As the Robert Frost poem “ Mending Wall ” say , “ Good fence make good neighbour . ”
They also make a good support for vining cucumbers ! Using fences to growCucumis sativussaves space , and may leave you with one of the few secrecy screens that can present a bumper harvest .
If you do n’t have a suitable structure already in position , there are also advantage to instal a control board or repurposing a logic gate for some cucurbit aerial horticulture .
Not certain you ’re ready for the full - scale wall of vines dangling various slicer and picklers midsummer ?
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If you ’re willing to be convinced , follow along as I divvy up some of the advantages of this planting method , along with mesmerism for varieties to maturate and material to choose .
And if you ’re already onboard with the thought , I ’ll also be furnish sowing , transplant , and maintenance how - tos .
Here ’s what to wait :
What You’ll Learn
Advantages of Aerial Gardening
Trellising vining vegetable extend many advantages , especially for homegrown cucumber .
These garden favorites acquire mightily , but track over the ground or unfold a match of feet in each way as bush plants , they take up a mint of space .
Train them up vertically with any type of backing and you could tame that space on the footing .
This tactic also leave the air flow they need to fruit and avoid legion disease because of too damp conditions – or spread via wet leaves .
By growing cucumbers on a fence , you wo n’t need to till , water , feed , or mulch as much dirt surface as you do for bush varieties , either .
These finical vining vegetables also produce more fruit throughout the time of year than other cultivars .
This is partially because bush varieties tend to yield their entire harvest over the outer space of a few workweek , while the vines are undetermined and have a farsighted harvest window .
Also , vines are just longer and each plant produces more blooms . They are famed for their power to deliver bumper crops .
There are a couple of other pluses to getting your cuke plants up and off the ground .
The fruits are easy to keep clean , for example , and family line like me who do n’t wish to bend or crouch will apprize being able-bodied to spot advanced fruit and pick them at shank or eye degree , or even a little higher .
And theslugsthat bonk to nosh on bush mixed bag ca n’t really get at the taller foliage or yield , which is a huge advantage .
( Sorry , cucumber beetle can still be an exit . plain , they are not afraid of heights . )
In comeliness , I will mention a pair of disadvantages to the airy plan of attack . For one , bush varieties tend to grow more quickly , usually between 45 and 55 days compared to the vining types at 50 to 75 days .
If you populate in an area with a short growing season for warm - weather vegetables , this could be a drawback .
Also , while this growing approach may provide an attractive privacy screen , if the vines droop or die , that can be a pretty unattractive sight for you and the neighbors .
you may pay off by produce them on wire fencing material that ’s coat to make drained vine remotion simpleton .
But if you know you wo n’t be able to keep up with that maintenance chore , better to plant bush type or grow on a fencing the public does n’t view .
Ready to tap these advantage ? Start by selecting one of the best cultivar to grow aerially .
Choose a Cultivar
It ’s always fun to choose vegetable varieties to grow , but in this pillow slip , you ’ll require to prioritize the practical aspects .
First , find oneself a vining variety , not a bush type .
For more information on key out between the two , see our guide .
Next , ensure to observe the days to maturity for any variety you ’re considering , so you ’ll get laid if you have enough time to raise these vegetable garden overachievers .
And mark the predicted length of the vine . Some type will acquire seven to 10 or even 12 feet , and they wo n’t do well on a shorter fence .
Here are three of my favorites to grow aerially :
Burpless Beauty
Not all vining cucumber are heirloom , and this crossbreed offers special disease impedance and lavish harvests . The vine rise three or four feet tall and need support – all those fruit can get reasonably heavy !
‘ Burpless Beauty ’
It produces crispy , thin - skinned , eight - column inch cukes in richness starting 60 day from sow .
‘ Burpless Beauty ’ seeds are available in 70 - semen packetsfrom Burpee .
Lemon
A suitable selection for common people who love to pickle and those with inadequate fencing , the heirloom ‘ Lemon ’ develop three to four feet tall and create tennis ball - size , orotund fruits with sweet , modest flesh .
‘ Lemon ’
‘ Lemon ’ germ are available in various packet sizesfrom Eden Brothers .
Painted Serpent
Also known as ‘ stripy Armenian , ’ ‘ Painted Serpent ’ is a “ no - peel ” variety . Its fruits are carinate and fleeceable with lighter stripes , best harvested at eight to 16 in , but able-bodied to grow to three feet long .
‘ multicolour Serpent ’
The industrial plant reach up and up , attaining height from six to eight feet . They produce yield 60 to 65 day from transplant .
‘ Painted Serpent ’ seeds are available in packet in various sizes up to one ouncefrom Eden Brothers .
Select a Fence
If you already have fencing in place , take a looking at at it for get cucumbers !
Lots of unlike types will put to work to support enthusiasticC. sativusvines at every point of growing .
But first , you ’ll want to annihilate any that are n’t improbable enough . If the plant reaches the top of its support and arise marvellous , you ’ll have a Byzantine deal .
Top - heavy vines might also topple to the primer , which can uproot the plant and kill it .
As for fence material , my favorite is cake PVC wire fence with four- to six - in opening the plants can grab as they grow onward and upward .
The coating arrive at it much easy to remove the vine detritus at season ’s ending .
you could make uncoated conducting wire fencing work , too , if that ’s what you have . It ’s just harder to clean up at the ending of the growing time of year , that ’s all .
I ’d advance you to eye even your graceful wrought - branding iron fencing or wood lattice that surrounds your terrace .
Of of course , it depends on your mental attitude towards garden and landscape painting purpose . But if you ’re comfortable with a casual , leafy annual covering on one or more of the barriers to your belongings or garden , something that ’s already been installed is ready to hand .
When the fencing has erect first step , like those between the bars of a molded - iron fence , you may want to string additional funding in the flesh of wire or sisal string horizontally to offer something for the vines to latch on to .
Be sure you ’re okay with that tone for the weeks before the foliage covers the less attractive wire before choose for more formal fencing for this process .
insipid control panel will always require the addition of strings , a treillage , or fence panels so the cukes will have something to grab onto as they rise . you’re able to attach these to the fence using screws or conducting wire eye , or place or prop them directly in front of the fence on the side that receive full sun .
While it may seem like it shoot down the purpose to grow cukes nigh – not directly on – a fence , it can block draft and create the attractive illusion that the foliage is maturate on the lasting landscape element .
The barrier behind it makes the netting or wire grid less likely to topple , too , at least on the side near to the fencing .
One thoughtfulness when you use a fencing constructed from treated lumber : check that the boards were n’t treated before 2004 , when the EPA restricted treatments that let in arsenic or other toxic chemicals in favour ofACQ , a discussion that does not include those toxic elements .
you’re able to also integrate additional trellis , poles , wire , or wire or net panel to make up for limitation on other fencing material options .
If a stationary fencing is shorter than you ’d like , you may gage a trellis gore the proper meridian behind the fence , on the side that wo n’t be in public view .
The vines then pop out their upward journey on the lasting structure , and scale the spell above it as needed towards the end of the growing cycle .
This Modular Trellis Net Kitfrom Burpeewill do the job nicely . It is 62 inches wide-eyed and 69 inches grandiloquent , and get with a spool of twine and collapsible shelter spikes you may use to make it strong enough to support these vigorous vine .
Modular Trellis Net Kit
you may also add meridian without sacrificing aesthetic by pound in several magniloquent bamboo stakes along the shorter body structure .
The cranky - summit of the vines can attach straight to the pole , or you’re able to fortify them with pieces of gauze or chicken wire string along the top two foot of the poles .
If you want to practice a board fencing that ’s too flat for vines to wind around , weigh using a drill to place conducting wire eyes on the fence post , and then stringing unstained steel conducting wire cable rope laterally across the sections of panel .
That yield the tendril somewhere to attach .
String the first Seth of wire about six inch off the ground , and then contribute more strands parallel to the first . Space them about eight inches apart , with the top sidelong wire positioned about six inch from the top of the fence .
The TooTaci Turnbuckle conducting wire tensioner trellis wire kit includes all the require hardware and 100 feet of PVC - coated trellis wire . It’savailable from Amazon .
TooTaci Turnbuckle Wire Tensioner Kit
Or , line a fence that has openings that are too large – or more than about six inches in either charge – with netting , trellis telegram , or cattle panel . If the permanent social organization is a telegram gauge , lattice , or picket fencing , you could make out this business with zip ties .
A lightweight cows dialog box can also bridge the gaps when a prostrate wooden structure has too much outer space between boards .
repose it on brackets you drill into the posts about four inches from the top , or give ear it with wire or sturdy string from wire eyes drilled into the top of the rail .
A 16 - foot , four - gauge wire cattle panel , usable from Home Depot , is one option .
Wire Cattle Panel
Each has a galvanized finishing that resist corrosion , and four- and six - inch vertical initiative that are suitable for aerial vines to rise on .
For any of these add - ons , only expend materials you’re able to bump off at season ’s ending .
You would n’t need to encourage disease , bugs , or depleted soil by planting cucumber in the same position two twelvemonth in a row , so the additions will ask to move to a fresh space next twelvemonth .
As a last resort , you may also install a fencing , or a section of one , exclusively for the purpose of acquire aerial vegetables . If you take this plan of attack , make trusted to place it in full sun , and in an orbit of the yard where you do n’t spray herbicide or pesticides .
The reason I say “ last recourse ” is that these lasting structures are hard to remove and site somewhere else , peculiarly compare to vegetable supports like wire cage , fold treillage , ladders , or tipi made of bamboo .
And even if it ’s centre - catching and uncompromising , you’re able to only use a cucumber fencing for one time of year before rotate crops .
So if you do n’t have another non - cucurbit crop liketomatoesorpole beansthat you need to grow in that space the next twelvemonth , I would advocate forgoing the structure task and choosing a more portable support rather .
Find the Best Site
Some of the site requirement for airy cucumbers are non - negotiable . You must plant them where they ’ll receive full sun , for model – at least six hour a day .
ordinarily , though , you’re able to work to correct conditions that are inhospitable . It ’s potential to amend the land to the preferred pH of 6.0 to 6.8 , for exercise , and to make it well - drain by adding lot of aged organic matter well ahead of sowing or transplantation .
Or if the dirt is out of the question to improve adequately , consider planting cucumbers in container that abut the fence , and prepare the vines from there .
Just regard whether you ’re up for the extra tearing and fertilize necessary for develop such a vigorous vine in a pot or windowpane box .
Always maneuver open of location close to a lawn that ’s been treat chemically – yours , or a neighbor ’s .
While you could get varieties that are parthenocarpic , meaning they do n’t necessitate pollinating from insects , that can specify your choices .
Remember , some homeowners and lawn services apply herbicide that can leach into the soil and keep any plant from growing , weed or not .
Speaking of neighbors , remember to appraise what ’s on the other side of the fence you want to use if one side rest on a property that does n’t belong to to you .
It ’s a near idea to get permission to grow vegetables on a divvy up moulding , and to ascertain whether the neighbour is in the drug abuse of spraying chemicals that could harm your harvest .
We ’re on smashing term with our neighbor James , but I think we wore out his patience when my married man Wade had to hop the fence that separates our two backyard to harvest cuke three or four times a week in peak pick season .
Which leads me to one more caution : think of that these veggie are vigorous , require ample H2O , and need constant harvesting to keep the green groceries come .
While it ’s great for a fence that ’s in a distant fleck to do twofold - tariff , peculiarly if it ’s in a location with the requisite soil and sun requirements , verify only to implant somewhere you may readily attend to the plants .
When the secret plan is out of sight and out of mind , you ’ll be amazed at how cursorily the vine wilt from lack of pee , and how fast the fruit become oversize and inedible .
Sow or Transplant
There are just a distich of extra considerations to keep in intellect when you ’re broadcast this vine aerially .
First , you ’ll want to have all of your fencing material in position ahead of planting , so you do n’t disturb fragile roots or seedling trying to put in it later .
And precision is important . You ’ll want seeds to pullulate about four inches off from the fencing , and about 12 inches from each other .
You may want tostart the seeded player indoorsto transplanting , so you ’ll hump exactly which seedlings have stock , instead of potentially leaving a break in the vertical quad outdoors .
That ’s what I do . I use peat deal that go directly into the soil with the seedlings so I do n’t commove the vulnerable roots when I transplant .
I sow just one seed half an in deeply in each biodegradable container , and then plant the healthiest sprouts . I time this for about three week in the lead of implant out , when the dark airwave and grease are lovesome enough .
If you direct - sow your seeded player , plant them in pairs about half an inch apart and half an inch deep , space at one - foot intervals .
For more wind onsowing and caring for any variety of cucumber vine , check out our guide .
Once the seeds have spud and take shape two sets of true leave , clip the weaker one of each brace at the soil descent , and take it to thecompostpile .
When the vines reach four or five inches tall , they ’ll ask you to point them in the right focus to lead off climbing .
Gently guide the top of each seedling to the fence ( if it has worthy openings ) or wires ( if you ’ve attach them to flat boards ) . If you require to , loosely tie the top two column inch of the vine to the wire or opening with a bit of sisal twine .
After it start growing in the good direction , it will begin grab onto the tethers or openings itself . Usually , it wo n’t require any more ties unless it celebrate trying to grow laterally .
Care for Aerial Cucumbers
For the most part , once they ’re scale the support , cucumbers raise on a fencing need the same character of upkeep as the one growing in araised bedor garden secret plan .
You ’ll need to check that they receive at least an inch of weewee per calendar week in the warm month if the rainfall does n’t provide it , for example .
It ’s also a good idea to mulch them a second time midway through the season to retain wet and suppress weeds . ( While you ’re at it , be sure to pride yourself on how small of the plot you must preserve since you ’re mature them vertically . )
As the crop starts amount in , stay on top of your pick job . Not only will removing the mature fruits quick mean they ’ll taste better , encouraging young fruits to ripen in the process , it will keep the vine from getting topheavy and pulling aside from the supports .
Be vigilant ! While one baseball - at-bat - sized cuke that escape notice is n’t that gravid of a stack when it ’s growing along the ground , in the melodic phrase at the top of a vine it can pull down the whole affair .
Be careful when you find fault , too . Use scissors instead of tugging at the stem , since one strong tugboat can pull up the roots that are corroborate your one - vine bumper crop .
Looking Up to Your Cucumber Crop
This may be one project that succeeds beyond your most affirmative protrusion . Vines grow aerially can produce bumper crops quick to reap over the course of more than a calendar month .
To anticipate the good case scenario , be certain to have pickle recipes at the ready and plenty of friends who will welcome your extra on alert starting in late July .
Then , to learn even more about growing and manage for this vegetable garden genius , check out thesecucumberguides next :
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About
Rose Kennedy
