Experiment: Fruit Protective Cages - Will it work?

[canadian-gardening]

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Yesterday I went to check my watermelon patch and something ate every single watermelon accept 3.
My first though was "oh no - another year lost".
After I got off the garden bench - I went to clean up the mess and found 3 watermelons hiding and some babies.
I have some portable strawberry cages that I made and I covered the remaining melons with it.

I also have honeydew and cantaloupe bed and not enough portable cages to cover them.
I was thinking of making small cages just for the melons - now that they found I have melons - they will be back.

At least they left me 3 watermelons this time - last year they ate them all.
How would you handle this?
Thank you!
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https://canadian-gardening.ca/growing-f ... elons.html

[canadian-gardening]

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Thinking Melon Cages today:
I went shopping in my shed.
Found chickenwire, 1/2" and 1/4" hardware cloth.
I think I will use 1/4" hardware cloth, because I have small rodents in my yard.

Now on to designing the cage that's be easy to do.
For small melons like honeydew and cantaloupe - I was thinking maybe $Store wire baskets might work, because then all I'll have to do is make a lid.
Back to the workshop.
How do you protect your melons?
Below are the watermelons that critters sowed in the gravel path.
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[canadian-gardening]

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Years ago I used a flower pot on it's side with a watermelon and covered the melon with straw and it worked.
This year I did put the melons in pots, but I was slow with the straw.

So I made this cage with hardware cloth, but it took me all day to make one cage.

I think I'm going back to the plastic pot idea and make a wire lid for it instead.

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watermelon-cage.jpg

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What do you think?
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[canadian-gardening]

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I am still thinking about this:
Going to try my old plastic pots again.
I could notch the rim of the plastic pot for the watermelon stem and just put the pot over the melon and weigh down the pot. It will work for small melons.

I think I want to lay down the plastic pot on its side on the soil (landscaping cloth) - make a mesh lid and notch the lid for the melon stem.
Either wire down the melon lid to the pot or use zip-ties.
Still thinking.

I also thought of $Store wire baskets for smaller melons - not sure if they still have them.
Amazon also sells wire mesh bags to protect plants from moles - but how do you tie the bags around the thin stems?

I have chipmunks, squirrels, voles, mice, rabbits, skunks and raccoons.
Do you want them? - come on over.
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