Pyramid support for vertical gardening

Big news in the Morrison Victory Garden.  We have a new support structure and a few fruit sightings.

pyramid support for melon/zucchini

I finish creating the support for the Crenshaw melon and one of the zucchini plants. I tried my hardest to keep all of the zucchini and yellow squash plants vertical but one zucchini plant is very stubborn. I decided to let the zucchini plant grow horizontal and trail up and down the pyramid support with the melons.

I made the support using two wooden lattices and four wooden posts.  I nailed two posts to the shortest sides of one lattice.  The posts keep the lattice steady and help maintain the pyramid/upside down V shape.  I repeated the process with the two additional stakes and the remaining lattice.

whip-stitching the top seam

I leaned each lattice against each other to make a pyramid shape.  The unevenness of the top seam is not an issue.  Just use some string and whip-stitch the top seam together. I kept the string tight while sewing up the seam. The tight string keeps the support structure looking like an upside down V.  The last thing anyone would want is their vertical support to flatten out by the weight of the plants or fruit.  However, this may still happen especially if large heavy fruit  grow on the vines.  I may consider adding a few strong vertical stakes in the middle of the pyramid if we have an overabundance of zucchini or melons.

July 1, 2012 - Crenshaw melon

As for the melons, there are many flowers and small orbs of fuzzy fruit growing on the vines. The Crenshaw melons are doing the best and will be the first to produce mature fruit. The cantaloupe and watermelon plants are growing but have not reached the same size as the Crenshaw melon plant. Right now most of the Crenshaw melons are small and furry.  As the melons mature the fuzz will disappear into a hard rough skin.

Juliet tomato flowers & first tomato of the season (right)

The tomato plants have filled up the red cages.  I will be adding the second level to the cages within the week.  I noticed a few small green orbs hanging amongst the yellow flowers too.  To my surprise, the Juliet tomato plant is the first to push out green tomato.  I hope to see many more growing orbs in the tomato plants within the next few weeks.

corn has tassels and silk

The corn is doing the best it can do.  I used all of our remaining corn seed to plant this season's crop.  The seed was bought from Burpee in 2009.  The older the seed, the more likely the seed will not germinate or produced fruit/veggies.  I suspected this might happen this season since our corn seeds were a few years old.  I was correct in my assumptions.  I had to replant corn three times due to lack of germination.  I wanted to make sure the rows were full to help with corn pollination.  So far, a little more than half of the corn has produced ears.  However, many of the stalks are half as tall when compared to our 2011 corn field.