Trellising cucumbers

pmcgrady · March 31, 2017

I've got a roll of 4' orange plastic "safety" fence and was wondering if I can use it to trellis cucumbers, I usually just let them sprawl. I'm growing 6 or so different varieties this year and would like to try trellising, any tips?

brownrexx · March 31, 2017

I always trellis my cukes on a teepee with string on it to save space. My cukes are County Fair and only about 6" long but I love doing it this way. It saves space and keeps them off of the ground.

No tips really. They just grab onto the string and hold themselves up.

ibraash · March 31, 2017

Speaking of sprawl, what do they sprawl on? I have raised beds and all the walkways are wood chips. Lat year cucumbers used to rot or get some pests (worms). Would letting them sprawl on wood chips work???

Many thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by brownrexx

I always trellis my cukes on a teepee with string on it to save space. My cukes are County Fair and only about 6" long but I love doing it this way. It saves space and keeps them off of the ground.

No tips really. They just grab onto the string and hold themselves up.

ibraash · March 31, 2017

And I am planning on making an arch of a chain link fence I have above one or two raised beds.

Worth1 · March 31, 2017

I think the orange fence may be too wide for them to grab hold of.
BUT I may be wrong.
The tendrils on the vines move around in a circular motion until they hit something then they grab it and coil up.
Here is a bean doing the same thing.
https://youtu.be/dTljaIVseTc

Cucumber fantastic.
https://youtu.be/Vbzgv5iKEyY

brownrexx · March 31, 2017

I think that any time they are on the ground, whether it is on wood chips or the soil itself, they are close to soil dwelling predators. I have never had any worms or rot in my trellised cukes. Cucumber beetles are my main problem and they fly so trellising is no protection from them. That is why I grow County Fair. It is resistant to the bacterial wilt that the cuke beetles carry. Any other variety that I have grown dies of wilt before I harvest any cukes.

pmcgrady · March 31, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth1

I think the orange fence may be too wide for them to grab hold of.
BUT I may be wrong.
The tendrils on the vines move around in a circular motion until they hit something then they grab it and coil up.
Here is a bean doing the same thing.
https://youtu.be/dTljaIVseTc

Cucumber fantastic.
https://youtu.be/Vbzgv5iKEyY

Good videos! I just goggle imaged "cucumber trellis" and got tons of pics, but none with safety fence. I did see some using wooden lattice which is wider that the plastic fence. Most were tepees some were growing upright like a fence, wonder what the advantages of tepees vs fence are?

pmcgrady · March 31, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibraash

Speaking of sprawl, what do they sprawl on? I have raised beds and all the walkways are wood chips. Lat year cucumbers used to rot or get some pests (worms). Would letting them sprawl on wood chips work???

Many thanks

Last year the cucumber bed had newspaper covered with about 4" of straw. I got a lot of cukes but some had issues from being on the ground, like nice and green on the top side, yellow on the bottom... I'm thinking trellising will solve this problem... The cukes you buy at the store are the same color all the way around.

Worth1 · March 31, 2017

The teepee you can get inside and hang out in the shade with your cat.
And they look cool.
Which reminds me I need to go find some cucumber seeds.
I have some from a dried up cucumber but I cant remember what they are.
I think they are Boston picking but they may not be.

Worth

pmcgrady · March 31, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth1

The teepee you can get inside and hang out in the shade with your cat.
And they look cool.
Which reminds me I need to go find some cucumber seeds.
I have some from a dried up cucumber but I cant remember what they are.
I think they are Boston picking but they may not be.

Worth

All I've got are dogs, a purebred male German Shepard, a female Pitbull and a male cross between the two... Let's call it a Germ Pit or a Pit Shepard. He's laying on the couch next to me sleeping.
I'm growing Chicago Pickeling, Muncher, Marketmore, Lemon, Salt and Pepper and Armenian or Serpent cucumber.

Togo77 · May 5, 2017

The only issue I could possibly see is if the cross members of the fence were to wide for the climbing tentacles to wrap around.
This is the first year I have trellised my cucs. I have been very impressed by their climbing ability. I used a 4x8 stock panel from tractor supply.

Durgan · May 5, 2017

Cucumbers need some help routing the tenacles. I tie to the tellis with pipe cleaners from a craft store.This is for about ten plants and keeps the fruit off the ground, hence no yellow areas. It also contains the plants to a reasonable area. The boards are for your feet when picking the fruit. I get about 100 pounds of Cross Country during the season. I juice them mostly.

March 31, 2017	#1
pmcgrady Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Central Illinois Posts: 1,836	Trellising cucumbers I've got a roll of 4' orange plastic "safety" fence and was wondering if I can use it to trellis cucumbers, I usually just let them sprawl. I'm growing 6 or so different varieties this year and would like to try trellising, any tips?

March 31, 2017	#2
brownrexx Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Southeastern PA Posts: 1,420	I always trellis my cukes on a teepee with string on it to save space. My cukes are County Fair and only about 6" long but I love doing it this way. It saves space and keeps them off of the ground. No tips really. They just grab onto the string and hold themselves up.

March 31, 2017	#4
ibraash Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Lawrenceville, GA Posts: 164	And I am planning on making an arch of a chain link fence I have above one or two raised beds.

March 31, 2017	#5
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	I think the orange fence may be too wide for them to grab hold of. BUT I may be wrong. The tendrils on the vines move around in a circular motion until they hit something then they grab it and coil up. Here is a bean doing the same thing. https://youtu.be/dTljaIVseTc Cucumber fantastic. https://youtu.be/Vbzgv5iKEyY

May 5, 2017	#11
Togo77 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2017 Location: SE Louisiana Posts: 27	The only issue I could possibly see is if the cross members of the fence were to wide for the climbing tentacles to wrap around. This is the first year I have trellised my cucs. I have been very impressed by their climbing ability. I used a 4x8 stock panel from tractor supply.

May 5, 2017	#12
Durgan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Brantford, ON, Canada Posts: 1,341	Cucumbers need some help routing the tenacles. I tie to the tellis with pipe cleaners from a craft store.This is for about ten plants and keeps the fruit off the ground, hence no yellow areas. It also contains the plants to a reasonable area. The boards are for your feet when picking the fruit. I get about 100 pounds of Cross Country during the season. I juice them mostly.