How to Trellis Cucumbers (2024)

FAQs

How to Trellis Cucumbers? ›

​How To Train Cucumber To Grow on a Trellis

A simple string trellis made of twine or jute strung between two posts provides all the support a cucumber needs to climb. This can be as simple as T-posts or wooden stakes driven into the ground, or it can be more decorative, like the wood-framed string trellis pictured here.

-Cucumbers love to climb, and trellising promotes better pollination and increases crop production. -Growing your cucumbers vertically opens up space for more plants underneath, increases air circulation, and makes it easier to water your plants.

Growing vine cucumbers vertically on a trellis or netting helps improve airflow and discourage common fungal diseases such as powdery mildew, which can cause the loss of cucumber leaves meant to shade crisp cucumbers from intense sun.

Top tips for growing cucumbers

You want them to be moist, not wet, so little and often is best. Feed your cucumber plants with a high nitrogen feed every two weeks. Cucumber plants like sun, but are prone to scorching, so some shade is preferable. Encourage greenhouse varieties to climb to boost yields.

Yes. Using a tomato cage to train cucumbers to grow vertically gives the plants plenty of room to breathe, helps form perfectly straight fruits, and helps prevent pests and soil diseases. When garden space is at a premium, vertical cultivation is ideal.

Cucumbers and tomatoes can be planted by each other as they share similar growing habits and therefore you can grow tomatoes by cucumbers. Greg Volente from Greenhouse Today explains that: 'Cucumbers and tomatoes are two vigorous growers in a spring garden. They're both vining plants and share similar basic needs.

Plant cucumbers when average daily temperatures reach the mid-70s° F. Space cucumbers 36 to 60 inches apart (12 inches apart for trellised plants) in an area with abundant sun and fertile, well-drained soil with a pH of 6.0 to 6.8.

Cucumber vines will climb naturally, but you may need to help them out by training cucumbers. Some might stay on the ground and venture over to neighboring plants. In this case, gently wrap the vines around the trellis. If they won't cooperate, loosely tie the vines to the trellis until the tendrils start to hang on.

Do you plant cucumbers on both sides of a trellis? ›

You can plant on both sides of the trellis. There are many different ways to construct a trellis for your climbing vegetables.

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.

If your cucumber plant grows past the trellis, just snip off the top of the main vine. New growth won't form at the top of the main vine anymore. If you have the space to grow your plant horizontally, allow several suckers to grow into new vines along the main vine.

Most common cucumber varieties can easy be train to grow up a trellis that is 5 to 6 feet tall. Another often overlooked factor in figuring out the cucumber trellis is the height of the gardener; it would be counterproductive to build a trellis that stood 8 feet if you were less than 5 feet tall.

This variety is a trellis grower, so it'll benefit from a fence or netting to keep the plant stable and the fruit off the ground.

Yes. Using a tomato cage to train cucumbers to grow vertically gives the plants plenty of room to breathe, helps form perfectly straight fruits, and helps prevent pests and soil diseases. When garden space is at a premium, vertical cultivation is ideal.

Using a trellis to support your cucumber plants, or other vining vegetables, is the best way to grow beautiful and tasty cucumbers. Many gardeners have learned the hard way (including me) that letting your cucumber vines just spread upon the ground is a good way to not have many cucumbers.

A sturdy trellis can increase fruit set even on bush or compact varieties. And traditional varieties require a climbing structure when planted in a container to keep them manageable. Sink a premade 6- to 8-foot-tall trellis deep into the soil at planting time.