrote in message
...

Cantalope, like watermelon, enjoys being left alone...it's sometimes
risky to transplant them, especially if the dirt ball collapses and
the roots are disturbed. Give them a 6 ft tall garden fence or
chicken wire to climb up, sandy soil in full sun, mulch and manure tea
and you will have a great season. Also keep the deer away...even
though the vine has spikes, they like to eat all the leaves they can
get their mouths around. Also, the raccoons, skunks and opossums like
to eat the fruit, even before they're ripe. Be cautious when
time-to-pick nears.

Dan (who realized today that there'll be no monarda flowers this
year...deer browsed all the tops off).


I almost wish I had deer to worry about! I was in VT for grad school, and
we often saw deer running across our campus. It was quite a treat!
However, right now I only have birds to worry about. I think they might be
crows, or some other bird that looks like a crow. I don't think I know the
difference (like with gardening, I'm a bird ignoramus).

I will do my best to leave my baby canteloupe plants alone, yet give them
just enough care and guidance so they thrive. Hmm, they really are becoming
my babies, aren't they?

Thanks for the advice--I can't wait till they start climbing up things!

rona

"Jack1000" wrote in message
...


Try to remember that God designed most plants to basically grow without
people
getting there hands on them at all. If the growing conditions are
favorable and
nothing else eats them first all you have to worry about is how to tell
when to
pick the melons off the vine, and whether to use a melon baller or just
slice
and bite.

True, oh so true! Unfortunately, God also seemed to design plants to die
under my care :-(. However, I am hoping for the best (though am prepared
for the worst) and will just make sure they have water when it's dry out.
I'm sure they'll flourish then!

Thanks for the encouragement!

rona

Frogleg writes:

Amen. Unless we grew up with gardening parents and neighbors, we all
started as newbies. And are still learning. The most successful pea
crop I ever had was from tossing spent vines on the compost pile.
Plants sprouted in the fall, paused during the winter, and went
absolutely mad the next spring. No trellis or rows or anything --
they just climbed (clomb?) on anything nearby. And every day for a
month, I harvested a cup of edible-pod peas. I can hardly suggest
that as the ideal method for growing sugar snaps, but it *does*
point to the opportunistic habits of plants.

Every year my mom seems to have something come up volunteer and just
go nuts. This year it was radishes. She picked hundreds of them from
an area where last year's had gone to seed, and they were some of the
best, mildest radishes I've ever had. Another year it was tiny
tomatoes, and another year, lima beans. It seems like the season,
temperature, and moisture will come together just perfectly for a
certain seed, and suddenly nothing can stop it.

We're also seeing that here in the fields this year with wild mustard.
Everywhere I go, I see yellow blooms all over hay fields and the
borders of grain fields.


--
Aaron