Anyone who has grown cucumbers knows that they take up a LOT of room in the vegetable garden. One way to overcome this space problem is to use trellises or other climbing structures to give your cucumber supports to grow on instead of letting them crawl along on the ground and using up precious garden space.
Give your cucumber supports
An added benefit of giving cucumbers supports is that they will be easier to harvest, less prone to diseases and the fruit will be cleaner.
I admit I am not the handiest person with a hammer and bolts, so I just used some old wire fence posts and jute to tie up my Cucumber trellis in a square shape. It is not beautiful but it does the trick nicely.
The vines are grabbing both the jute and the fence posts and growing up them. It makes it so much easier to see where the cucumbers are and keeps it all contained very nicely.
I just wrapped jute three times around the posts at foot intervals along the side and kept walking around them until it was wrapped like a cage.
The cucumbers love it. They are already growing up to the top of it.
The Gardening Cook on Facebook has some creative people who contribute to the page. This cucumber trellis was built by fan Allison Norman’s husband. Want to share your husband with me for a weekend Allison?
Another of my Facebook fans – Debbie Smith Runnels suggested this option for a trellis: “I had some cut off limbs from my confederate roses, which I cut every year when finished blooming. Itied them like a tepee and ran my cumber vines up them and it works wonderfully, and it was really cheap too!”
Variety of Cucumber Supports.
If you want a professional looking cucumber trellis, this A frame model might suit you.
To build this trellis you will need:
- An electric drill *
- 4 -4-foot tall pieces of wood
- 2 1/4″ x 4 1/2″ carriage bolts *
- 2 1/4″ wing nuts *
- 4 -2-foot wooden stakes
- Twine
- Wire cutters
- 4-foot wide, 8-foot long piece of welded wire mesh or chicken wire
- 1/2″ staples *
- Staple gun *
* items marked this way are optional but handy.
For step by step directions on how to build the A Frame cucumber Trellis, please visit Apartment Therapy.
Here is another great idea. This old crib cot frame makes a wonderful A frame trellis that just about anything will grow up! Idea shared from Grow Veg on Facebook.
This cucumber trellis idea from Gardener’s Supply shows how to plant under it for vegetables that like shade, such as lettuces. Great idea!
Looking for a way to give your cucumber plant support? Try these products on Amazon.
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small commission from the sale, but the price is the same for you. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
We use a 4′ x 4′ piece of white plastic lattice nailed to the short end of our 4′ x 8′ raised garden bed. We just sank 2 left over spindles from our deck in the ground on the short end of our bed and used zip ties to attach the lattice to the spindles. We’re thinking we may have to add another foot as our cukes are rapidly outgrowing their 4′ x 4′ lattice already.
Sounds like a great set up. I did something similar to my other cucumber section and the same thing is happening. They love to move around!
can you also use this trellis trick for squash? I’m growing for the first time and would love some advice
Hi Doreen. Yes, you can but squash are much heavier so they will need some support as they grow if you have them off the ground. Some people use panty hose tied to the trellis. They stretch as the squash grows.
Carol
I love these different ideas for trellises! We usually grow our cucumbers up, and they really seem to thrive. Great post!
Thanks Courtney Glad you found the information useful. Carol
Our cucumbers climb perfectly but I’m concerned about the bases of the plants drying up and perhaps not “feeding” the climber crop? Our base stalks are always drying, brown and appear to be dying with 2 months of growth left. Thoughts?
Hi Don. I haven’t had that problem. My main problem came from trying to grow them on the ground. There was always some sort of fungus or disease. Once I started growing them up, they did beautifully and I get a great crop out of them. It may have a lot to do with where you are growing them, perhaps? I live in NC and this works for me. Also, they might need some sort of fertilizer or compost. Carol
Im just south of St.Louis. I planted 1 week prior to Mothers day as always. Our cuke plants always look like their about to croak about now every year. Theres a ton of flowers and babys that grow real fast. Perhaps the plants will have looked like this no matter what? No shortage of water and we till compost in the fall and early spring a few weeks before planting. Tomatoes are absolutely fantastic. I don’t get it. I started doubting the concept of vertical growth thinking the little feelers that wrap around our fence are really looking for wet ground to nourish that part of the plant as the base slowly dries up.
I had a similar problem but the other way around…tomatoes were great and cucumbers growing on the ground sounded like yours. Not sure what to suggest. Perhaps this doesn’t work for everyone! Carol