obrionusa, I grew quite a few different varieties of melons on a string trellis last year. On my wooden trellis, I typically will plant two to three vines on each side so they can grow upwards and towards each other. Small, mesh bags (onion sacks), cheesecloth or nylons can be used as slings to support the fruit (Figure 12). We're growing a French variety called Noir de Carmes, which is a small, flavorful cantaloupe melon. Plant your melons at the base of the trellis. The trellis could be 6-8 feet and the plant will just grow up and back down. They did very well and I did not even support them (I planned on it but did not get around to it). Melon Support Netting Increases Crop Yields. Grow melons on a trellis with help from an experienced gardening professional in this free video clip. In greenhouses, supporting watermelon plants is accomplished by a system of vertical strings held aloft by overhead wires. Tie the vines to the trellis as they grow. Make sure it is a place that will support the weight of the melon once it becomes fully ripe and disconnects from the vine. Although the vines have clinging tendrils, such as cucumbers, the fruits themselves are heavier and can fall off the vines, cracking open when they hit the ground. If you live in a warmer climate – around Zone 7 and up – direct-sow your seeds right next to your trellis as soon as there’s no threat of frost in the forecast. An A-frame trellis is a less expensive option to create two slanted walls for growing squash. By now, you probably know that you can grow melons and pumpkins on a trellis. Grow Melons And Pumpkins Vertically. Sign up to get all the latest gardening tips! Trellises free up a lot of real estate by allowing you to grow crops up into in your garden's vertical space. Since the vines won’t support the melons for long, each melon should be in a hammock by the time it gets to be about the size of a baseball. This method lets you grow your plants vertically so that they take up very little square footage; otherwise, a melon plant can sprawl over as much as 24 square feet. You can grow almost any melon on a trellis as long as you provide support for the developing fruit. Some varieties of melon fruits, especially watermelons, can grow quite large and heavy, making them not a good choice for suspension. This is a great store bought option. Set the posts in place on the shadiest side of your row of melons, about 8 inches from the plants. Encourage the vines to climb by training them up a support system such as concrete reinforcing wire. Construct your freestanding trellis before you plant your cantaloupes to prevent stepping on young plants. Many other vining and sprawling plants may also appreciate the support of a trellis, including tomatoes, squash plants, melons, and sweet potatoes. When a baby watermelon reaches fist-size, you should give it some extra support with a sling or hammock. Remember if you grow melons or Winter squash on a trellis you have to make preperations for some sort of hammock to support the weight. Durable nylon netting supports a robust crop of melons or squash 1) Make sure these plants get full sunlight – 8 hours or more. Dig holes for your four corner posts that are 2 feet deep. Encourage melons to grow their biggest by pinching all but 2-3 melons. When you grow any melon plant vertically you will need to know how to sling vertical growing melons. The trellis shouldn’t be a lightweight support that is just pushed into a pot. 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How can you instantly add space to your garden without having to expand it? Install a trellis! But if you select the right variety, take good care of them, and train them up a trellis, you can enjoy fresh melons from your own small garden beds. Quite an array of veggies can be grown vertically, but one of the most surprising is watermelon trellis growing. If given the … Tie one end of the cloth to the trellis on one side of the melon and tie the other end of the cloth to the trellis on the other side. These are commonly used for fencing and can be pounded in with a sledgehammer. The hammock should be directly under the melon, making it easy for you to set the fruit carefully into the hammock. Trellising them works for me and it allows me to grow many more melons than I'd … You have to do whatever works for you. That picture was taken in August I think, so the melons … Melon plants need to be spaced 2 feet apart, so to grow four melon plants you will need 6 feet of trellis. Livestock panels are readily available from feed stores, farm supply stores and fencing centers. That being said, I have seen melons growing on cattle panel trellises, so I know it is possible—just watch those stems! However, commercial growers have been growing the melon vertically for some time. Your melons will pull the vine down or break off at the stem if their weight is not supported. Make a half-inch divot in the soil and put the seed in the hole, pointy side down. How to Make a Cattle Panel Watermelon Trellis Sling - YouTube It has the additional bonus of allowing the frustrated farmer in a condo,his or her dream of growing their own edible crop. Growing melons on a trellis is a really great way to control their growth and appearance. When creating a vertical trellis at home, keep in mind that the vine gets quite long, so you’ll need about that much space there as well. They look like stiff sections of wire fence and are sturdy and easy to handle. You will need one support post every 3 feet, plus one post for each end, so for example, for 6 feet of trellis you would need three posts. Hey Julia! And can I use old stockings to support the melons? I like to keep about one foot in between the vines. The surprise, of course, is due to the heft of the melon; it boggles the mind that such a heavy fruit can be hung! Watermelons might be too much of a challenge, but Charentais melons should be fairly easy to support by making a sling out of expandable material such as old … Install the melon trellis before you plant the melons. An Over-the-Top Trellis to Grow Perfect Squash and Melons. Measure the area where you want it based on the size of your lattice: most purchased lattice is 4 feet wide by 8 feet long, which is a good size for the top of your trellis. Leave enough on the ends for you to make knots in the fabric. Thanks lesa, my husband is very handy. Make sure the hammock is large enough to support the melon even when it’s full-sized. Anyone had success growing trellised melons? As your melons grow, they’ll need a little support. Shelves for them would be a bit beyond me and if stockings won't work I'll just do a level bed instead of trellis. Cane berries, such as raspberries, blackberries, and gooseberries, can be tied to a trellis at intervals to prevent them from falling over. One friend of mine actually used nylons that she stapled/tied onto her trellis just to hold most of the weight of the melon. Love watermelon and would like to grow it, but lack the garden space? Pound three metal T-posts into the ground, about 8 feet apart. Cut old T-shirts, nylon stockings or other soft, stretchy fabric into strips about 6 to 15 inches in width and longer than a mature melon. After a fruit forms, slip the leg of an old nylon stocking over the fruit, tying the bottom of the stocking in a knot. © Copyright 2020 Hearst Communications, Inc. Melons that will stay small enough can be slipped into nylon stockings instead of laid on top of them. Sign up for our newsletter. Allow enough slack in the fabric that the melon can sink down in, for a more secure hold. Make "hammocks" out of the cloth strips. I have a 16x20 foot aluminum trellis that can take alot of weight and it would be a real space saver to grow them vertically. If they won’t stay, tie them gently with pieces of soft cotton string or 1-inch pieces of old nylons or T-shirts. Growing melons vertically on a trellis the Square foot gardening way Posted by: admin in Gardening February 23, 2014 25 Comments 397 Views John shows the melon bed fully planted out and the bare trellis that will support all the vining plants one day. In the commercial greenhouse, the overhead wire is about 6 ½ feet (2 m.) above the walkway so workers can reach the trellis without standing on a ladder. Grapes, melons, and berries are the best fruits to grow on a trellis. Choose small-fruited varieties of watermelon or any variety of cantaloupe, and plant your seeds at the base of the trellis. The bags can be tied to the trellis or the support … There's no avoiding that they are large, vigorous plants. Check out this video to see our solution! These are heavy vines and will need a strong, sturdy trellis. Find more gardening information on Gardening Know How: Keep up to date with all that's happening in and around the garden. To prevent this, make hammocks or slings to support the developing fruit. Part of the series: Growing Melons. Use strips of cloth several inches wide. Watermelons thrive in full sunlight. Melons can be a little tricky to grow on a trellis or support. Space is at a premium and getting more so. It needs to be sturdy enough to support the fruit and able to dry out quickly so it doesn’t rot the melon. Watermelon trellis growing is easy and this article can help get you started with your watermelon vine support. And apparently it worked. Add a trellis anytime after your plants have started to grow, but don’t wait too long or you may have trouble getting them going in the direction you want. It has the added benefit of being mobile, so that you can move it yearly. Melons. When selecting a variety to grow choose a dwarf cultivar that generally has shorter vines and smaller fruits that won’t topple the structure holding them or break their holders. Some muskmelon cultivars have fruit with rigid peduncles (fruit stems) and may not need support. Population density has more of us living in townhouses or condominiums with little to no garden space. That picture is of last year's melons. Even small melons can get heavy, and several of them can collapse a weak support. For many, lack of space isn’t a deterrent but a challenge when creating a garden and that’s where vertical gardening comes into play. Getting the vines up the trellis is only half of the job of growing melons vertically. We had a lot of feedback from viewers when we first started growing cantaloupe and watermelon plants on a trellis. All your plants need to grow up instead of out is a strong trellis and some individual supports for the melons. A problem for gardeners growing melons on a trellis is that many melons “slip” from the vine when ripe, and may fall to the ground prematurely. Of course, commercial growers cultivate all varieties of watermelon using a vertical trellising system, but for the home gardener, the small varieties of watermelon are probably the best choice. You want the melon to be partially supported by the melon vine and the twine. You can create small “hammocks” for each fruit from an old shirt or other stretchy material that can be tied off to the trellis as the vine cannot support the fruit’s mature weight. They were concerned that the fruit would be too heavy as it hung from the vines on the trellis and those were reasonable concerns! This method of watermelon vine support also brings the plant closer to the light source. Some of them were actually very large and I did not have any problems. Continue doing this two or three times per week as the vines grow. How to Decorate Walls with Picture Panels, How to Fence a Sea Wall but Not Block the View, University of California Cooperative Extension: Growing Melons in Sacramento, University of Minnesota: Trellises and Cages to Support Garden Vegetables, New Mexico State University: Vertical Garden Watermelon on Trellis, Ways to Stake Tomatoes With Cattle Panels, How to Build a Trellis for Sugar Snap Peas. Small melons grown on trellises will still need some support as the fruits grow heavier, and that can be provided with a sling of old t-shirt material or the like. This means there’s less chance of the melon falling to the ground if it gets bumped. It is going to be supporting a lot of weight, so it needs to be secured to the ground or anchored in a container of concrete. Space-saving vertical plant support forms a fun, shady tunnel ; Polyethylene-coated steel frame won't rust or degrade in sunlight and lasts for years — even decades! The first step in growing verticalmelons is selecting an appropriate variety that works well growing on a trellis-like structure. You also probably realize that melons, in particular, need extra support on a trellis, in the form of slings, bags, or hammocks made of nylon pantyhose. Use stout wires screwed into the garden wall, a purchased trellis or use your imagination and re-purpose an ornamental architectural element such as an old, iron gate or fence. How to Grow Melons on a Trellis. The best way to increase yields on an organic cucurbit crop is to use a trellis net as the melon support.Melons grow better when the leaves are well spread out and air can flow freely among the leaves and stems.. I have grown small watermelons on a trellis in the past, but am letting them grow on the ground this year. Vining fruit, such as grapes and melons, need no tying and can grow up and around a trellis, wrapping themselves around the gaps in the trellis. We started these melons from seed in the greenhouse and moved them to the trellis box once they were big enough to be transplanted. Set a 16-foot-by-4-foot metal livestock panel about 8 inches from the plants, but on the other side of the melon row from the fence posts. To create an individual melon support, simply cut a square of the fabric and draw the four corners together — with the fruit inside — and tie together onto the trellis support to create a sling. Don’t use flimsy wire or thin wood for a trellis. Some of the smaller melons don't need support. Fruit requires support as it grows on the trellis. burlap watermelon hammock for trellis grown watermelon Make sure the flanges on the posts are well buried. Old nylons or T-shirts, cheesecloth, and netted fabric are all good choices; a fabric that breathes and stretches to accommodate the growing melon is best. Post #6424547 tomatoes) but can easily be trained up (or tied to) a trellis with your help. You also can grow melons on a trellis. Lift any of the melon vines that are long enough and carefully weave them in and around the wires of the metal panel. Some of these are not natural climbers (e.g. Once you have figured out your trellis, you need to figure out what type of material you will use for a watermelon vine support. Wait until two to three weeks after the last expected spring frost to plant the melon seeds or seedlings. For gardeners who love melons but don’t have a lot of space, a trellis is the ideal solution. Tie one end of the cloth to the trellis on one side of the melon and tie the other end of the cloth to the trellis on the other side. 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