have luffa and tiggermelon! would like pink banana and jarrendale blue pumpkin

Blacktails and Sugarbabies have a bright yellow bottom from the start so don't go by that clue. The yellow bottom clue works well for larger white bottomed melons. Besides the brown tendril and other good clues posted above another one I find useful (esp for small melons easy to turn over) is to look for tiny black specks on the bottom that don't rub off. These are mildew specks and indicate that the melon has sat on the ground for a long time, long enough to be ripe. These black dots show up after the tendril has browned. The black specks are very small (smaller than this period . ) and are found grouped up in a patch of dots. If you ever buy a melon at the store it's the one clue to look for (within the yellow bottom) since no tendrils are attached.

Try Willhite's

Charlie, With totes, I think it would work but it will work best if you buy good, sturdy totes like the Rubbermaid Roughneck ones. Avoid the ones of clear plastic because they are brittle and break down in sunlight in just a couple of years. As for drainage holes, with any container we drill nickle- to quarter-sized holes in the bottoms, evenly spaced around the container. I haven't grown anything in 18-gallon totes so couldn't begin to guess how many holes to drill, but in my cat litter buckets, which hold only 5 gallons, we drill three rows of three holes, for a total of 9 holes. When you use a rectangular or square container be sure holes are close enough to the corners that water cannot pool in the corners of the containers. With the molasses feed tubs we use, Tim drills holes about every 3 or 4 inches around the outer edge of the container's bottom, and then scatters a few more holes in the interior portion of the bottom of the container. It is hard to put too many drainage holes in because having good drainage is very important, although you don't want to have so many holes that the soil washes out. To cut down on how much soil washes out through the drainage holes, I've tried several things and they all work pretty well. I've cut a fabric-type mulch cloth to fit inside the containers and place it inside right before adding soil. I've done the same thing with cardboard or many layers of newspaper. I've even used a 2 or 3" layer of big chunky bark mulch on the bottom to keep the soil mostly above the drainage holes. All worked just fine. I know there are lots of folks who use rope-handled 'muck buckets' that they buy at places like home center stores or farm supply stores and seem to be very happy with the results. I'm thinking of trying some of them next year. I'll link a photo of one below. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Muck Bucket