Cantaloupe in a bucket.

[YumYum]

How big of a bucket do I need to grow cantaloupe in, maybe two plants in it? Whatever is in my soil wont let me grow cantaloupes so I think I'm going to try potting mix in a bucket and let the vines sprawl out probably on some gravels. Thought about going vertical too but I don't know.

 

[Meadowlark]

Happen to have a 5-gallon bucket around? Punch some drain holes in it and grow some melons. They need 16 inches depth and 14 inches in width and the old 5-gallon bucket fills that need.

 

[YumYum]

I'm also thinking about burying the bucket so it doesn't dry out so fast. Do you see any problems with that? Never buried a bucket and planted out of it before.

 

[Meadowlark]

Make it easy and find some old, rotted wood for the bottom, some compost next, and then your potting mix...presto changeo a Hügelkultur container.

 

[Susan BBPM]

I'm also thinking about burying the bucket so it doesn't dry out so fast. Do you see any problems with that? Never buried a bucket and planted out of it before.

An alternative to burying that's worth consideration is cutting the bottom off the container. This allows the plant to put roots down deeper for water if it needs to, and also allows the pot to wick water up from the ground below. It works well in my climate, but it is normally fairly wet here. I guess it won't help much if the ground itself is very dry.

 

[Meadowlark]

I found some volunteer cantaloupes coming up alongside a compost pile today...what the heck, I've got empty HK containers from the concluded potato experiment so I'm going to transplant them and see what happens. It's going to be a very tricky transplant with temps approaching 90 today but nothing to lose with volunteers.

If one survives, I'll post a picture later. Come on YumYum jump into the HK container World.

 

[YumYum]

I found some volunteer cantaloupes coming up alongside a compost pile today...what the heck, I've got empty HK containers from the concluded potato experiment so I'm going to transplant them and see what happens. It's going to be a very tricky transplant with temps approaching 90 today but nothing to lose with volunteers.

If one survives, I'll post a picture later. Come on YumYum jump into the HK container World.

Hehe. I don't have any problem with sticking wood scraps in the bottom of a bucket or hole. I don't have much of any though.

What kind of cantaloupes do you grow? I was thinking about trying a hybrid for the verticillium wilt resistance factor. I had been trying to grow Hales Best Jumbo previously. What fruit I did get a long time ago was really good. I hope the hybrids don't taste like a Walmart melon.

 

[Susan BBPM]

I found some volunteer cantaloupes coming up alongside a compost pile today...what the heck, I've got empty HK containers from the concluded potato experiment so I'm going to transplant them and see what happens. It's going to be a very tricky transplant with temps approaching 90 today but nothing to lose with volunteers.

If one survives, I'll post a picture later. Come on YumYum jump into the HK container World.

We had a huge, rotten, fallen tree deposited on the banks of the stream at the bottom of our garden over winter. My husband chopped it up into small pieces yesterday. I'm planning on giving your approach a try.

So, currently the wood is dry (but rotten). Presumably I soak it first? How much soil depth do you need for various plants (e.g. squash, flowers, beans, brassicas). My primary goal is to reduce the amount of compost I need to use. My tubs are all 18 inches to 2 foot deep, and similar width.

 

[Meadowlark]

My tubs are all 18 inches to 2 foot deep, and similar width.

That should work just fine for everything you mentioned. I haven't found anything that won't work yet. However, they must be watered well. I use an imprecise "recipe" of sevens...seven inches of decayed wood, seven inches of rich compost, and seven inches of garden soiI on top. I like to leave a little space short of full so seedlings can get some protection from winds. I think it would be fascinating to see how it does in your climate.

 

[Meadowlark]

What kind of cantaloupes do you grow?

I've grown (and like) the Hales Best. I'd say my favorite melon is the Israeli. I just really like the taste of them.

The cantaloupes I transplanted to HK container are "who knows" volunteers that sprung up from a Mexican melon we had in February that was really good. I just hope it was not a hybrid. Verticillium wilt just hasn't been a problem here.

 

[Meadowlark]

Three volunteers transplanted and three looking ok this morning. I just hope they aren't hybrids. I'll thin to two later.

 

[Susan BBPM]

That should work just fine for everything you mentioned. I haven't found anything that won't work yet. However, they must be watered well. I use an imprecise "recipe" of sevens...seven inches of decayed wood, seven inches of rich compost, and seven inches of garden soiI on top. I like to leave a little space short of full so seedlings can get some protection from winds. I think it would be fascinating to see how it does in your climate.

The main issue here is likely to be slugs, but I can deal with that with nemetodes. We traditionally have a very wet climate, but in recent years it's been very dry in spring and summer - by the end of season it gets wet but slugs are less of a problem then as the plants are big enough to survive the odd attack.

I'm not sure if my wood pieces are small enough and decayed enough but I can top up nitrogen if necessary. It's a big tree so very crumbly and rotten in places but some fairly hard bits in the centre. But we'll see what happens.

 

[Meadowlark]

Update for YumYum:

My suspicions confirmed: My volunteer melons are hybrids. They exhibit classic hybrid vigor growing, blooming and setting fruit like crazy. Only problem is the fruit is something I have never seen before, LOL. I'll let this play out and see if the fruit is edible. It's an attractive set of plants and they obviously like the HK container.

 

[YumYum]

Is that a melon or a squash or don't know yet? Will it become the Meadowlark Melon????

 

[Meadowlark]

Yes, Meadowlark Melon...of who knows what origin.