What do you do with out of control watermelon vines?

13 years ago

Watched an old video of the Victory Garden show circa 1986/87. One of the hosts said if the watermelon vines start to wander too much just heap them up on one another.

Is this good policy? Seems the crowding would lead to disease or block light?

What do you do with out of control vines?

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Comments (8)

wayne_5 zone 6a Central Indiana
13 years ago
I just turn them to the side[90Â°]. Probably if that doesn't help, they weren't given much room?
oregonwoodsmoke
13 years ago
Smile at them and say "Look at those babies grow!"

I have gently redirected squash and pumpkin vines so that they are growing in a better direction. Mostly to keep them as separated as possible so they don't get tangled up.
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Watermelons require large amounts of organic matter in the soil, well drained soil and a sandy type soil. I dig a 3 square foot hole and fill it with 1 bag of compost and 1 bag of composted cow manure, then I mix all of this in with the dirt and make a hill to which I plant 7 seeds. I then thin the plants to the strongest three plants. I grew these melons last year in a space that was aprox 5'x5'. I got 6 melons. These are small, supposedly seedless, melons from Burpee.
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Concur. wazxd8 I have no idea where you are except in the USA. If you are in the southeastern region, the proper planting time is April. Watermelons are very easy to grow in light soils, they do balk in clay soils. There are both bush and regular Sugar Babys. 2 ft vines blooming is very normal for bush types. Regular melons will get a bit more vine before blooming except that any type of stress will cause them to bloom earlier. Watermelons are both cold and frost sensitive. Here is a link that might be useful: My watermelons
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Sometimes. It does depend on how far along they are in growth. If there are many melons, then yes, I do. Same with winter squash. I planted so many I have MILES of vines, and I just cut off a bunch of the vines and even some small fruit on vines that produce very large squashes. I have a melon which is vining but has not yet made a melon. I will leave length on the vine for a few more days and begin hand polination. So far that has worked for cucumbers and some other melons not fruiting but flowering. After hand polinating I'll cut back some vines.
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I have lots of stuff getting attacked by powdery mildew but so far the squash and zucchini are producing anyway. As for a quick and easy trellis idea. I like to use the cattle panels from tractor supply. You can leave the whole 16' length (they are about 4' wide) and make an arch and secure it with stakes or posts. Or you can cut into sections and stab the pointed ends into the ground and make a sort of fence with it for the plants to climb. I like to take sections of it and zig zag them and tie them together to give them more strength and stability. As to growing pumpkins and watermelons up a trellis, hum. You might have to use some fabric to make hammocks to support the fruit because I doubt the vines could handle that. cantaloupe might be able to support it's own fruit, I'll soon find out since I seem to have had several cantaloupe plants sneak in with my cucumbers and climb the trellises. Here is an example of the arch with a cattle panel Here is a link that might be useful: TCLynx
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franktank232
13 years ago
I've recently moved some of my vines... I needed to mow and they were in my way.
foolishpleasure
13 years ago
I always redirect them. Like when my Mellon plants attach the tomato's wire house. Now they are covering big area of grass which I can not mow. I leave them alone if they are not interfering with other plants.
denninmi
13 years ago
I always try to plant them next to corn, so that they can go up into and through it. Makes it a little harder to harvest the corn, but it gives the vines some extra breathing space.

Realistically, you'd have to give them about a 20 foot wide swath if you wanted to keep them out of the neighboring crops, or grow them entirely vertically, and that just isn't a viable option for a lot of people. At least not for me, I don't have that much space or that much time to tie them all up.
wayne_5 zone 6a Central Indiana
13 years ago
With a bit of redirecting they need about 10 feet.
misterbaby
13 years ago
My experience is that the plants resent being handled, except perhaps in the very early going. I just try to aim them in the right direction at first, and then let them determine what's best. Misterbaby.
franktank232
13 years ago
I agree babyface... The vines i moved don't look too happy, but pumpkins are even worse. They drop down roots as they grow..

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What do you do with out of control watermelon vines?

Comments (8)

wayne_5 zone 6a Central Indiana

oregonwoodsmoke

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franktank232

foolishpleasure

denninmi

wayne_5 zone 6a Central Indiana

misterbaby

franktank232

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