All this advice is very helpful but what i should ask now is whether or not i should really even bother with any of it this year. If what im doing is working and its already too late to get better melons, should i just wait till next year to try out all these fantastic ideas? Is it really gonna make a difference this year? Another thing about the mulch, i wanted to this year bit im a bit confused about the term "mulch" what exactly is the best mulch to use to where i can till it into the ground at the end of the summer to improve the soil for next year? And i love the soaker hose idea too. Watering it so often sucks! Its like a child, you have to keep a close eye on it! I will also remember what kind i buy too ( geez can u tell im a beginner;)) whats the best kind in your opinion?

Thanks farmer. I like watermelon better anyway but it is sure frustrating. My zucchini die after producing a few weeks as do my cucumbers but I just replant every couple weeks on those. The winter squash are great so far with no problems except a little pm showing up. My big problem is cantaloupe and tomatoes. I think I will check with my fertilizer rep. I may have to use some fungicide of some type. I rotate quite often and some of the problem occured where there was no garden for 10 years. Just corn and soybeans.

Without looking I assumed it had been demonstrated that the pink dodder shown at the links had the same flower as in the original picture, but now I see it does not - and looks instead quite like the white dodder we have in my area, except for the coloring of the flowers. After the comments succeeding mine I assumed there was one of the tan tendril-like stems coming up from below, beyound the range of focus to make it appear the pink flowerhead in the original picture was coming out of the stem of the vine. Today, when it is earlier in the day and I am more focused I see once again that the vine in the original picture is not a melon and that the pink flowerhead is coming directly out of its own stem. If you look closely there is no mistaking that the flowers are those of the "melon" plant. And these flowers do not have the same structure as those of dodder.

Those melons really look nice. Never figured out how the commercial growers tell when to pick--I pick when the stem gets loose, and the melon is ripe and must be eaten soon and refridgerated before it gets over ripe. Maybe that's why commercial melons are usually hard and have no flavor? Acorn squash are a great winter squash. To tell when they are ripe, use the same method as with all winter squash. The shell hardens, so push your fingernail into the shell. If it cuts through or leaves a groove, it isn't ripe. If it is kind of like pushing your nail against a window, it is fully ripe. Though they ripen sooner, I always leave my squash until after first frost (mid to late Sept). Then the vines have "melted" and dried a bit and I can easily find the squash. They won't freeze if ripe unless it gets way down into the mid to low 20's. My squash usually keep quite well until sometime in January. My favorite squash is a buttercup-hubbard cross. Fairly dry, deep yellow-orange flesh, larger than a standard buttercup, flesh tastes like it already has been buttered and sugared. Each time you re-heat the squash, the sugar tends to carmelize a little and it gets sweeter and sweeter. , therefore having a larger squash insures there will be several meals, each better than the last. If your melons are dying off while quite small, it could be lack of pollination. Usually there are lots of bees around to pollinate the melons, but if you spray around the garden for insects, don't spray around the melons or anything in bloom if you can avoid it. If you must spray, do it at sunset or dawn so the bees aren't active and the insecticide can dry before the bees start working. Also with melons, you need to keep trying different varieties until you find one that does well in your area. I had melons racing the frost for years. Then planted some seeds from a friend who got a really big and good melon from Muscatine Iowa. This melon does well for me, often get a few melons 10 or more inches in diameter and a wonderful flavor. They start ripening in late Aug. and continue for the next month. Make sure the melons don't get too dry when setting on fruit, either. Wet feet encourages disastrous diseases, but don't let them dry out too much either. Just water thoroughly and let them use that water, then water again when the ground gets on the dry side, maybe a week later. Good luck!