Trellis Cucumbers

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Cucumbers thrive best when encouraged to grow vertically as well as horizontally. Your cucumbers cannot climb without first having something to climb up, however. A trellis is a structure that stands above cucumbers and other similar plants, acting as a vertical support. Trellises are moderately simple to construct, and it is easy to train cucumbers to use them.

Steps

Constructing a Trellis Frame

  1. Select two wooden poles or planks. The poles should both be 4 feet (1.2 meters) long with a square 1-inch by 1-inch (2.5 by 2.5 centimeters) face.
  2. Use an electric drill to drill a 1/4-inch (6 1/3-milliliter) hole in each pole. The hole should be centered and positioned 2 inches (5 centimeters) down from the top of each piece.
  3. Lie the two poles flat on the ground. The holes should overlap so that you can see straight through to the ground if you look through them.
  4. Loosely fix the two poles together with a carriage bolt. The bolt should hold the two poles together, temporarily acting as a hinge.
  5. Open the two poles so that the bottoms are 3 feet (1 meter) apart. Keep the poles lying flat on the ground.
  6. Tightly screw the wing nut onto the carriage bolt. The two poles should now be fixed in place, forming the first "A" set of legs for your frame.
  7. Repeat the above steps with another two poles of equal dimensions. These other two poles should form another "A" set of legs.
  8. Place your "A" legs 4 feet (1 1/4 meters) apart from one another. The "A" shape should not be flat or parallel to the ground. Instead, the "A" should be perpendicular to the ground, with one leg flat on the ground while the other points up and out.
  9. Fix another 4-foot (1 1/4 meters) pole to the top point of both "A" stands. This fifth pole should connect the legs together. Use a power drill and heavy-duty screws to hold them together.
  10. Fix another 4-foot (1 1/4 meters) pole about 6 inches (15 1/4 centimeters) down from the top of the lower legs. The lower legs are the legs currently resting on the ground. Use a power drill and heavy-duty screws to hold them together. This creates a top bar to fix your netting to.
  11. Fix another 4-foot (1 1/4 meters) pole about six inches up from the bottom of the lower legs. Use a power drill and heavy-duty screws to hold them together. This creates a lower bar to fix your netting to.
  12. Repeat the netting-bar steps on the upper legs. The upper legs are those currently off the ground. Use a power drill and heavy-duty screws to fix the netting bars onto the legs.

Setting up the Trellis

  1. Stand the trellis frame over your cucumber plot. The "A" stands should be straight up.
  2. Firmly press the legs of the trellis into the soil. You should try to push the bottoms of each leg about 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 centimeters) into the ground, keeping the top supporting bar parallel to the ground.
  3. Drive a 2-foot (61-centimeter) stake into the ground next to one of the legs. Tightly tie the stake and the leg together with strong twine.
  4. Repeat the staking and tying procedure with the other three legs. These stakes provide your trellis with extra support.
  5. Hammer 1-inch (2 1/5-centimeter) nails halfway into all four netting bars. The nails should be spaced evenly about 6 inches (15 centimeters) apart. Do not hammer the nails flat into the bars.
  6. Tie clotheslines to each nail to form a net for your cucumbers to climb up. Each clothesline should be about 3 feet (1 meter) in length, and one piece of clothesline should connect two screws on opposing netting bars, parallel to the legs of the "A" stand.
    • Heavy twine or flexible wire may also be used in place of clothesline.

Training Your Cucumbers

  1. Plant your cucumbers below the trellis. The cucumbers can be spaced 1 foot apart from one another, in rows that are spaced directly beneath the bottom netting bars.
  2. Once vines form, wrap the tendrils around the bottom of the clothesline. You may need to wind them around a few times before they stay in place.
  3. Continue winding the vines around the clothesline as they grow. In doing so, you train your cucumbers to grow upward and naturally climb onto the trellis. After your vines have grow a foot or so in length, they will likely begin the climb the trellis without additional training, but you should monitor their progress throughout the growing season nonetheless.

Video

Tips

  • For best results, do not plant “bush” cucumber varieties beneath your trellis. Instead, opt for “vine” varieties. Bush cucumbers can benefit from the use of a trellis, but this benefit will be minor in comparison to the benefit that vine cucumbers will receive, and bush cucumbers will not climb very high.
  • You can also hang square netting over the netting bars. Square netting is heavier, but it may make it easier to train your cucumber vines to climb up the trellis.
  • Instead of building your own trellis, consider purchasing one online or from a garden supply store. These may still require some assembly, but it will likely be minimal.

Things You'll Need

  • Electric power drill
  • Nine 4-foot tall wooden poles, 1-inch by 1-inch
  • Two 1/4" by 4 1/2" carriage bolts
  • Two 1/4" wing nuts
  • Ten heavy-duty screws
  • Four 2-foot wooden stakes
  • Twine
  • 28 1-inch screws
  • Hammer
  • 14 pieces of 3-foot clothesline

Sources and Citations

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