I use electrical conduit from HD - wait til they go on sale in spring as the 10' lengths for 1/2 in are $3-something now, half that when on sale. Cu is way too expensive unless you want an architectural element - if for function only should be conduit. Galvanized is OK but more expensive. You'll need a pipe bender - borrow one from someone. I secure my conduit to the ground two ways: 3/8 x 3' rebar 2' in the ground or 3/4 sch40 PVC 1' in the ground (windy here). Rebar is more flexible location-wise as PVC is more effort to install so you don't want to dig up and move it. I think PVC is more secure.

You'll need slip-on connectors - I use the ones with two screws as the screws help keep things like netting and string from sliding around.

6' tall for determinate tomatoes is OK, indeterminate will overtop but unless you are 5'8" or over, more than 6' tall trellises you'll need a step stool, which is problematic in soil for compaction and stability. My overtopping toms last year meant I tied the vine to the top and kept it horizontal- not ideal but I get some production. Real issue with how tall trellises are is fall frost danger and what do you do to them to protect from frost and your height of trellis determines your strategy. I'm 6'2" so mine are at 6'6" and garden is against house, so I secure 6 mil plastic to brick and then to ground. If you take off and lay on ground and cover toms, then you have to put them back up again and where will you put stepstool to do that if the toms are on the ground?

Peas OK on mine, pole beans can go higher but just tell them where to go, my melons are on 3/4" conduit because I overengineer everything, squash OK also, heavy producers may end up on 3/4 this year. Twine is cheapest and toms easily supported by it, but I double twine. Nylon parachute cord is better, but costlier and may make it 3 years before breaking - but your configuration of string is going to change every year anyways. Squash and melons should have heavier string than cheap twine. Peas like netting, my cukes don't care, squash is easier with netting, not sure which is easier for melons but I use string for them & it works out.

HTH.

Dan

Welcome. Good questions:

1) It's not copper, it may be stainless steel. Not sure, just ask for electrical conduit (exterior grade). They'll know. Glad they'll cut it and thread it for you. Those are the hard things.

2) I went 7 feet tall and my tomatoes never reached the top. My pole beans cleared it by several feet, but oh well. If you can go higher, go for it. But buy a step ladder to reach it, hehe.

3) I've grown pole beans and cukes in that list. I said pole beans grow as high as you let them, and my cukes didn't get anywhere near 7 feet.

4) I used netting for everything (one trellis 15 feet long) and my tomatoes did fine with it. Of course I didn't do Mel's way, I let them grow though.

Hope that helps!

Enjoy your garden!

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's garden adventure

Thanks for the responses. Good to know cukes don't grow too tall. One of my trellises will be along the deck stairs so I can harvest any real tall tomatoes/pole beans from the stairs. Maybe I'll make that one 7-8'.

Anyone have experience with melons? I tried growing canteloupe one year (on the ground) & was shocked to see the vines get about 15-20' long! So what would happen if try them on a trellis? If it grew to the top, then would I just let them double over & grow back down? Afraid that would make the stem snap. Especially since it'll have heavy fruit. Was thinking of trying honeydew or smaller watermelon on a trellis. Well, guess I'll try it anyway... just wondering what other people did about this. What if I pruned it off at the top? Will it keep producing along stem?

I think my summer squash grew longer than 6' also, but maybe not much... like 8' or so. So may not matter if just a little bit flops over the top. Might even plant a small winter squash like delicata & see what happens.

sinfonian, I read some of your other posts & you've got me thinking of trying potatoes for the 1st time! Never thought of them as tasting different from store-bought, but a lot of people say so. I was thinking of something simpler than building a box, though. I've read about building a chicken wire cage & then filling with hay as the plant grows. When done, just lift up cage to harvest from bottom & they'll be nice & clean to boot! At least, that's the theory! We'll see if it actually works! :-)

To support mellons, EG used panty hoes. Worked well. And yes, you can train your vines however you choose.

On potatoes, sounds like a great idea. Sure hope it works. There are 100 ways to grow a tomato, so whatever works. Go for it!

If you live in an area that gets early frosts, I'd be careful about using any type of metal for trellises. The metal conducts the cold and freezes the plants too easily. My green beans that were climbing a chain link fence died with our first frost, while those right next to it, climbing a string trellis, were unharmed. If you want to extend your harvest well into the fall/winter, I'd stick with wood, plastic or string.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

Melon vines don't grow as long when gravity weighs them down. Just clip or tie to grow to the side - they still take a lot of room tho. I normally don't support mine (smaller vars) but the occasional big one gets supported by nylon netting that we save. I expect my indeterminate toms to overtop at 6' 6", and they do in good years. YMMV, but never hurts to try and pass along your results.

Dan

I used galvanized because they didn't have 90 degree connectors and I had no way to bend it. I've also had winds topple everything else I've tried before so I wanted the stability. The man was able to rethread the galvanized for me once he cut it to size. I anchored it with rebar and bolted it to the side of the box with brackets. It was more expensive than electrical, but I'm not thinking I'll need to replace it anytime soon. This will be my first time with a "fancy" trellis so I can't offer you much more, but I'm happy with the galvanized. .

As sinfonian said, knee highs worked very well for cantaloupes and sugar baby watermelons in my sfg last year. This year though, the varieties will be anywhere from 20 to 50 lbs. each. It'll be bird netting for those....

I really can't comment on the trellis thing, because I've only used mine, and they aren't as conventional as most people's.

EG