usmcgrunt, the trellis or whatever it is that you have wrapped around the pole should be loose enough that the plant petioles will be able to grab onto the trellis. (It actually sounds as if you are using some sort of black mesh that is used to keep birds out of fruit trees.) As far as watering goes, it really depends on how well you have the plant mulched, how much Mother Nature provides in terms of rainfall, how hot the weather is, how much sun exposure your plant has, how big the plant is (the more the leaf surface, the more moisture the plant can lose via transpiration), etc.

I have found if the mesh is smaller than 1 inch squares they can't grab on their own so I hope you've got trellis mesh not bird netting. It does need to be loose enough so they can get under it. You will have to train the stems at first.

Funny BorS, I have not found that to be the case. What I have found to be the case is that the netting needs space between the pole and the netting for the petioles to grab onto. Other than that I have never had an issue with the size of netting.

I just replaced three areas where we had 1/2" netting with 1" netting because they weren't gripping. We use 1" x 1" boards to hold the netting off the cedar fence. Had the 1/2" for two years, was driving me crazy with the stems flopping all over the place. Had 1" for years and didn't have that problem.

I have two clematis' growing up lattice that extends about 3 feet above the railing of my deck. It looks absolutely beautiful!

Thank you very much for the responses. I actually think that I have to loosen the netting. It is not bird netting it's supposedly for the Clemitis. Thanks again