I plant my watermelon, cantalope and squash in 5gal pails with the bottoms cut out bury in the garden so about 6" stick out of ground then hill the dirt around the bucket up to the top. Protects the plants when they are the most vulnerable to wind. when I water I just fill bucket with water and let it soak away in my sandy soil.Sure seems to be an abundance of hail this year , We got some yesterday too. I had a nice watermelon plant that the wind whipped around and broke off . There is an omen about raising watermelons in these hills, I keep trying to defy the odds.
I plant my watermelon, cantalope and squash in 5gal pails with the bottoms cut out bury in the garden so about 6" stick out of ground then hill the dirt around the bucket up to the top. Protects the plants when they are the most vulnerable to wind. when I water I just fill bucket with water and let it soak away in my sandy soil.