Watermelon, particularly the smaller vines, do great in containers. Lots of water and fert is all you need to worry about. Once the plant gets fairly large it would be difficult to over water. You can make it simple by just using a general purpose fert or fish emulsion frequently and that's that.

Melons generally are bee/insect pollinated. You could hand pollinate, but it's not usually necessary if there is any insect activity in the general area.

I was going to plant one (sugar baby) in a 20 gallon (tall) garbage can. I opted not too, but i'm kind of kicking myself now.

There is always next year, Frank! ;-)

Sugar baby is only 75 days from seed to harvest (if it's warm and sunny) so you still have time if you get going right now.

I already have a couple in the front yard in the ground! My neighbors are going to love me once again (what the heck is growing in that guys yard?).

hehe, I have an Atlantic Giant Pumpkin in a container in my yard. Let the neighborhood talk. They already joke that I grow dope in my basement on account of the high pressure sodium lighting for plants.

I'm sure around the dinner table in my neighborhood the topic has come up of the skinny guy who continues to rip out grass and plant weird stuff (i've got castor beans in mounds in my front yard), basjoo bananas right next to them... a line of Reliance peach trees a litte ways away (4 in a row) a couple of plums and a line of arbor vitaes that just can't grow fast enough (my privacy screen for the future). My backyard is worse yet (or better for me!). I hate grass! I also have a very large driveway (i could park atleast 6 or maybe 8 cars in it, lots of sun, and i would love to fill it with 5 gallon buckets full of all kinds of goodies... but i don't have enough buckets yet! I might have to get a dog at some point to watch over my goods... I don't trust a neighbor as far as i can throw them (i think they are all overweight).

Hey I'm trying to grow sugar baby watermelons in 5 gallon buckets. Somebody keeps telling me they won't make it. What do you guys think? Is 5 gallons too small a container? Any tips for their survival?

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:39078}}

I think you can make it work, yipla.

The biggest potential problem I think you will have is watering. I am already kind of scared at what is going to become of my Atlantic Giant pumpkin in a Gardener Supply Self Watering container with 4 gallon water reservoir.

I asked some folks from my state's Giant Pumpkin club about how much water a single plant needed at it's peak. The folks had difficulty answering as they all grew in the ground, not containers, but one guy guesstimated 100 gallons of water per day.

I figured he was joking or just way off.

Well, my pumpkin is now about 2 feet long with a similar width and it is drinking 2 gallons of water per day. I fear for how much it will drink when it is 30 feet long and 5 feet wide.

Watermelon should not take up anywhere near that much water, but they will still take up a good deal and a 5 gallon bucket can maybe hold 2-3 gallons of water at most with the mix in it. That is something I would encourage you to plan for, just in case. If you don't need to move the bucket around you might consider making large drain holes and setting it on the ground so the roots can grow into the ground.

Well, all I have is a rooftop, so growing in the ground isn't an option for me. But, I can set up a drip irrigation system that will drip all day long. I guess I'll just have to see what happens. Also, just to be clear, how many watermelons per plant should I try and keep? I see watermelon per vine recommendations but I wasn't sure if "vine" was the same as "plant". And, once I have decided to keep some melons, should I just cut off any other arms from the plant that do not have melons on them?

Some of your questions are a bit controversial, yipla.

By that I mean not everyone agrees ;-) Wayne, on the veggie gardening forum is a melon growing guru. I don't think he does any in containers, but he has a wealth of knowledge on all things melon.

My guesstimate on number of fruit per plant is 'as many as grow to size in a reasonable time.' Kind of generic answer, huh? Generally pruning off fruit is done with the varieties one wants to grow to the largest size possible or to get fruit ripe in advance of a frost , but this isn't the case with sugar baby. Also, it should be a fairly vigorous vine so should be able to mature all fruit it produces, but I would pop over to the veggie forum and seek out Wayne for more experienced guidance on this.

Should you cut off side branches on vine crops after you have selected the fruit you wish to keep? Again, a controversial question, but my answer is 'no'.

The leaves are feeding energy to the plant so leave them alone. The contrasting answer is that the more leaves, the faster the plant loses water so kind of balance those priorities as you see fit.

I wasn't sure if letting extra arms grow would just be a depletion of soil nutrients, or if they really benefit the plant. I think though, that I can set up an adequate water system so that is not a problem. I will probably not prune extra arms, but probably will prune smaller fruit if I have chosen a few to let mature. I do hope they get bigger than tennis ball sized, which is what I have been told will happen.

tennis ball sized in containers only happens due to inadequate light, water or nutrients.

There is zero reason for any plant to do less well in a container than in the ground if the container grower provides sufficient amounts of these 3 things. The only exception is for very large (usually woody) plants in a container that is waaaay undersized for the necessary root mass size.

Other than that container growing yields results just as vigorous as in ground growing and often times better.

Guys, I posted a question about sugar babies and flower production in terms of size of plant below.
If any of you have any input, please help me out!!

Here is a link that might be useful: sugar baby question

I responded with my opinion in that thread. It's just my opinion, not gospel.

How big are your pots? I had a sugar baby in a 18 gallon garbage can to begin with before transplanting into the ground (i think it would have been fine, but others talked me out of it...next year!).

Oh goodness! They are not even in 5 gallon containers!

I am going to have to do something.....

The problem is I don't trust my soil and haven't had it tested....

don't worry alieliza!
Go for it!

Hi, I tried growing a Sugar Baby plant in a container this summer. Only 2 little fruits started growing, but they never seemed to grow larger than an inch wide. I think they had enough sun and water. I fertilized them once or twice with the granules that release when watered. What did i do wrong? Within last few weeks, both fruits withered away. The vines turned brown and weak looking, and the fruits had a small bore opening from an insect. Will this same plant survive the winter? Or do I have to start again next year with a new plant? Am wondering which plants should be brought inside or kept outside for the winter with a burlap cover. Thank yoU!