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Trellis for growing cucumbers


Cucumber Trellis Ideas, Tips, & Inspiration for Vegetable Gardens

Years ago when I first planted cucumbers, I let the vines sprawl all around my garden. Boy, did they ever take up a lot of space! I was new to vegetable gardening and didn’t realize how big the plants would grow. Now I use a cucumber trellis to support my plants. Not only does this help contain their rampant growth, but getting the plants off the ground can also increase production, reduce insect and disease issues, and make it easier to harvest the fruits. 

Types of cucumber plants

Before I delve in the many types of cucumber trellises you can use to support your plants, it’s important to understand that there are two types of cucumber plants: bush and vining. 

A trellis doesn’t have to be fancy to be effective. This wooden and wire mesh trellis is both easy and inexpensive to build.

Benefits of using a cucumber trellis

So why bother going to the trouble of erecting a trellis for your cucumber plants? Here are five reasons to grow cucumbers vertically:

  1. When grown up cucumber leaves have better access to sunlight and that can boost fruit production.
  2. It’s easier to avoid wetting the foliage when cucumber plants are on a trellis. This is important because splashing water can spread disease. And while the leaves will still get wet when it rains, they’ll dry quicker if grown up a trellis and are not overcrowded on the ground.
  3. You’re saving space by not growing space-hogging cucumber plants on the ground.
  4. It’s easier to keep an eye out for pests and diseases on trellised cucumbers. 
  5. Vertically grown plants produce fewer misshapen fruits. Plus, they’ll be easier to spot and harvest (no bending or stooping). 

The best spot for a cucumber trellis

Healthy cucumber plants yield the largest crop of fruits so look for a site that provides ideal growing conditions. Cucumbers are a heat-loving vegetable and need at least six to eight hours of sun each day. They also appreciate rich soil and I amend my beds with several inches of compost or well-rotted manure before I plant. To further encourage healthy growth, I also apply a slow-release organic vegetable fertilizer. 

Lemon cucumber has been a favorite vining cucumber in my family for over two decades. We love the mild, crisp fruits and their quirky rounded shape.

Types of cucumber trellises:

You can DIY a cucumber trellis or you can buy them online and in garden centres. They can be simple and made with materials like string or chicken wire or sturdy structures made from wood or metal.

DIY cucumber trellis ideas:

Metal mesh trellises and tunnels

I have been using four by eight sheets of metal mesh for over a decade to create simple DIY trellises for my cucumber plants. I ziptie them to one by three by six foot pieces of untreated lumber attached to the back of my raised beds. Voila, a super quick and easy trellis for vining veggies! You can also buy cattle panels which measure four by sixteen feet. These can be supported in the same way, upright on wooden stakes, or they can be bent into a U-shape to make a cucumber tunnel. Be sure to add wood or metal stakes at the corners of your tunnel or secure it to the sides of a raised bed.

A Suyo Long cucumber climbing one of my vertical wire trellises.

Two pieces of metal mesh can also be joined together to create a DIY A-frame trellis like the one in the photo below. Secure the top with zipties or metal ties to make sure it stays together as the cucumber plants climb up.

This simple DIY cucumber trellis is made from two wire panels.

String trellises

The string trellis in the photo below is just a wooden frame built on top of a raised bed. It has lengths of string that run through eye hooks to support the vigorous vines of cucumber plants. I suggest buying a good quality string or jute twine. I’ve used dollar store twine for trellising tomatoes and when the plants grew heavy with fruit, the twine snapped and my plants ended up damaged on the ground.

Cucumbers are fairly agile climbers and can scale many types of supports, including trellises made from string or twine.

Netting trellises

Instead of using strings, you could use plastic or nylon netting. It can be hung between wooden or metal supports, or secured to fences, the side of a shed or house, or another structure. Only use netting, chicken wire, or other mesh materials with holes large enough to reach your hand through. Otherwise the fruits may get stuck in the openings as they grow.

Instead of strings, you can also grow cucumbers on netting. Here I hung a short length of nylon netting in my poly tunnel to support my plants.

Up-cycled cucumber trellis ideas:

There are so many items and materials that can be turned into an effective cucumber trellis. Take the closet organizer in the photo below. This was an old closet organizer Savvy Gardening’s Jessica had in her closet. She painted it bold purple, added some strings to make it easier for the cucumber plants to climb, and installed it in her vegetable garden.

I love this colorful and fun cucumber trellis that Jessica made from an old metal closet organizer.

Another excellent example of upcycling is the below umbrella trellis made from the wooden supports of a broken patio umbrella.

Many items can be recycled into effective trellises. When the fabric tore on this wooden patio umbrella, it was removed so the supports could be used to grow cucumbers vertically.

Purchased cucumber trellises:

There are a lot of different types and styles of cucumber trellises and cages available online and at garden centres. Most of these are made from metal wire or mesh.

Wire cucumber cages

I found the bright red cucumber cages in the photo below at a local hardware store last spring and thought it would be fun to see how my vining cucumber plants grew on them. I planted two cucumbers on each cage (and a fast-growing lettuce in the middle). The cages proved to be strong enough to hold two large cucumber vines and the fruits dangled down the inside and outside of the cage for easy picking. Plus, I loved the pop of color they added to my raised beds. Cucumber cages are available online and in stores.

I fell IN LOVE with these bright red wire cucumber cages last spring and had to add four to my garden for my vining varieties. I love the pop of color and they were surprisingly sturdy.

Wire A-frame cucumber trellis

Metal A-frame trellises are popular supports for vining cucumbers. Most are about four to five feet tall, which is ideal for cucumber plants and are very easy to set up. While the plants are small, you can plant a fast-growing crop like leaf lettuce or arugula in the space under the trellis. Once the cucumbers have grown up enough to shade the greens, they’ll be finished anyway.

Many companies sell wire A-frame trellises for cucumbers. These sturdy structures offer ample support for the vigorous vines.

Wooden cucumber trellis

There are many sizes and styles of wooden trellises you can buy. Pyramidal or obelisk trellises are often made from wood and add beauty to a kitchen garden.

These bright blue wooden obelisks at the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh add color to the garden while providing strong support for cucumbers.

Many companies also offer decorative iron trellises for ornamental climbers like clematis and roses, but you can use them for cucumbers too! They look beautiful when placed in front of a shed or home and there are many styles and designs to choose from.

5 cucumbers to grow on a trellis:

Once you’re ready to plant cucumbers to grow up your trellis, remember to choose vining varieties. Here are a few of my favourite cucumbers to grow vertically:

Armenian cucumbers may not be true cucumbers (they’re actually musk melons) but they have a wonderful cucumber flavor and a crisp texture. Plus, the plants are very productive!

How to plant cucumbers to grow up a trellis

Cucumbers can be direct seeded in late spring, after the last frost has passed or they can be started indoors three to four weeks before the last frost date. When you’re ready to move them to the garden, you’ll need to take a few days to harden them off. I use this time to set up my trellises. A cucumber trellis should be installed before you plant seeds or seedlings. If you wait until the plants are growing, you’ll be working around a tangle of vines and you may damage the growing plants.

If direct seeding cucumbers, I also suggest installing the trellis before sowing. At the bottom of the trellis, sow the seeds six inches apart, eventually thinning to one foot apart. If transplanting seedlings, space them one foot apart.

Training trellised cucumbers 

Cucumber vines produce long, slender tendrils that wrap around their supports as the plants grow. Sometimes, especially when they’re just starting to produce tendrils, it helps to position or weave the plant on or through the trellis. Be gentle and don’t try to bend or force the plant as you don’t want to damage the shoots. Once the vines are growing well, they’ll quickly latch onto the trellis with no more help from you. 

Water plants consistently for high quality cucumbers. Drought-stressed plants produce bitter fruits.

Caring for cucumbers on a trellis

Cucumbers are considered an easy vegetable go grow. Give them rich soil, plenty of sunshine, and consistent moisture and you can expect high-performing plants. Here are three tasks you can do to help encourage healthy growth:

  1. Watering – Cucumbers need regular moisture. I water the plants deeply twice a week if we’ve had no rain. Drought stressed plants yield bitter fruits, so don’t neglect watering. To reduce the need to irrigate, I also mulch my plants with straw or shredded leaves. When I do water, I use a watering wand to direct water to the base of my plants, and avoid wetting the foliage.
  2. Fertilizing – I add a slow-release organic vegetable fertilizer to the soil when I first seed or transplant my cucumbers. I follow up with a dose of a liquid kelp when the plants are about a month old and once again when they begin to flower and fruit.
  3. Inspect – I love spending time in my vegetable garden and know that it’s important to pay attention to my plants. I want to know if there are cucumber beetles crawling up my vines or if powdery mildew has begun to stain the leaves. Take a close look at your plants – on top and under the foliage – every few days to make sure there aren’t any issues. Jessica’s excellent article on cucumber plant problems can help you figure out what’s affecting your plants and what to do.

For further reading, please check out these articles:

Are you growing your plants on a cucumber trellis?

 

Growing Cucumbers On A Trellis Vertically

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Growing cucumbers on a trellis is easy, looks awesome, and has tons of great benefits. In this article, I’ll show you how to grow cucumbers vertically, give you techniques for training the vines, and tips for choosing the right type of support for them.

I don’t know about you, but I am absolutely hooked on vertical gardening! I grow as many of my vegetables vertically as I can, and cucumbers are no exception.

Several years ago, I decided to experiment with trellising cucumbers instead of letting them take over my garden. It was such an awesome experience that I’ve never looked back.

There are so many great benefits, and it’s very easy to train the vines. Below I’ll show you everything you need to know about trellising cucumbers vertically so you can have healthy, highly productive plants, and beautiful crops.

Here’s what you’ll find in this guide…

 

Table of Contents

Do Cucumbers Need A Trellis?

Do cucumbers really need a trellis to climb on? Well, technically the answer is no. But, let me tell you a little story…

When I first started gardening, I always let mine just sprawl along the ground. Since I was a newbie gardener, I didn’t know there was any other option.

The problem with this method is that, once the vines start to get really long, they take up a lot of space. And, when left to sprawl naturally, they can quickly take over the garden!

I’d always plant them in a long row, and then train the vines to twine into each other. I tried my best to keep them within their row.

This worked pretty well, for a time. But by the end of the summer, I could barely reach some of the fruits, or walk on that side of the garden because the row became so wide.

Plus it was very difficult to find my crop because they were hidden under all that foliage. It became extremely frustrating for me.

Then one year I decided to try growing cucumbers on a trellis like I have always done with my beans. And let me tell you, that was the best gardening decision I ever made!

So, should you trellis your cucumbers vertically? Well, if I haven’t convinced you yet then keep reading…

Growing cucumbers up a trellis

How Do Cucumbers Climb Vertically?

By now you might be wondering “how do cucumbers climb?”. I mean, do they grow on vines or what? Well, kinda…

The climbing types actually have vining tendrils, which are basically side shoots that come out of the main stem. These tendrils will reach out and grab onto anything they touch.

Growing Cucumbers On A Trellis

If you’ve never tried growing cucumbers on a trellis, you’re missing out. Not only does it save tons of space, there are lots of wonderful benefits too.

But before I go on and on about how awesome it is, let’s talk about the different varieties. Because not all types of cucumbers are climbers.

Using a tall trellis to grow cucumbers vertically

Best Climbing Cucumber Varieties

At a very high level, there are two kinds of cucumber plants: bush and vining. The vining varieties are climbing plants, and the bush types are not.

So, if you want to try growing cucumbers on a trellis, you need to make sure you buy the climbers, and not the bush types.

How can you tell the difference? The seed packet or plant tag should tell you what kind it is. A few of my favorite vining ones are Homemade Pickles, Sumter, Lemon and Marketmore.

Related Post: How To Grow Cucumbers From Seeds & When To Plant

Growing cucumbers vertically in the garden

Benefits Of Growing Cucumbers Vertically

Ok, now that we know the best types of climbing cucumbers, I can tell you about all of the awesomeness that comes with trellising them vertically.

Not only does it look cool, but there are lots of benefits too…

Straight, clean, and beautiful cucumber grown vertically

What Type Of Trellis Is Best For Cucumbers?

You can use any type of support to grow cucumbers vertically. But there are a few things to keep in mind when you’re choosing the perfect one.

Vining cucumbers climbing a simple support

Cucumber Trellis Ideas

Like I said above, there are tons of options to choose from, so get creative with it. You can use any kind of vertical support, but it’s always fun to find new ideas. Here are a few of my favorite types.

Get my full list here: 13 DIY Cucumber Trellis Ideas For Small Or Large Spaces

Climbing cucumbers growing on a small garden arch

Using Chicken Wire For Trellising Cucumbers

If you use chicken wire for trellising cucumbers, or a similar type of material that has small holes, you’ll need to keep an eye on it.

Baby cucumbers can easily poke through the holes in the fencing, and become wedged or stuck in it when they get larger.

So, check on them every few days. If any of them start poking through the fencing, be sure to move them out before they get stuck.

Don’t worry. If you do find one wedged in, you can still pick it. Take a sharp knife and cut the cucumber open to remove it from the fencing. No biggy, you’ll just have to eat that one right away.

Using garden fencing to trellis cucumbers

Caring For Cucumbers On A Trellis

Once they start getting taller, you might find that your cucumber plants are not climbing the trellis on their own. If that’s the case, you’ll need to do a little work to get them to cooperate.

Related Post: Why Do Cucumbers Turn Yellow & How To Prevent It

How To Trellis Cucumbers

Vining cucumbers will attach to a trellis, but they aren’t always great climbers on their own. Sometimes they need your help to find the vertical structure.

Gravity is working against us, and the vines tend to prefer to sprawl along the ground. Other times, they can start climbing on nearby plants instead of their dedicated support.

So, you’ll need to check on them regularly, and train the unruly vines when they start going rogue.

The good news is that you don’t worry about giving the fruits any extra support. Cucumbers growing on a trellis won’t get too heavy and rip off the vine. The vines are plenty strong enough to support the full weight of the mature fruit.

Cucumbers dangling down from the vertical support

How To Train Cucumbers Up A Trellis

Don’t worry, training cucumbers to grow on a trellis isn’t hard. Simply straighten the vines and attach them to their support.

They don’t always need to be tied up though. Many times you can gently wrap or weave the stems into the trellis, and the tendrils will eventually grab it on their own.

But, you can help them out by tying the vines onto the structure using twine, choose-a-size metal twist ties, plastic flexible ties, or plant clips.

Just be sure to tie them on very loosely. Otherwise they can strangle the stems as they get thicker. Learn more about training vines here.

FAQs

In this section I will answer some of the most frequently asked questions about growing cucumbers vertically. If you can’t find yours here, then ask it in the comments below.

How tall should a cucumber trellis be?

Your cucumber trellis height should be tall enough so the vines have plenty of space to spread out, and proportionate to the size of the variety you have. In general, I recommend something between 4-6′ tall.

Is it better to grow cucumbers on a trellis or on the ground?

Whether it’s better to grow cucumbers on a trellis or on the ground is really personal preference. But with all of the benefits that come with training them vertically, I think trellising them is definitely better.

How much space do you need to grow cucumbers vertically?

You don’t need as much space to grow cucumbers vertically as you otherwise would. They only need as much space as your trellis takes up, as long as you keep them trained, so it depends on the footprint of the support.

Do cucumbers need to climb to grow?

No, cucumbers do not need to climb in order to grow. However, trellising them will help keep them healthier and producing beautiful fruits.

How close can you plant cucumbers vertically?

You can plant cucumbers fairly close together when growing them vertically. I recommend spacing them at least 4″ apart along the base of the trellis.

How do you get cucumbers to climb a trellis?

In order to get cucumbers to climb a trellis, you need to train them on a regular basis. Check on them every few days and weave or tie the vines onto the support as they get longer.

Growing cucumbers on a trellis is easy, and there are lots of great benefits. Not only will trellising cucumbers save a ton of space in your garden, your plants will be healthier, prettier, and harvesting will be a snap too!

Do you want to learn even more about growing vegetables vertically? Then you need my book Vertical Vegetables! It has all the information you need to be successful, plus two dozen step-by-step projects that you can build for your garden. Order your copy today!

Learn more about my new Vertical Vegetables book here.

More Posts About Vertical Gardening

Share your tips for growing cucumbers on a trellis in the comments section below!

Materials

Tools

Instructions

    1. Choose a location - Find a sunny spot in your garden that has well-draining soil.
    2. Prepare the soil - Amend the soil with compost and slow release fertilizer, and remove any weeds.
    3. Install the trellis - It's best to install the support before planting to avoid damaging the delicate starts.
    4. Plant your cucumbers - Plant either seeds or starts along the base of the trellis, spacing them 4-5" apart.
    5. Train them vertically - As your cucumbers get taller, train the vines to grow vertically. You may need to secure them to the trellis using twist ties, flexible ties, or plant clips.

Notes

an easy way to get a great harvest

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The owner of the garden always has a place for a small garden with cucumbers. The delicate taste of fresh or lightly salted crunchy vegetables grown by one's own hands cannot be compared with the taste of store-bought ones. There are many ways to grow cucumbers. A cucumber trellis will help to increase the yield and simplify the care of the plant. This publication will introduce you to the options for using supports and methods of hand-made manufacturing. nine0004

Cultivation of cucumbers on a trellis increases the yield and improves the quality of fruits

Contents

A shrub that is tied to a trellis receives more sunlight and bears better

There are various ways to grow cucumbers on a trellis in the open field and in a greenhouse, however, they all give excellent results.

Horizontal cucumber trellis in the open field: design photo

This is the easiest option and is great for beginner gardeners. For such a garter, you will need two metal pipes or wooden columns. They should be placed along the edges of the beds. Between them you need to stretch a strong twine, twine, wire or rope. The optimal distance between stretched rows should not exceed 25-30 cm.

Next, carefully pull the young cucumber sprouts towards the bottom support and fix them on it. This support can be improved with vertical ropes, then it will be more comfortable for the plant to grow up. nine0004

Good advice! The horizontal garter of cucumbers has one single drawback: after reaching the top bar, the stems of the plant will fall down and obscure the bush itself. But this can be avoided by making the support high enough or cutting off too long stems.

Cucumbers on a trellis are better ventilated and less susceptible to mold and fungal diseases

Vertical tying of cucumbers to a support: method description

In this case, two supports must be placed on opposite edges of the bed, and a rope must be pulled between them at the very top. We tie fabric strips 2-3 cm wide along the entire length of the stretched cable and lower them down. Their number should be equal to the number of bushes that need support. We tie the base of the cucumber with the lower end of the fabric.

As a result, the plant will independently cling to the support and stretch upward along it. This method makes it possible to place a large number of cucumber bushes in a small area. Instead of fabric strips, sticks are often used, installed near each plant. You can also make a triangle of three supports, and between them stretch the ropes and hang the support strips. nine0004

Cucumber trellis net: plant garter features

You can buy nets for this cucumber trellis at any store. They easily replace both vertical and horizontal garters. Climbing nets allow cucumbers to climb freely in the cells. In addition, mesh trellises can be arranged in any way: stretch between two pillars, make the frame in the form of a triangle, rectangle, or arrange the beds on the site in another convenient way.

Cucumber trellis is a popular and inexpensive option available to every gardener

The construction of the trellis consists of support posts and netting. Racks can be made of metal pipes, wooden blocks or concrete posts. To form a mesh weave, you can use a rope, hemp twine or wire. Currently, a special plastic mesh for trellis is especially popular. This recognition is due to the ease of installation and the availability of material.

To install the structure, it is enough to buy a cucumber trellis in the online store and fix it with wire on the top of the posts. The lower edge of the support must be deepened into the ground and secured with special wire hooks. nine0004

This trellis is made and installed quite quickly and looks attractive. In addition, it is not difficult to make a trellis for tomatoes and cucumbers with your own hands.

Comfortable Support Net for Cucumbers: Material Specifications

Since the cucumber is an unpretentious crop, even the cheapest plastic net is suitable for creating a trellis. The material looks like a fishing line made of durable polymer, which is difficult to break.

Fruit grown on a trellis always has a more beautiful shape and even color

Polypropylene used for the production of trellis nets is resistant to mechanical deformations and external influences. The material does not rot, and its service life under the influence of the sun is about seven years. Grids for poles are produced in standard green color.

The grid cell is quite large, 150-170 mm, and the rib is so thin that it is almost invisible visually. At the same time, the material is able to qualitatively support cucumber stems with fruits. Such a grid is suitable for growing not only cucumbers, but also other annual crops: tomatoes, zucchini, green and sweet peas, and beans. nine0004

How to install the net for cucumbers: photos of designs

The technique for using the net for cucumber trellis is simple:

  1. The material must be laid on the ground, folded in several layers. This must be done in such a way that the cells match.
  2. Seeds or seedlings are planted in the openings of the cells. Thanks to the grid, planting the bed evenly is not difficult.
  3. Along the edges of the allotted area, posts are installed on which the material must be fixed as the seedlings grow. nine0013
  4. When the first sprouts appear, lift the sheet and fix it horizontally over the bed. It is not necessary to tie up the plants: the cucumber clings to the support with the help of antennae.
  5. The canvas is lifted vertically and fixed at the desired level on the posts as the bushes grow. It is recommended to use special plastic clamps for fixing.

Layout of the trellis for cucumbers with dimensions

When the cucumbers grow to the fruiting period, they will be securely fixed on the trellis. With sufficient watering, the bushes will give a bountiful harvest. nine0004

Do-it-yourself trellises for cucumbers in a greenhouse: options for tying plants

It is necessary to tie up cucumbers in a greenhouse, although many believe that plants are reliably protected by greenhouse material. Thanks to the garter, cucumbers receive more sunlight, which is especially important in greenhouse conditions.

In addition, with the help of tendrils, plants cling to each other and form glomeruli. Mold grows in these weaves, and the bushes begin to rot. You can avoid this by separating the plants. The garter allows better development of the lateral branches on which the female flowers are placed. This arrangement allows you to increase the yield of bushes. nine0004

The same methods are suitable for tying in the greenhouse as for outdoor plants: horizontal, vertical and with netting. No less effective is the formation of plants in a combined way.

Cucumber tying makes it possible to grow more plants in a small area

Cucumber blinding method. Experienced gardeners believe that a plant should not grow in height and width uncontrollably. To do this, the main stem must be tied to a vertical support, and then all side shoots and tendrils that are above 50 cm from the soil must be removed. Thanks to this, the cucumber will direct all its forces to fruit setting on the main stem. The bush itself will hurt less and will not be able to block neighboring sprouts. You need to tie the plant under the second leaf. nine0004

Related article:

Raspberry trellis: the perfect tool for plant care
Features of growing a plant using a support. Design options, material selection. Step by step instructions for making your own.

Method for polycarbonate greenhouses. A garter is applied to a vertical trellis about 2 m high. The structure is attached to the side of the metal frame of the greenhouse. For the manufacture of the support, you can use unnecessary fabric by cutting it into strips 2-4 cm wide. If the strips are not long enough, then this defect can be corrected by sewing separate parts or simply by tying them. Such a tapestry is short-lived. Instead of fabric, you can take thin twigs. Cucumber bushes cling to them perfectly, but you will need to clear the support of knots, leaving only the main stem. nine0004

V-shaped garter. This option allows you to split the bush in two. From above, two twine should be lowered and a cucumber tied at the base. After that, you need to send the main and one large side shoot along the lowered twines and allow the plant to cling to them. This method prevents the base of the plant from becoming overgrown, so it gets sick less and receives the necessary amount of sunlight.

Scheme of tying and stalk formation of a cucumber

Ways to create a trellis for cucumbers with your own hands: support options

There are several options for making support structures with your own hands, used for growing cucumbers on a trellis in the ground or in a greenhouse.

Before proceeding directly to the process of installing the trellis with your own hands, you should decide on the appearance of the structure. Now you can create such trellises for cucumbers (photos clearly demonstrate this), which will look like a tent, cabinet, have a rectangular, square or mesh shape.

It is necessary to decide on the choice of materials from which the trellis will be created in the future. You can make a support from natural wood, mesh or metal tubes. nine0004

Do-it-yourself metal trellises for cucumbers: photos of supports

To create a metal support, you will need certain tools and materials that you need to prepare in advance:

  • two metal pipes or poles, the length of which should be 2 m;
  • one metal tube, needed for the crossbar, as long as the cucumber beds;

Often a metal mesh fence is used as a support for cucumbers

  • metal stakes, the number depends on the size of the bed;
  • tape measure;
  • twine or twine;
  • knife;
  • electric welding;
  • electrodes;
  • hammer;
  • shovel;
  • steel wire.

Creating a metal support for growing cucumbers consists of several basic steps.
First of all, it is necessary to dig two pillars into the ground along the edges of the cucumber bed. The digging depth of the support should be approximately 40 cm. This value makes it possible to guarantee the reliability and stability of the trellis. Gardeners recommend hitting the post with a hammer several times to drive it securely into the soil. Next, you should fill the hole and carefully compact the soil around it. After that, it is required to fix the crossbar using electric welding. nine0004

Then you need to install a pair of pegs at a distance of 15-20 cm on both sides of the bed. After that, we stretch the twine or twine - they will be a reliable support along which the sprouts of the bushes will curl. Tie the end of the coil of rope to the first peg. Next, we pull the twine vertically up to the crossbar, wrap it around and lower it vertically down, tie it to a peg on the other side of the bed.

Craftsmen have created many designs for cucumber trellises

Repeat the procedure until we have tied all the installed pegs. As a result, we get a trellis for cucumbers in the shape of the letter "L".

A handmade metal support has a significant drawback: it lends itself to rust. This can be corrected by coating the product with a high-quality primer or other anti-corrosion agent in several layers.

In addition, the disadvantages of this type of trellis include the inability to dismantle the structure at the end of the season. To move it to another part of the garden, you will have to dig out metal pipes, and after that you will need to re-dig the supports or columns into the ground. nine0004

Good advice! Steel wire can be used instead of twine or twine. You need to fix it to the pegs and the crossbar. After the cucumber shoots are completely woven around the trellis, it will look like a green tent or hut.

Cucumber trellis: wooden support

Building a structure out of wood is considered the easiest way and is great even for beginner gardeners who decide to grow cucumbers for the first time using a support. nine0004

To make this tapestry you will need:

  • three pieces of wood about 2.7 m long;
  • plank size 5 m;
  • steel wire;

Wooden trellises are quite popular among gardeners

  • three wooden trellises, 0.8 m long;
  • twine;
  • hammer;
  • nails;
  • shovel.

To make a wooden trellis with your own hands, follow these steps:

  1. Prepare the place where the wooden supports will be installed.
  2. Three holes should be dug, 80 cm deep, about 2.5 m apart.
  3. Wooden blocks should be inserted into the prepared holes and carefully buried in the ground.
  4. After that, a crossbar must be nailed to the top of each block in such a way that the design resembles the letter "T". There should be three such supports. They should be placed in the garden next to each other. nine0013
  5. Next, all three structures must be connected in the middle. To do this, you need nails and a long spacer bar.
  6. After that, with the help of nails, it is necessary to stretch the steel wire.
  7. Cut the twine into equal pieces (their length should be approximately 250 cm). We tie one end to the wire, and tie the cucumber stems to the other.

The reliability and durability of the trellis design depends on the material and method of installation - there are both temporary and permanent options

The trellis cultivation technique is very convenient and efficient. Plants placed and fixed vertically take up significantly less space in the garden and rarely break.

Translated from French, the word "trellis" means "shoulder" or "support". At first, such support structures were used exclusively for decorative purposes for flowering crops. Over time, tapestries began to be used in agriculture. Do-it-yourself photos of trellis for peas, cucumbers, tomatoes and other crops can be found on the Internet with a detailed description of their creation. nine0004

how to make your own cucumber trellis

Cucumbers, like any climbing plants, trying to be caressed by the sun's rays, wrapping their thin stems around the supports they meet on the way, strive up. In the wild, these supports are nearby growing trees. When growing cucumbers as cultivated plants, trellises are built to facilitate their care and obtain a rich harvest. How to make a trellis for cucumbers, with a minimum of effort and cost, and at the same time creating a reliable and durable design, we will consider in more detail. nine0004

Contents

  • 1 Benefits of trellis cultivation

  • 2 Classic trellis design

  • 3 DIY methods for making supports

    • 3.1 Option #1 - wooden trellis

    • 3.2 Option #2 - metal structure

    • 3.3 Option #3 - tire and rim support

  • 4 Video tips for growing cucumbers on a trellis

Growing cucumbers on a trellis is much more productive than spreading them. This is due to the fact that with vertical placement, the culture can get rid of last year's "deposits" of infection spores in the soil. And even if pathogenic spores get into the lower leaves of the plant with water, they do not spread further, quickly drying out along with dew drops.

Tapestry - a structure consisting of a support and a stand, along which a wire or a bundle is stretched for entwining graceful stems of climbing plants

Under the arrangement of supporting structures, ready-made vertical surfaces are often used, constructing tapestries with a stretched wire near walls, poles and fences.

The trellis can be used for growing cucumbers both in open ground and in greenhouses. Such an installation has a lot of undeniable advantages, the main ones are:

  1. Saving land area. A bed equipped with trellises for cucumbers takes up a minimum of space, but at the same time is able to accommodate twice as many plants. nine0013
  2. Reducing the risk of crop disease. By eliminating the contact of the stem and leaves of the vine with the ground, it is easiest to prevent the defeat of the culture by downy mildew and powdery mildew.
  3. Acceleration of the vegetation process. In well-ventilated crops, the daily temperature difference is not so noticeable. Thanks to vertical cultivation, the plant receives more light and heat, which has a positive effect on its development.
  4. Increased yields. As the experience of gardeners who use trellises when growing cucumbers shows, with proper care, up to 80 kg of healthy greens can be collected from a plot of only 5 square meters. Vegetables hanging from the lashes are not deformed and have a uniform saturated color. nine0013
  5. Facilitate crop care. Braiding the rods, the vine is evenly distributed over the support. This greatly simplifies the treatment of plant stems and leaves from pests, as well as fertilizing and watering.
  6. Clean harvest. Due to the vertical placement of the culture, the ripened fruits do not touch the moist soil, which eliminates their soiling.

Yes, and harvesting from a trellis takes a minimum of time and effort. It is convenient to move between vertically arranged supports. Due to the uniform distribution of the plant along the support, when removing the fruits, it is easiest to prevent creases and damage to graceful stems. nine0004

With vertical cultivation, there is no need to search through the entire foliage in search of fruit, given that the fast-growing stem can reach three meters per season

This method of growing is also convenient in that when picking ripened fruits, the skin of the hands is less injured from the finest needles of small thorns, which are often present on cucumber stems.

Support trellises for cucumber vines are available in a variety of designs, as follows:

  • rectangles; nine0013
  • squares;
  • cabinets;
  • tent.

The structure can be supported by metal tubes, wooden beams or cement poles. The mesh can be made of interlaced ropes of hemp twine, metal wire or special plastic.

Often, gardeners, trying to minimize the cost of manufacturing a structure, build a trellis from metal stakes driven into the ground, between which a PVC mesh is stretched

Finished PVC mesh, which is sold in horticultural centers by the meter, is fixed along the upper edge with wire to the posts. The lower edge of the grid is buried in the ground, pressing with hooks made of hard wire.

Such a trellis with its canopy is able to shade shade-loving garden crops vulnerable to sunlight: beans, rhubarb, chard, arugula, mustard leaf

A beautifully designed cucumber trellis will be a worthy decoration of the site, acting as an original decorative design element. nine0004

There are many ways to build a do-it-yourself cucumber trellis. It all depends on the size of the area allocated for their arrangement and the chosen material of manufacture.

Option #1 - wooden trellis

It will take only a couple of hours to build a wooden trellis. They build it when the seeds are already planted in the ground, but the first seedlings have not yet appeared.

Before you start making a cucumber trellis, you should decide what plan the design will be. nine0004

Tapestry on wooden posts can look like an elegant staircase with rigid rungs or a translucent vertical screen made of thin slats

In any case, it should be taken into account that the outer trellis posts must be stronger than the intermediate ones, since they will take the load of the entire row. So, in the manufacture of a tapestry with a height of 2.7 m, it is worth choosing bars with a cross section of 50 mm for arranging the extreme support posts, and 35 mm for intermediate ones.

For the manufacture of tapestries that will last more than one season, it is better to choose hardwood, for example: chestnut, oak, mulberry, ash. Poplar, maple or birch wood is not suitable for this purpose, since they are most susceptible to decay. To extend the service life of wooden elements, before burying them in the ground, cover the bars in 1-2 layers with drying oil or an antiseptic composition. nine0004

The trellis looks no less presentable, in the construction of cells of which wooden slats replace strong bundles stretched between the frame bars

The work is carried out in several stages:

  1. Installation of support posts. Support posts are driven in along the edges of the future bed, placing them at a distance of 1.5-2 m. To obtain a solidly standing structure that can withstand its own load along with the crop, the posts under the trellises are dug to a depth of 60 mm.
    2. nine0012 Fixing supports. To give the structure a slightly inclined position, the edge anchor supports are set at an angle of 70 ° relative to the surface of the earth. It is necessary to anchor the inclined supports with the help of guy wires, the free edges of which are tied to metal corners buried in the ground at an angle of 90 °.
  2. Frame construction. A horizontal cross-beam is nailed to the upper edges of the vertical pillars with nails. It will act as a frame for which a crate of thinner laths will be attached. nine0013
  3. Lathing. Thin slats 30 mm thick are screwed to the frame with self-tapping screws in such a way as to obtain cells 15 cm in size. The joints can be additionally glued with waterproof glue.

Do you want the trellis to carry not only a functional load, but also act as a garden decoration? Then provide it with an original arched structure, which can be easily cut from the remains of a tree according to a template. The arcs and segments of the structure are easy to connect by “planting” them with glue and staples, and the arch itself is attached to the support by means of a bolted connection. nine0004

Cells can be shaped like a rhombus or square, if desired, the crate can be easily “drowned” in the frame by cutting the edges of the planks

In the manufacture of trellis mesh to fix it on the frame, it is convenient to use staples, which can be made from ordinary nails. To do this, several nails are nailed onto the rails, placing them at a distance of 40-60 cm. If desired, the nail heads can be slightly bent, giving them the shape of hooks. It remains only to tie a thick rope to each bracket and pull it parallel to the ground, winding it with the free end to the support pole standing next to it. nine0004

The same principle applies to vertical threads. To create a mesh with cells, the vertical threads are first intertwined with a transverse wire, and then the free ends are screwed to pegs driven into the ground.

Option #2 - metal construction

For the construction of such a structure, more effort will be required, but it will definitely serve for more than a dozen years.

Racks made of metal rods can be placed at a distance of 2-4 meters, but if materials allow, then the supports should still be placed thicker

Required for work:

  • rebar, 180-200 cm long;
  • thin tube for crossbar;
  • metal pegs;
  • electric welding machine;
  • garden drill and hammer;
  • steel wire.

Holes 35-45 cm deep are made with a garden drill in the places where the support posts are installed. Pre-cut metal rods are inserted into them. The poles installed in the pits are “driven” into the ground with a hammer. The remaining voids between the rods and the walls of the pits are filled with earth and compacted tightly. nine0004

Vertical supports are interconnected by laying a horizontal crossbar along the upper edge between them, metal elements are connected by electric welding

To protect the structure from rust damage, all parts should be cleaned and coated with an anti-corrosion compound or oil paint.

Having built the frame of the structure, they proceed to the arrangement of the fabric for braiding. To do this, you can use steel wire, which is simply pulled between the crossbar and metal pegs driven into the ground. They are placed at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other on both sides of the beds. nine0004

To create the most durable structure, it is worth using a wire with a thickness of at least 2 mm. To create a mesh web, the wire is placed in several rows, stretching between the supports starting from a height of 15-20 cm and every half meter. The top row is desirable to be made of thicker wire (d = 3.5 mm), since it will carry the main load.

The metal trellis is a rather heavy structure, which is problematic to move around the site every season, achieving the organization of crop rotation of the land. To simplify your work at the place of its installation, next season you can plant curly beans or peas. nine0004

Option #3 - tire and rim support

A used tire will be required to build a cost effective trellis option. It will be the "heart" of the design. The best tire for this purpose is a tire from a large-sized vehicle: a tractor, a combine harvester or a truck. The role of the support of the upper part of the structure will be performed by a bicycle rim, from which all the spokes must first be unscrewed.

Bicycle rim trellis, thanks to its presentable appearance, can rightfully become an original element of vertical gardening and an elegant decoration of a site

First of all, with the help of a grinder, cut the tire lengthwise. The cut part is laid in place of the future beds. 2 metal rods 1.5-2 m high are inserted into the center of the circle, placing them in such a way that the structure has the shape of a hut.

Then fertile earth is poured into the center of the circle, located inside the hut, and into the cavity of the cut tire.

The space remaining above the wheel must be “hidden” by covering it with pieces of old burlap. The edges of the cuts are tucked, hiding under the tire laid on the ground, thereby giving the garden a neater look. nine0004

In the lined burlap, several holes are cut at an equidistant distance for planting seedlings. To protect tender seedlings from temperature fluctuations, agrofiber is stretched along the perimeter of the improvised beds, lifting it only for the time of loosening and watering. The covering material is removed along with the burlap after the strengthened sprouts reach a height of 15-20 cm, and the ambient temperature finally settles.

To create a vertical surface, a pole is installed in the center of a round bed, on which a bicycle wheel is fixed with a wire. The easiest way to do this is to alternately pass the wire through the holes for the spokes on opposite four sides of the rim, and then wrap it tightly around the top of the rod. nine0004

To make the ribs, all that is left is to pull the wire through the spoke holes in several places, connecting the edges of the rim and the base of the tire.

When the cucumber lashes with leaves wrap around the stretched wire, the trellis will look like a green tent.

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