Does anyone have experience with vertical growing watermelons ?

I'm going to try and get watermelons to grow up the sides of the grow cage.
Looking for advice and suggestions.
These are all Ice box sized varieties.
Here is a picture of it so far.
Interested in Melon support ideas that worked for you.
And any failures you might foresee.

Wife did it last year. Supported her melons with a small net.

Thx
I'm thinking of nets also.
Have heard cloth pouches ( as in t-shirt materials , ect.) can cause moisture retention ( melon rot ) .
So I've been considering the hook systems from hanging flower pots , attached to pieces cut from a discarded trampoline's safety netting.

This is my second attempt at this.
Lost them all last time from an outside trellis.
Critters got them about a week to ten days before ripe enough to harvest.

That's why they are now inside an unused grow cage.

Pantyhose. Cut off a leg, slip melon into foot part, tie top to trellis. Try Dollar Tree or other dollar stores for cheap hose.

Guy I work with is growing watermelons on a trellis this year. He’s using pantyhose for a fruit hammock. So far so good.


Good luck with it

2x4" welded fencing cut in squares, leave tag ends, bend hooks on the ends and hook them around the melons to the chain link, works well.

I did it last year on cattle panels, supported the melons with torn T-shirts.

Is there any advantage to growing melons on a trellis system besides taking up less space?

Keith

Not really , plus the vines of mellons will root into the ground if you notice .
So you're taking away some extra plant strength .
That said , I've used onion bags and potato bags , could use the bags oranges come in .

Ever see the square watermellon ?

I did watermelons and pudidn't. And Crenshaw pumpkins (some weighed 25 plus pounds) on fence last year and didn't use anything for support.

I was amazed some of the heavier pumpkins and melons stems didn't break but they didnt.

I planted them.along the fence in my melon patch again this year.


The only benefit to me is that I can.plant more melons.in.less.space and the melons are easier to.find than if they were on the ground under the leaves of the vines.

May save them from ground hogs. Planted over 1/2acre and didn't get Any mellons and only 6 pumpkin. Ground hosts got the rest. I didn't see them in the thick Vine mess untill it was to late. A few 220s took care of the culprits and a bonus skunk.

Yes its a space containment idea.
Already had the raised beds and no plants for the grow pen, so ....
Plus being a secured area I can control varmints.
Ridge Runner , thx .
I'll look at that idea . thx again

Here's my cucumber trellis,
I have 4 beds of them