Cucumbers?

[Sinker]

Hello. Just wondering what people find works best to use for cucumber plants to climb in the garden? Like cages or something made out of lumber? Thanks.

[corncob]

Just about most any fencing will work as long as there is something to climb up on....No need to spend money on lumber....I use metal fence post and whatever fencing from chicken wire to hog wire....Put posts on one side of the cucumber row and bend the fence so it just leans over the plants and they will climb right up and are easier to see and pick with the leaning fence.

[Sinker]

Sounds like a good idea. I'll give it a shot. Thanks.

[amateurfishing]

we did cucumbers for first time last year, they did great right on ground, no climbing fence needed.

[CANOPY SAM]

My wife and I do truck gardens every year. Harvest and sell hundreds, if not thousands of pounds of cucs every year. We always plant "picklers", as we've found them to be the tastiest, most crisp cucumbers available, for not only pickling, but also for just plain slicing and eating.

We've done cucs on fencing in the past, and have had decent production, but I would take the liberty to add one caveat. Cucs on a fence seem to be quite sensitive to average precip and heat. In the years I've done cucs on a fence I've seen many, many times where the fruit will "bolt" with excessive water and/or heat. Meaning, you end up with misshapen, odd fruit, that is very narrow at one end, and very wide at the other, or vice versa, or every variation in between.

Picking cucumbers off a fence is nice, and a huge space saver in the garden, but we've always had much better quality fruit grown right on the ground. We grow absolutely fantastic numbers and quality of cucumbers every year. I liked the idea of fence grown cucs, but I won't do it again, solely because we aim for, and sell only the best quality fruit, but that's just my limited experience and opinion.

Best of luck to ya'. Getting anxious to start planting again!

[Sinker]

Thanks everyone. All good ideas. I've only left them on the ground in the past and did fine but have seen and heard of people using fences, cages, etc. Starting to get the itch! Fun to start planning.

[eurolarva]

I agree with Tim the enchanter that letting cukes run on the ground is a better choice. The vines create roots so they can produce better fruit then caging them.

[Nainoa]

Hello. Just wondering what people find works best to use for cucumber plants to climb in the garden? Like cages or something made out of lumber? Thanks.

Over the years I've tweaked with Cucumbers grown on a Trellis...

Here is a couple of tips I've learned, in no particular order.

1. Set the angle of your trellis equal to the degree of lattitude you live at, facing to the south. If you're too steep or two flat or facing more west, it will have an effect on the cuke's production. If you don't have a pristine southern exposure... Then try to err towards the South East. East facing light is always preferred to west facing.

2. Cukes companion plant well with mint... Mint helps drive off some of the pests that like to attack cukes, and late season mint does well in dappled shade, allowing the mint leaves to plump and giving more body to julleps and home made mint chocolate chip ice cream.

3. While you can use any old fencing wire, I would advice against chicken wire. They have a knack for forming the fruit inside the wire gaps and cutting themselves off or damaging the fruit. When the Cukes are in peak season, it's easy to miss a couple every few days, and this piles up.

Rabbit fencing might actually be the best.

4. When picking, snip them off with a shears rather than pull with your fingers, because the anchor vines are doing a lot more work you don't want to stress the plant or cause break offs from the wire.

Also when you snip, try to take a little bit of the vine/stem...

5.Cucumber is a member of the squash family... And it shares similarities in traits to be mindful of.

All squash are promiscuous pollinators... So try to get seed from a certified quality source... The last thing you want is a cucumber with cross traits. So when picking your seed, this is not the time to buy the 50 cent special!

Also all squash DESPISE transplanting... So if you want to get a 2 week head start on planting and start them indoors, I'd advice using peat pots. Then you simply just plant the peat pot and the roots will grow out through it in the garden soil. Versus if you transplant them over half will die... Or suffer transplant shock/set backs.

With squash family members it's important to leave a little vine/stem in the snipping because it will improve the duration of storage. So you can harvest with a nub of stem, giving them more shelf life in the fridge so you can let them build up for a big batch of pickles once a week type of thing. Then simply remove the stems when you start actually pickling them.

[Sinker]

Thanks. Wow, there's a lot to this gardening. Lots of great information out there.

[otterman91105]

We have done cucumbers for the last five years and they are on the ground and they turn out good they spread to become pretty big though.