I’ve Got Melons!! – growing melons vertically

There are lots of sources out there that say to grow your vining fruit and vegetables vertically when you are working in a small space. I wondered if this was possible. Would the vine agree to climb up rather than spread out along the ground? Would the vine be able to support the fruit as it grew if it was just hanging there without the ground to carry most of the weight? Would the fruit fall off too soon? Well, since we are working in a small space, we decided to try growing vertically as best we could. We very easily trained the melon vines to climb the curly tomato stakes and now we have young melons growing. Are they proving to be too heavy? What are your suggestions for us at this point to ensure we get to see these melons reach their full maturity? Also, check out www.gettingtheregreen.com for more urban gardening discussions.