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johngreenhand

cantaloupes on trellis

johngreenhand
12 years ago

This year I have had modest success in growing Sugar Queen and Super Fortyfive cantaloupe hybrids on my trellis. The Super are planted at about 3 foot intervals along the plastic net trellises. The Sugar Queen are about one foot apart. They both are on 36 in rows and each row is approximately 40 foot long. The trellises are approximately six and a half foot tall. I use John Deere row drip on 8 inch spacing to water and a fertigator to add 13-13-13 fertilizer. My main concern is lack of pollination on some(baby fruit just dry up without developing). Some of the fruits grow to lime sizes and are misshapen. Then I have my production fruit (absolutely delicious). I use old basket ball, volley ball nets and decorative fish net to "cradle" and only harvest at "full slip"(when they turn loose from the vine". I do not know if fertilization program, excessive heat, or improper watering is my problem. Also i pruned some quite a bit and others none. I had Sugar Baby watermelons (personal melons) on another trellis and made some delicious melons but not many. I did not have to use anything to hold them up as the stem was very adequate for their suspension.

Any suggestions would be appreciated to have better production and remedy the aforementioned challenges

Johngreenhand

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