Climbing cucumbers

[Eric Wettschreck]

The wife and I are thinking aboot putting up some type of fencing to let the cucumbers climb up instead of sprawling all accross the garden.

Has anyone done this? Did it work or is this a dumb idea?

[reinhard1]

i may try this as well Eric. never thought of it. they do spread out, so why not up. i grow the small pickle size so they may creep up and stay. i dont know if the larger ones would fall off once they get a certain size. but who knows. i'll wait for a response also. good luck.

[Grainbelt]

I did it last year with tomatoe cages. 6 of them grouped together like a six on a rolling die, with hills under each cage. Worked great but hard to reach some of the cukes in the center. This year I have 8 cages in a horseshoe shape. I'll be able to get to the cukes on either side of the plants. They vine up and train very easily.

[mnviking28]

Have you ever tried the bush type? I have had fairly good luck with those and they don't take up a whole lot of room like the conventional type.

[pushbutton]

Always used to "train" the vines up a fence. Saves a ton of space and don't get that dirty flattened yellow spot, not that that really matters though. Make sure it the fence is well built, not just chicken wire stapled on a stick every 6 ft....there will be some weight. Mnviking is right about the bush varieties as well...they are good at saving space without the hassel of the fence.

Kind of random hijack......see if you can find Minnesota Midget Muskmelon. They are a small softball size VERY quick maturing melon developed by the U of M. Also grew those on a fence. Big time space saver and very tastey!

[nofishfisherman]

I am growing mine on a fence this year as well. Normally i grow the larger types and they naturally want to climb up the 2 foot high rabbit fence so I figure why not just plan to grow them taller. I've had some pretty hefty cucumbers growing on the small fence and never had one fall off. Even missed one on the back side of the fence that was well over a foot long and thicker than the head of a baseball bat. If that one didn't fall i doubt any will.

[reinhard1]

well than the pickle size should do real well also. thanks for the info. good luck.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Well alrighty then. Thanks for the feedback fellas.

Looks like a fence (a good sturdy one) is what I'll be making this weekend. I figured I'll just train the vines like I do with the peas, and we're good to go.

Thanks again.

[minnesotathorn]

i have done this for years. i just use plastic netting stretched between 2 cheap fur strips with 2 more fur strips as cross braces. i think the strips were 97 cents ea. from menards. they crawl up naturally & does not take up much garden space. also do same thing for pole beans.

[Lund79]

We have been doing this for 3 years now. Saves a ton of space. We have a trellis that we took from our clematis and use it in the garden.

[Bigsmitty]

I have been using standard lattice and it works great!

[reinhard1]

thanks from me as well!!!great info from all. good luck.

[Bobby Bass]

For several years now we have been growing our cucumbers out of large pots that we set next to a section of cyclone fencing. The plants climb the fence and grow through so we have cukes on both sides of the fence. Don't even bother planting the cukes in the garden any more.

[hydro]

Here's an update on the cucumber fence idea. I gave it a try using 2" X 4" garden fence and it is working great! I have at least 2X plant density per square foot of garden and I intercropped dill with the cukes. The cukes are nice and clean and easy to get at.

[harvey lee]

Sweet.