It is certainly do-able but...In my opinion, most melons need to be supported because of their weight. I have seen it suggested that an old pair of panty hose is the perfect support...

obrionusa, I grew quite a few different varieties of melons on a string trellis last year. They did very well and I did not even support them (I planned on it but did not get around to it). Some of them were actually very large and I did not have any problems. Go to the link below and look on page 4 of my photobucket link and you can see the melons on the trellis.

Dale

Here is a link that might be useful: [http://s117.photobucket.com/albums/o65/thepodpiper/?start=0(http://s117.photobucket.com/albums/o65/thepodpiper/?start=0)

It is absolutely doable. You need a trellis support and some nylon 7" garden netting. It will hold up 75 pounds. I'm doing it this year--already set up and ready to go.

Prof

great pics dale!! i am def. going to try to grow my melons on a trellis now.

very impressed Dale, what variety of melons were they?

Dale, what happens when the melons get fully ripe? With no support, don't they fall off the vine and get damaged?

obrionusa,the melons that I grew along the fence were;

Israel cantaloupe
Collective Farm Women
Ambrosia
Jenny Lind
Hale's best Jumbo
Charentais (sp)
Minnesota Midget

lilydude, I was fortunate and only lost one melon that fell to the ground. I would definetely support them if I do it like this again.

I would also like to say that it is alot of work training them to stay on the trellis but maybe not so bad with just a couple of vines. i actually had 15 or 17 vines and it got to be pretty time consuming (but fun).

Dale

Dale - those are some impressive pictures! Man...you have a huge garden!

I just wanted to add that the panty hose actually work well. Here's some pics from last year.

EG

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I was just thinking about this. I have never grown cantaloupes but want to plant some for my wife. I have the space, I have the trellis! I'm so doing this this year! The pics were very help full thanks for posting them.

Dale - Your garden pictures are awesome!

thanks everyone. engineeredgarden I like the trellis and a very good use of space.

Dale

eng-garden, I saw your hillside trellises...beautiful job!
I couldn't find this melon trellis, though. Could you give me a link for this one?

I may not be able to do the whole raised bed potager that I was originally planning, but this is a fine project to start with. Thanks!

I planted cantaloupe next to a trellis.

Even with my attempts at training, the plant spread out 6 feet in all directions on the gound, and maybe climbed 1 foot up the trellis.

I did get some great melons from it though!

to Dale (thepodpiper), your garden is fabulous. I am so jealous that you can grow watermelon and cantaloupes in your backyard. I looked through all your 500+ pictures. Do you have a post or do you mind to explain how your watering system work? I saw some PVC tubes and soak hose in some of your pictures. I am always wandering can the water have that high pressure to go that far? I have several raised beds and try to set up an automatic watering system. I am thinking to have a 1 to 4 split then add soaker hose (50 feet) to each split to go to each bed but not sure if the water will go that far. Thank you.

to the engineeredgarden: Are you a real engineer? Your cantaloupe looks so happy on its house!

New gardener in Tx

It's not the length of the hose but the rate of flow that limits hose length. The lower the flow rate, the longer the hose can be and still maintain effective pressure at the end.

Dale, Thanks!

mmqchdygg - Thanks! Here's a link to the first blog post, that has a good picture of them. Link below...

newgardener - No, but my garden is...Ha.

EG

Here is a link that might be useful: Box/trellis construction