Thanks for the advice! I should add that I'd also welcome any suggestions for varieties that take well to trellising/any small melons that are very sweet or prolific.

Planted Sugar Baby Bush(bought from Burpee) this year first time, the space for 2 plants was round bed about 3.5 ' in diameter, planted both in center with 8 inch interval, there was some space around the bed, but not that much. Anyway, the vines didn't get more then a foot out of the bed. They survived several hardships - cold spell as seedlings in the pots in my green house when the heater broke. Then they've been dug out by skunk and planted back(by me)). Then groundhog tasted the plants(I guess it didn't like it much). Then some cucumber beetles(they didn't like watermelons too, for some reason). They produced together 3 watermelons, size of a soccer ball or a bit bigger. Taste was very good. Will plant next year again.

For melons, I use companion planting. We plant a bed of early turnips very early in spring. By the time melons have to go from pots to the ground, turnips are almost ready. I make two bald spots on that bed about 1.5 foot in diameter, add compost and plants a melon in in each spot. Turnip shouldn't shade the melon. As vine grow, we remove more and more turnips around, and at the end of June melons have full bed in their possession. Every plant produces 4-8 melons, more melons - smaller fruit. I only tried two kinds, Goddess and Maverick, and so far my best one is Maverick.

Just realized, we are in completely different zones, so all above probably will be wrong for your garden.

Look into Minnesota Midget Mellons. They are a compact plant with a few short runners and only gets a couple feet tall. The fruit is about the size of a softball and looks and tastes like a cantelope. Baker Creek sells the seed but I saw them somewhere else but don't remember where. A definite must for our family.

I grew Sugar Baby up a trellis two years. The first year it was working good until the disease set in (I think downy mildew).

My first year attempt.

My second year attempt. Too much shade this year.

galinas5b, regardless of the zone planting a early crop is a great idea. I don't grow many melons, but I grow a lot of cucumbers. I will transplant or direct seed them into a radish or a lettuce bed. I use 5' tall concrete mesh for trellis which has 6" opening which would work great for small melons. I have also used recycled swim suit tops for cradles to support the growing melons.

Galinas--- Thanks for telling me about your experience with the bush variety. Would you say the short vines are stiff like squash or the same as regular watermelon vines, but shorter?

Also, thats a great idea for companion planting. I'm growing some radishes now so I could definitely use that method (and probably harvest 2 times before melons take over). I'm growing the melons during the cooler part of my season right now so maybe our zones match up with the season switch ;)

Dirtguy--- Thanks for the suggestion! I've seen Minnesota Midget in quite a few places. Would you happen to know if it is very prolific? If the melons are small I'd like to find of variety that produces lot of small melons per plant (if those varieties exist).

Yolos--- Wow, thanks for posting pictures of your watermelon/melon trellises. I have a bit of experience trellising an asian melon called wintermelon (this summer I harvested one that weighed 48lbs), hopefully the watermelons/melons will hold up to trellising just as well :)

Jnjfarm--- Thanks for the melon support suggesetions. I have a ton of fabric scraps that my mom's friend (who is a seamstress) gave me, so I've been using those to support anything I trellis that gets really heavy.

Sandra, I had two plants this year and had about twenty melons total. These little melons were extremely juicy and the flavor was awesome! I grew them in a tomato cage which really kept them contained.

Wow, that's a lot :) I'll definitely add them to the list I'm compiling :)