Yeah, watermelon vines need a lot of space, they sprawl out, plus the melons get big. Cucumbers do also need some space which would mean if you had planters, you would have to have long rectangular shaped ones, and you'd have to manage your vines. They seem to take sandy soil, a lot like watermelons do (we grow them up here in Eastern Oregon, they sometimes do ok on my side of the mountains, but it is a bit wet for them over here).
With cucumbers, make sure there are not too many buds on one vine, which would result in underdeveloped cucumbers, so thin the buds out so you have bigger sized ones to eat fresh, otherwise you would having pickling cukes, they do not taste so good un-pickled.
You can even grow your own strawberries in pots too. Also look for dwarf versions of fruit trees which can be in big pots and will produce fruit. Lots of variety of apples will do this (not sure if they will grow down there very well?) and of course lemon and orange trees have varieties.
I was trying to think of what else could be grown in pots. I guess you just have to look at what the size is when it is mature (the plant) and judge it by that. I have not given it a lot of thought as up here we have a lot of room to spread out, even in the city.
This brings to mind a story I have told before about gardens here.
In 1988 I worked downtown and took the light rail in from where I live (same town). Each day, when light rail started passing through Sullivans Gulch, which is where I-84 passes through, I could look to my right and see all along the railroad tracks, where there was all of this sloping land, being gardened by these Vietnamese and Cambodian immigrant women. They had gardens everywhere, with all sorts of things growing.
I always admired them for doing that. Using spots of land no one else would have thought to, plus providing for their families so they were self-sufficient. It made me more aware of how much we have and how little we make use of it.
BTW, PAF, I'll send you some of our infamous blackberries to plant :twisted: :twisted: !!! I am being really sarcastic, as once these things get going, they are like English Ivy, you cannot get rid of them. They are called Himalayan blackberries, and they grow all over western Oregon, in huge thickets, sometimes as tall as a 2 story building. Sure the berries make great pies and jams, but geez, these things are noxious.
We think it is funny to watch the illegals here go nuts over them. They see them as some kind of miracle, and we see them as weeds. Maybe we should send some starter plants down to Mexico for them to plant!!!!
Another thing we have all over here is apple, pear and plum trees from old farms. They like those too.