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kawaiineko_gardener

growing watermelon in containers..

My gardening zone is 4. I live in Boyne City Michigan; this town is located in the Northern part of the lower peninsula.

I know that it's too late to grow watermelon now. However I don't plan to grow watermelon this year. I would however like to attempt to grow watermelon next year. Any information acquired from this thread will be for FUTURE reference.

I know that as a rule-of-thumb there are certain vegetables and fruits that don't grow well in containers. To my knowledge these vegetables and fruits are any kind of squash, any kind of melon, and indeterminate varieties of tomatoes. I know that these vegetables and fruits shouldn't be planted in containers cause they need lots of space, don't like cramped quarters and having limited space,

and their vines go all over the place.

However the variety of watermelon I plan to go is called sugar bush. It's a compact bush variety of the sugar baby watermelon; each melon produced from sugar bush is 12 lbs. (at least according to the description given in the seed catalog) It is more tolerant of being spaced closer together with other watermelon plants than it's traditional counterpart. Also to my knowledge, the vines aren't as long as the traditional variety of sugar baby watermelon.

I do have some questions regarding growing watermelon in containers. To my knowledge, melons in general like a

soil mixture rich in fertilizer and/or manure and they like sandy soil. Is this correct and accurate? Also I am currently using 10 gallon containers to grow my vegetables in. My question is how many sugar bush watermelon plants

can I grow in a 10 gallon containers without overcrowding them? This is AFTER I've thinned out the plants.

For growing something like watermelon, even though it's a bush variety, I would prefer to use 15, 20, or 30 gallon containers. How many sugar bush sugar baby watermelon plants could I grow in a 15, 20, or 30 gallon container without overcrowding them? Once again this is AFTER they've been thinned out. Is it possible to grow watermelon in Michigan? I know the weather is cooler

but you would be able to start them in the summer correct?

Also traditionally you are supposed to create hills when

you plant watermelon. You create a hill and then you plant your seeds on the hill. You thin out your plants to your three strongest. Since I plan to grow my watermelon

in containers would I still have to use the hill method? Would it be detrimental to my watermelon if I didn't?

My other question is with watermelon are you supposed to train the vines of the plant to climb a trellis? The variety of watermelon I plan to grow is as stated before

a compact, bush variety; the vines to my knowledge for sugar bush are shorter. Would I still have to

train the vines up a trellis even if they're shorter?

I know these questions will seem very basic to somebody who has experience with container gardening. However I've never

really grown watermelons before, and I certainly don't have

experience growing them in containers. I'm a novice

with gardening in general and what I'm growing this year

is basically my first real experience with gardening.

I could really use advice and suggestions regarding growing

watermelons in containers. Any suggestions and advice

given will be very much appreciated. Thank you in advance

for those who take time to look at this thread.

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