Optimal Melon Farm Layout

[ThePowerofTower]

Soooooo I'm starting a fairly large outpost that I want to have a decent supply of melons growing at, for insurance purposes. So far I've fairly absentmindedly laid out my melon farms like this:

Spoiler

Show

m = melon s = soil

mssmssm
mssmssm

and so on. I've thought about changing it to something like a checkerboard pattern, for more efficiency, but basically, I'm looking for a format where no matter what side a melon comes out on, the neighboring melons still have a spot. In a checkerboard, 4 melons could crowd one vine and make that vine not produce, which would suck, but atleast it's more efficient than I've been doing. Any better options out there?

[dawnraider]

I think a better layout would be:
m__mm__m (m = melon, _ = soil, just for better visualization)
because in your case, when a center melon grows, the other side then can't grow, meaning maximal growth is this:
m[][]m_[]m
as opposed to this:
m[][]mm[][]m
since the plants can only connect to a single melon and won't grow another (Edit: meaning that if you have four vines around a single melon, none of those can produce another since that melon counts as the one for all vines). This means that a checkerboard is actually the worst possible layout, unless you did it 2x2, but even then you'd only max out at half saturation.
This image shows the maximal growth in each setup described, only the (m__mm__m) is able to achieve full saturation.
http://imgur.com/ryjVkWu

[DiamondArms]

Not sure if melon spawning speed is affected by number of free dirt spots around it, so I've got two ideas here.

If dirt spots don't matter:

SSSSS
ddddd

which is basically a row of stalks and dirt blocks.

If dirt spots do matter:

_D_
DSD
_D_

cross formation tiles. same idea as vanilla sugarcane/reed farms, which are 4 spots around a single block. Sugar cane farming setup for vanilla

EXTRA: Also depending on your tech level, automated farming with detectors/clocks.

_P_
_|_
SDS
_S_

P is a sticky piston that will either remove the dirt below the melon or the melon itself to drop into a hole. store up to 14 or so melons to harvest later. hook P up to a timer system and it should move your melons every now and then.

[Epsilon]

As far as I remember FC did not change the way melons (or pumpkins) grow, so a look at the vanilla wiki might be worth, as they explain it quite well.

Not sure if melon spawning speed is affected by number of free dirt spots around it

According to vanilla wiki it does.

[Rob]

If you need a visual aid, I show off my pumpkin farm in this old episode, where I plant them using a spacing method you are looking for. Around the 3:20 mark.

https://youtu.be/T0OiQy93iwo

[ThePowerofTower]

Thanks for all the responses - I looked at the wiki, and Epsilon's right, the number of free spaces does affect spawning. I think I'm going to test out this format here, which is like a staggered form of Dawnraider's idea. Basically, the idea is to make it so that every 2 melons only have 2 available spaces maximum that they can compete for, and so half of them will spawn as if they had 2 spaces available, and the next half will spawn at the slower rate, meaning I get both a bit of convenience when I need it and a full yield.

m__mm__m
_mm__mm_
_mm__mm_
m__mm__m

The wiki also said that melons and pumpkins check to see if they have an adjacent fruit of the same type before spawning, and idk what that means exactly, but it might be worth trying a half-pumpkin half-melon layout in case putting a melon fruit next to a melon vine prevents it from spawning. So like this:

m__mm__m
_ pp___pp__
_ pp___pp__
m__mm__m

I'll let you guys know how it works out!

[Epsilon]

The wiki also said that melons and pumpkins check to see if they have an adjacent fruit of the same type before spawning, and idk what that means exactly, but it might be worth trying a half-pumpkin half-melon layout in case putting a melon fruit next to a melon vine prevents it from spawning.

That Interpretation is right, but feel free to run test that in the end get us the maximum time/space/beauty efficiency.

[dawnraider]

in case putting a melon fruit next to a melon vine prevents it from spawning.

That Interpretation is right, but feel free to run test that in the end get us the maximum time/space/beauty efficiency.

Yes this is what I was talking about with vibes connecting to only one plant, I have confirmed this myself through testing. I do think that the staggered melon + pumpkin would probably be the most efficient, as a pumpkin growing would not prevent a melon and vice versa.

[chaoticneutral]

"Optimal" depends on what you're trying to optimize for.

In the early game, something like DiamondArms' cross is unbeatable - it returns the best yield per seed possible, when you're usually short on seeds. However, as the farm expands, it gets kinda clumsy and spacious, you're using 5 spaces for what can be done with 2.

I already tried something quite similar to your 2x2 tiles... it works, but it isn't as convenient for farming than simple rows, so I either use DSDDSD (D = dirt, S = stalk) for fast production or SDDSSDDS if the melons can sit in the ground for some time before harvesting.

[the_fodder]

This is the format I ended up using. Not as space saving as some, but an easier patter to remember and on the eyes.
Each seed has 4 blocks available to grow and you wont get 2 stems attached to same block.
M= Melon seed P = Pumpkin seed

[DiamondArms]

This is the format I ended up using. Not as space saving as some, but an easier patter to remember and on the eyes.
Each seed has 4 blocks available to grow and you wont get 2 steps attached to same block.
M= Melon seed P = Pumpkin seed

Colour me impressed. If I ever figure out how to live on the surface I'll be using this design for my outdoor farm.