Cucumbers and Containers

I thought I'd post a response to Siren's comment in blog form, rather than comment back.

Here is her comment:

i want some cucumbers, too. i was thinking it would be too late to plant them.
Now i am wondering if i could stick them in the ground anyway. do you find they
like hot weather? Have you grown in those containers before? I thought melons
needed a lot of room! But i am a complete novice! Nice blog :)

Given our nice warm climate here, with the summer often lingering far into the fall, I don't think it's too late to plant them. The variety I'm using (Space master), is one specifically suited for containers or small spaces. Space master is supposed to harvest in 56 days. So, if you planted them today, that would give you an estimated harvest date of 19 August. Pretty reasonable.

So I say, if you want cucumbers...GO FOR IT!!! Just check the harvest date, to make sure that it's not too far away. Though, I remember having some cucumbers a bit into September last year.

The containers I'm using this year, I'm using for the first time. In case anyone is interested, I got them at Lowe's for a pretty reasonable price. I can't remember the exact price, but it was low enough to buy a whole bunch of them (have 5 square ones, and 2 round ones so far).

With the containers, I made sure that there are drainage holes in the bottom, and filled them with a mix of soil, composted manure, and organic fertilizer. I may add some peat moss next year, depending on how the mix does this year.

On to the melons! Watermelons -- like pumpkins, cantaloupe, summer squash, and winter squash -- grow on long vines. So, given that, all you need, is a bit of space for the roots to grow, and lots of space for the vines. The plus with planting the way I am, is that I can move the container anywhere to give the vines room to spread. Another option, is trellising. I forgot to mention that with the cucumbers. Those will grow wonderfully on a trellis. But, it IS possible to trellis watermelons, thus reducing the space needed for the vines to spread.

I am planing on putting up a trellis for a few of my plants, just waiting for them to get bigger.

Whew! I think I've answered all the questions. Now, to go take some photos, and put up a photo post.