One of my honeydew seeds has a sprout, and I just put it in soil. Waiting on the next 5 seeds now.

Good to hear, here is my picture of my melon plants, they are starting to put out tendrils, they want to climb, I need to figure a way to let them climb.

Those poles should let them climb, shouldn't they?

I don't know, they don't always do what they are supposed to do. The pole beans do but not the melons. Last year, I tried to train them to climb up one fence but they refused. They ended up crawling on the floor.

SoCalGardenNut said:I don't know, they don't always do what they are supposed to do. The pole beans do but not the melons. Last year, I tried to train them to climb up one fence but they refused. They ended up crawling on the floor.

Sometimes ya just gotta hogtie'em to the poles, I would think.

Yikes, that's not good. Did you still get good fruit?

And also, do you have any idea why they don't climb in the poles?

I did try that too.

Intheswamp said:
Sometimes ya just gotta hogtie'em to the poles, I would think.

That's what I do with my succulents sometimes, but I've never tried it with any vine-type plant.

SoCalGardenNut said:I did try that too.

I assume it didn't work?

KFredenburg said:

I assume it didn't work?

No it didn't, last year crop of sugar baby watermelons was a disaster.

You have to have a good support to grow melons. I'm not sure they can pull themselves up the trellis if they have fruit growing.

Here is a good article about growing melons on trellises. Scroll down to section 6 (about halfway down the article) for information on actually getting the melon plants to grow on the trellis.

https://abundantminigardens.co...

Intheswamp said:You have to have a good support to grow melons. I'm not sure they can pull themselves up the trellis if they have fruit growing.

Here is a good article about growing melons on trellises. Scroll down to section 6 (about halfway down the article) for information on actually getting the melon plants to grow on the trellis.

https://abundantminigardens.co...

I used to have cattle panel and cinder block, but with this new house, I'm not allowed to have them, so my husband built a wood fence instead.

I think one thing that the article points out is that watermelons are not natural climbers and they require help via tying to the supports...both the vines and the melons (in slings).

Intheswamp said:You have to have a good support to grow melons. I'm not sure they can pull themselves up the trellis if they have fruit growing.

Here is a good article about growing melons on trellises. Scroll down to section 6 (about halfway down the article) for information on actually getting the melon plants to grow on the trellis.

https://abundantminigardens.co...

Thanks for the article Ed. Also, I believe you are correct. It is harder for melons to pull themselves up any supporting frame if they have fruit growing.

@SoCalGardenNut, do you have any problems with bugs?

I have found that up in these hills I get major bug issues when trying to grow any fruit or vegetables.

KFredenburg said:@SoCalGardenNut, do you have any problems with bugs?

I have found that up in these hills I get major bug issues when trying to grow any fruit or vegetables.

I'm sure they are some but they don't bother me. Some slugs.

See, every time I try to plant some type of fruit or vegetable they always get chowed down by either deer or bugs. I wonder why up here in Morgan Hill we have such a bug problem?

You have deer in Morgan Hill? I didn't know that. We have no deer but we do have rabbits, but we block the opening to the front gate and they don't come in at all. No snails, only slugs because we have decomposed granite, they don't like to crawl through that, but I have lots of snails in the front, they are chewing at my very thorny roses. I used to have a lot of pill bugs, and they devour young plants but they are not a big deal this year.

Yes, the bugs around here only are a problem to seedlings (which I should have already stated, so sorry), so I guess maybe I should just keep the seedlings inside until they're older?

And also, yes, we have lots of deer up here. We used to live in the city, but when we moved here we were introduced to things like deer, turkey, mountain lions, boar, new snakes, and more. It was quite a sudden change 😬

KFredenburg said:Yes, the bugs around here only are a problem to seedlings (which I should have already stated, so sorry), so I guess maybe I should just keep the seedlings inside until they're older?

And also, yes, we have lots of deer up here. We used to live in the city, but when we moved here we were introduced to things like deer, turkey, mountain lions, boar, new snakes, and more. It was quite a sudden change 😬

Hey, sounds like you upgraded your location!!! ...as long as you don't get 'et!!!!!!!

Any specific way that the bugs damaging your seedlings? You might try some row cover material over your young plants to give them time to grow larger and withstand the onslaught of the bug army.