Regarding did I try to post this on the container gardening subforum; yes I did, but it's been completely ignored. As far as what size containers will my melons be grown in; I basically plan to grow one melon plant per 5 gallon container. Somebody else who does container gardening, says they do this, and have had success with it. There are my parts of gardening I enjoy, but I'm NOT a do-it-yourself type person; it's not something I'm good with, that's why I'm asking for help with how to build these containers. Trying to construct them by myself, I basically have no idea what I'm doing. However I did have one question regarding melons. Supposedly they grow better if grown in groups rather then by themselves. So I'm wondering if it would be better to grow them in groups of 3 in the 5 gallon container, or would this end up doing more harm than good? Not to be rude, but I don't know how big to make my cages (with the length, width, and height). That's one of the questions I asked, and didn't really get an answer to.Yes I know that I didn't provide the dimensions for the vining types of melons that aren't bush types. However it's because I can't find that information; I can't provide to you information I don't have. From my experience with vines you really don't need to train them I think. If you provide them something to climb on, won't they just latch onto it? I've tried to ask the seed catalog companies who provide the seeds, what the dimensions of the plants are for the melons, the honeydew (Honey Pearl) and cantaloupe (Tasty Bites). They said they don't want to mislead customers, because how big it gets is subjective; it depends on so many factors......how good the soil is, how warm it is, how well fertilized the plant is, etc. Somebody said with traditional vining types, the vines can get very long. What determines how big I need to make the cage? Is it the length of the vines, or the height of the plant itself, or is it a combination of both of these factors? That is to say if the vine length of a melon plant will reach 15', then should I make the cage 15' high? This is just hypothetical. How big would I need to ask them to cut it to size? I really suck with math, and I don't know what the dimensions of the plants I'm growing will be. Typically how large with the height, width, and vine length do honeydew and cantaloupe melons get? I'm asking because I cannot find this information via the internet. I don't know how big the vines will get. However I do know with container gardening, that plants are typically smaller, and whatever you harvest will be slightly smaller; it's just the nature of container gardening. So hypothetically, even if the melon plants are well fertilized, grown in good soil, well watered, etc.....are the vines of the plant just going to be smaller due to the fact that plant is grown in a container? By the vines and plant being smaller, I mean they'll be smaller in general in comparison to if they were grown via the 'conventional method' that is to say, in a plot in the ground in hills.

We live in Surrey, England, and have an allotment (for non-UK residents, an allotment is an area of land (125 square metres) that you rent from the town council on an annual basis; there are usually 50 - 100 of these plots, and most have access to water, via a stand pipe (faucet). We're growing Marina di Choggia winter squash. From 6 seeds potted on the kitchen window-sill, four sprouted. One got nibbled by slugs (pernicious creatures!) in the cold frame, but three are doing well on the plot. I have built a trellis (basically two capital 'A' shapes leaning together) out of lengths of 2" x 1" treated timber. The squash are doing fine, but I'm going to have to provide sling supports of some sort, as the fruit can reach 10 or 15kg each. I'll see if I can get some photos uploaded somehow. Cheers

Hi Bruce, Welcome to the forum. We have a great time here and all of us learn a great deal from one another. It's quite simple really. In a hill, you start with 4 to 6 sprouts, let's say, and they all are competing with one another for water and nutrients. As you thin the plants and keep only the 3 plants...and then thin to 2, they still are competing for whatever their roots can pull up out of the soil. Since you leave 2 plants in a hill, the competition for nutrients and water never really stops so the two plants will tend to be ever so slightly less productive than a single plant on one hill would be. When you plant single plants in single rows, they do not have to compete with any other plant from Day 1, and really they do not have to compete for a long time.....not until their massive roots are competing with the massive roots from the next closest plants. However, because Squash Vine Borers are so good at taking out plants, it is smart to plant 2 plants together using your in-row spacing so that you'll end up with at least 1. When I do in-row spacing (which I did this year), I don't remove the second plant until I have blooms forming. As far as whether to plant on hills or not, in our climate it is mostly a matter of soil drainage that should drive your decision. --If you have well-drained soil, you should get equal production from plants on hills or in rows. --If you have heavy, slow-draining clay soil, you'll likely get better growth and production from plants on hills, assuming you loosened up the hilled-up soil and amended it with compost or other organic material. Even if the soil is not improved, though, you'll still get better drainage from a hill. In colder climates than ours where the soil stays very cold much later in the spring, the gardeners "need" to hill up the soil because it will warm up faster and that helps get their plants off to a good start. They also usually cover the garden beds with black plastic several weeks before their plant-out date in order to warm up soil, and also start seeds inside and transplant out, so they can start with 2 to 3 week transplants and get "ahead" that way too. In general, gardeners in colder parts of the country have temperature issues in the spring and fall that make it difficult to ripen squash and melons that have long days-to-maturity. For example, if you're in a zone where the last spring freeze falls around Memorial Day, and the first autumn freeze occurs in September, you have to push your melons and squash hard to get edible melons and squash from them. So, planting on a raised mound (hill) gives you slightly warmer soil and that gets you earlier sprouts. I've grown melons and squash both ways. I tended to use hills when my current garden was "young" and the soil (which started out as thick, dense Red River clay) was not as well-amended and, therefore, drained more slowly. Now that we're in our 11th year here, the top 8-10" of our formerly red clay soil is a brown loamy soil that does drain well, so I tend to go with in-row planting. And, I haven't even addressed what I'd do if I had very, very, very fast-draining sandy soil or sandy loam soil in a hot climate. If that were the case, I'd probably do waffle beds to help retain water and reduce wind and slow down moisture loss. I hope that answered your question. With any veggie I grow, I tend to experiment with growing it several different ways, and then "permanently" use whichever method worked best for me. What works best for one person is not always what works best for other people----so much depends on your soil type and climate. Some people on this forum routinely get 50-60" of rain per year, and others are lucky to get 15-20", so we all have to adapt and do what works in our specific locations. Dawn

For the past several years I have planted 6 plants on a 12' wide trellis. Plants are not pruned, but are regularly tied to the trellis to keep them as close as possible. I have good deep soil and excellent airflow around the plants. Plants are fed once after getting established and then once in July. Trellis units are spaced 48" apart. Last year from 24 plants I was picking over a bushel a week for over a month. These were all heirlooms that I had started from seed that I had saved. Fruit size and quantity was not impacted at all. I say go for it! Steve