Ok, so, a few years ago I decided to grow cucumbers.

I have limited space – I also grow tomatoes – and the only available space, was… in front of the house. I knew the village will not like me growing tomatoes VERTICALLY, so I decided to grow them… HORIZONTALLY.

So, I made a frame – a trapeze 3 ft. / 5 ft. x 15 ft.

The poles are 2 ft. high – 1 ft. in the ground, 1 ft. above the ground.

They were pretty happy in that little "jungle."

In
mid-season – as expected - some leaves wilted.

I removed
those leaves, and I spread all the stems on the sides...

And then, I put them back better organized.

You can see many flowers.

The leaves grow back... nicely.

The purpose of the frame was to avoid cucumbers to lay on the ground; you know, insects, rain...

So, the cucumbers either "sit" on the frame...

... or hang...

For watering I used drip irrigation. See pictures above.

Regarding diseases, I had a problem in the first year, when many plants wilted. Don't know what happened.

My wife’s favorite cucumbers were: Sweeter Yet and Straight Eight.

Mine was Sweet Slice.

I choose vertical. Leaning over yours to get the cucumbers would do me in. haha

I have my kids' old swing set lined with panels of concrete reinforcing wire, and it works great. I have a house wren that nests in the top swing set tube every year, and it was soooo hot out, I thought it would appreciate the shade of the umbrella. :)

I wonder if you have cucumber beetles that injected yours with bacterial wilt? I have to grow County Fair cucs (no bitter gene), in order to get any cucumbers.

Daniel,

that's pretty cool, thanks

Cannot figure out from your pict - do you start plants on the longer side of the bed, on the one side or on both sides, or on all sides? What is the distance between plants?

no cuc beetles?

i dont have any this year yet and had very few last summer.

catherinet, I would love to grow vertical… but I have no space.

I would even be willing to use this huge frame for the cucumbers ( 16 ft. wide x 12 ft. high. )

Currently I use the frame for tomatoes.

Picture from last year, 2014.

Imo, there could be a little problem with the vertical frames:

If you have small cukes small like this, there is no problem.

But if you have one – or worse, more than one – monsters like the Tasty Jade bellow ( 13 in. long ) you will have a problem. No matter how strong is the stem, the weight of the cuke(s) will break the stem.

tigrikt, I grow on longer sides.

The distance between plants was about 1 ft. - or less.

Nope, no cuc beetles.

It was all good...

The only problem was, that in that "jungle" it was pretty difficult to see which cuke is which variety.

And these little cups - what are they? Do you start inside?

No, I don't start... inside, but I do start in small pots - at least 6'' x 6'' x 6'' - in early spring.

I never plant directly in the soil - you simply have no control of germination.

Those cups are to fight the cutworms - who attack some vegetables, including tomatoes and cucumbers. Please read bellow:

- Tomato Worms (Cutworms): Keep Them Away With Collars Around Seedlings

- Tips for Preventing Cutworms

- How to identify, eliminate, and control cutworms in the garden.

Talking about pots, here are my favorite pots: GRO PRO.

They have
3 sizes:

• 6 x 6 x 8 - $ 1.19

• 7 x 7 x 9 - $ 1.90

• 8.5 x 8.8 x 10 - $ 2.90

As you
can see, the prices are very reasonable.

I bought
the small size, and I was VERY happy.

The
plastic is sturdy, so it will last many years.
6 pots of the small size – which I think it’s a
good size for most of us – fit in the standard tray.

The pots are perfect for tomatoes, and a little too big for cucumbers.

Cucumbers leaves grow very, VERY fast, while the roots grow much slower.

But of course the pots can be used for cukes.

Bellow is a support that can hold 72 pots, in 12 standard trays.

I saw a very similar type of support (it was made from stout branches woven together) for tomatoes in the book "Vegetable Gardening the Colonial Williamsburg Way". It looked interesting and was going to try it for tomatoes this year but didn't have the resources at the time of planting (I was going to use a cattle panel instead of woven branches). Never would have thought to use it for cucumbers, although it would take up more valuable space than a vertical trellis. Hmm, perhaps next year I'll try this with pumpkins, winter squash, or melons....

Oh, to answer your question, I always grow my cukes vertically.

Rodney

Daniel ... what material did you use for the "grid" attached to the frame?

Thanks, Daniel.

for the last 8 years I was using straight vertical support and inclined one. My observation is cuks love humidity and do better closer to the ground.

I start them indoor, at the same time as out doors. When transplant, start another seed outdoors. Never had problems with cutworms, but slugs. Possible that other cuks (not pickling) less sensitive to humidity.

in my inclined trellis I use the space under to grow lettuce and herbs - coriander and parsley.

i am wondering maybe 1 ft space would be too dark for herbs but still good for lettuce.

at any event, I am going to try this design next year and see.

thank you, Daniel.

Nitsua, I use Galvanized Welded Mesh Fence ( 36-Inch Tall x 50-Foot Long ) or Wire Fence ( 48 Inch Tall x 50 Feet Long. )
It's a little easier to work with the 3 ft. tall fence.

I also like vertical. I can't imagine me under that frame trying to harvest cukes. I like to stand on my feet to harvest plus it takes up less space.

gumby_ct
wrote: > I can't imagine me under that frame trying to harvest cukes.

Not that
hard as you imagine.

> … plus
it [growing vertical] takes up less space

True, but
I don’t have other location. Please read details above.

Hmmm, don't like to do yoga? how bizarre. it is good for you

tigrikt wrote:
> Never had problems with cutworms, but slugs.

Diatomaceous is a nice remedy against many bugs. Here is a good duster.

> i am
wondering maybe 1 ft space would be too dark for herbs but still good for
lettuce.

I’m sure 1
ft. tall is enough for lettuce, because you start them in early spring, and the
cukes get the “jungle leaves” much later in early summer. So, too “dark” is not an
issue.

> thank
you, Daniel.

You’re
welcome.

We make our own beer. Share the unsuccesful one with slugs.

I love Yoga, I'm GumbyDamit. But not in the dirt, no Thank You.

And not in a 1ft clearance - call me fussy but I will pass.

gumby_ct, three quarters of the cukes "sit" on the frame.

Three quarters of those that "hang", can be pulled through the net.

Doing the math... there are very few who have to be picked up from under the frame.

And anyway, always, any cuke that "hang" can "sit" if I want to.

I had no problems whatsoever.

Just met the first stripe cucumber beetle and the first squash vine borer. SVB was resting on my vertical cucumber trellis. Couldn't catch, missed 3 times. No eggs though. Will be on alert now.

Squash vine borer management in home gardens

- Organic Control Measures for Striped Cucumber Beetles

- Managing Cucumber Beetles in Organic Farming Systems

- Cucumber Beetles

I have one difficulty understanding Danil's set up :

HOW DO you CRAWL UNDER THAT THING TO PICK ?

I have used sort of vertical tilted about 30 degrees. That was some years ago.

Sey

You get this thing outta the garage and slide under, Sey ... (LOL)

Vertical trellis for me, since I grow mainly the extra-long Asian cucumbers. Those varieties tend to be good climbers (they have reached the top of a 5' trellis now) and vertical trellising allows the cukes to grow straight. I space plants 24" apart, and the vines will spread to completely cover the trellis, becoming a green wall by August.

I've thought about growing pickling cucumbers again, and some of those I grew in the past were not strong climbers.. but then, they were not deformed by growing on the ground either.

Much of my garden is vertical, for a lot of reasons... easier picking, fewer rodent, bug & disease issues, easier weeding, and trellis spacing allows for paths with little loss of productivity vs. plants allowed to spread over the ground. A horizontal trellis takes up more space, and generally would require a permanent structure which must be stored somewhere in the off season.

To be fair, vertical trellising is not without its faults. I have a lot of poles to put up & take down every year, and a lot of time putting up string. It would be easier if I could use lengths of fencing or remesh, but since I use over 500' of trellis each year, all those panels of fencing would need to be stored somewhere, and I wouldn't want to impose that eyesore on the kind owners of the land where I garden.

Daniel......to answer your questions about my swing set trellis.........I start the cucumbers from seed in the ground along the one long side all at once. I tend to over-plant the seed.....maybe 1 seed every 1-2". The 2 ends of the swing set I use for snow peas early in the season. The one open end of the cucumber side is so I can easily get under the swing set without having to go around it. I don't plant anything on a trellis on the other side of the swing set, but rather plant things under it. The swing set has to placed so that the cucumbers don't shade whatever I've planted under it. This year I have a raised stock tank under the swing set, filled with peppers and cherry tomatoes. Using the swing set has worked great for growing lots of things! Although this year, it has flooded numerous times and isn't doing so well. :(

Nitsua… LOL !

Sey wrote: > HOW DO you CRAWL UNDER THAT THING TO PICK ?

Sey, I already explained, but I will explain again:

The trapeze is 3 ft. / 5 ft. x 15 ft.

Please see the picture above with the frame in the driveway.

So, 5 ft. divided by 2 = 2.5 ft.

My arm is about 2 ft. So only the cukes in the worst
location might be difficult to pick up from the long sides. But those can be easily picked up from
the… (5 ft.) SIDE.

Also: three quarters of the cukes "sit" on the
frame.

Three quarters of those that "hang", can be pulled through the
net.

Doing the math... there are very few who have to be picked up from under the
frame.

And anyway, always, any cuke that "hang" can "sit" if I
want to.

I had no problems whatsoever.

Catherinet wrote: > I tend to over-plant the
seed.....maybe 1 seed every 1-2".

I like that over-seeding. Cucumber roots are not very big.

Also, interesting setup you have there.