My muskmelon plants(Ambrosia, Earligold, and Jung Classic Hybrid varieties) are doing quite well so far--bees and others are pollinating yellow flowers, and a few small melons are already beginning to grow, but I'm not sure how to go about pruning them. I read in the Vegetable Gardener's Bible that you should prune the ends of side shoots once they reach five leaves, but I'm having trouble discerning which are the main shoots and which are the side shoots amidst the mass of foliage. It seems there are between 2 and 4 main shoots that arise from the stem--are these really the main shoots are some actually side shoots? Also, I've seen varying recommendations on the spacing for these plants--I planted mine in 3 by15 foot raised beds roughly 20 inches apart and they're starting to overlap. Too close?
AP in 5b