Dale,

It sounds like you've had a great watermelon year. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you to have a late frost so the rest of your melons can ripen. It certainly looks like rain is headed your way if it isn't already there. Rain for the fall garden is always a nice treat, as long as there's not any hail in it.

I can't believe your dog eats watermelon. One of my dogs eats tomatoes, and another eats pumpkins and winter squash, but they've never touched a melon.

Blacktail Mountain has been our favorite for about a decade even though it is not the heaviest producer because its flavor is so good, and it is a reliable, consistent producer no matter what the weather does. In the worst drought year we've experienced here in Oklahoma (just under 19" of rain in 2003), Blacktail Mountain practically took over the entire garden, although we did have to water it a lot. We had so many melons that year we were giving them away.

It has been a hectic week here and I haven't planted my garlic yet. Since rain is in the forecast for the next few days and it already has rained lightly here this morning, maybe I'll get the garlic in the ground next week!

Dawn

Doesn'tÃÂ surpriseÃÂ me about your dog liking watermelons.ÃÂ We have several commercial growers close by and their biggest problem with growing watermelon is the coyotes.ÃÂ I had a few watermelons planted in the field below my house and I only got one or two before the coyotes found them.ÃÂ

Gary,

Coyotes are a huge problem here not only for watermelons, but for muskmelons and cantaloupes as well. The closer you are to the Red River, the more trouble you have with the coyotes.

Some of my friends with very large and unfenced gardens have given up on growing watermelons because the coyotes get every single one. After a couple of years of that, they decided "why bother".

Dawn

Dawn and you ALL

I am going to try some melons in containers next season, I find that half whiskey barrels are very expensive. So I was wondering about using 18 gal or so totes? And if so how many drainage holes would I need?

Charlie

Charlie,

With totes, I think it would work but it will work best if you buy good, sturdy totes like the Rubbermaid Roughneck ones. Avoid the ones of clear plastic because they are brittle and break down in sunlight in just a couple of years.

As for drainage holes, with any container we drill nickle- to quarter-sized holes in the bottoms, evenly spaced around the container. I haven't grown anything in 18-gallon totes so couldn't begin to guess how many holes to drill, but in my cat litter buckets, which hold only 5 gallons, we drill three rows of three holes, for a total of 9 holes. When you use a rectangular or square container be sure holes are close enough to the corners that water cannot pool in the corners of the containers. With the molasses feed tubs we use, Tim drills holes about every 3 or 4 inches around the outer edge of the container's bottom, and then scatters a few more holes in the interior portion of the bottom of the container.

It is hard to put too many drainage holes in because having good drainage is very important, although you don't want to have so many holes that the soil washes out. To cut down on how much soil washes out through the drainage holes, I've tried several things and they all work pretty well. I've cut a fabric-type mulch cloth to fit inside the containers and place it inside right before adding soil. I've done the same thing with cardboard or many layers of newspaper. I've even used a 2 or 3" layer of big chunky bark mulch on the bottom to keep the soil mostly above the drainage holes. All worked just fine.

I know there are lots of folks who use rope-handled 'muck buckets' that they buy at places like home center stores or farm supply stores and seem to be very happy with the results. I'm thinking of trying some of them next year. I'll link a photo of one below.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Muck Bucket

I bought a 55 Gal. plastic drum, planning to cut into 2 containers. Will they work OK? If so that will cost me about $6.00 each. I can buy the metal drums cheaper but expect the plastic will last longer and be easier to cut.

Larry