pumpkins and watermelons in a square foot garden?

[mama2annabelle]

I remember reading that pumpkins and watermelons can be planted in a square foot garden...but I'm having a hard time believing it. I only have the really old version of the SFG book and it's recommendations are 1 melon plant per square and 2 pumpkin plants per 1ftx4ft section. My bed is 4ftx4ft and if I go by these recommendations I will have 4 pumpkins and 8 watermelons in one bed! I just can't be right. Can anyone shed some light on this for me? Should I even try or should I just do a couple melon plants in the bed and put the pumpkins somewhere else?

[Pumpkin_Pie]

I also have a hard time believing it. I am not doing SFG, but I have a small plot this year and planted one zucchini plant and it has completely taken over my celery and carrots. They are pretty much dead because of being covered by the zukes. I also have one Sungold tomato plant that takes up way more than 1 square foot. I just don't understand how it works. Maybe you have to grow mini versions of everything?

[limette]

I did pumpkins successfully in a square foot garden. The jack o lanterns were planted in a 3x12 bed amongst densely planted corn and bush beans.

The pie pumpkins and minis were planted 1/sq ft and grew directly up a trellis I made for them.

They did really well, despite the fact that I never watered/fertilized them.

Haven't been successful with melons but it's a climate thing.

[changingseasons]

It's been a while since I read the SFG book, but I remember him saying 3'x3' space for EACH squash.

Oh wait.... if you're growing them vertically, you don't need as much room. That's the difference. My pumpkins I do actually have that close (2 plants in a 1'x3' space), and I have them growing straight up a 6' trellis. My squash is not next to a trellis, and it's not doing well in the 2'x2' squares that I gave them- definitely not enough room.

[swd12422]

I don't have a garden yet, but I do have the new SFG book from the library....

He says to put 1 watermelon or 1 pumpkin per 2 square feet (cantaloupe and smaller melons only need 1), and train them up a trellis. He swears that if you start with a trellis in place and help train the vine as it grows, it will grow itself strong enough to support however many melons/pumpkins would normally grown on the plant.

Having never done this or seen it, I don't know how true that is, but he says 1 plant per square foot... I'm going to give it a try when I get my bed built!

He also says 1 plant per 2 square feet for winter and summer squash.

[ivymae]

I gave them their own bed, next to a fence, with a trellis. I just wasn't inyerested in fighting them away from the other plants. We didn't build them a fancy bed - we just used extra rocks and soil from other projects, and made sure they couldn't climb into the other beds. i guess it's possible.... but having fought melons before, I just didn't want to work that hard.