Choosing a Trellis

I have a 48 square garden that I'm sowing seeds in today, so I need to start thinking about what type of trellis to go with. I like the idea of the Florida weave method. It seems cheap, relatively easy if you don't have a ton of plants to deal with, and not too gaudy. My bed is 12 feet long by 4 feet wide. One middle row will have tomatoes and the other will have cucumbers. Can I use a Florida weave for the cucumbers or is it only a good option for tomatoes? Thanks for any help!

Florida weave is good for tomatoes because the weave actually supports the plant within the weave. Cucumber need no such measures and their tendrils will cling to whatever it can get to. Cucumber trellis web can be quite wide open, where Florida weave method isn't.

Thank you Camprn.

So do you think some sort of cattle fencing type of trellis would be more appropriate for cucumbers? What do you use?

You can use the nylon netting as shown in the All New SFG book. In fact the nylon, or is it polyester?) works fine for winter squash, cantaloups, pole peas and beans.

BrianDorry55 wrote:Thank you Camprn.

So do you think some sort of cattle fencing type of trellis would be more appropriate for cucumbers? What do you use?

I planted about 4 sq feet of cukes and just made a simple twine web. I will see if I can find the photos of what I did. It wasn't difficult. Trellis doesn't need to be complicated at all.

We've used simple sisal verticals for a few years now. Works perfectly for peas and cucumbers. Less so for Tomatoes, even with dutiful "training" of the vine. I'm thinking of incorporating a handful of horizontals this year to give things a little more structure.

The Foundation's netting also works well for tomatoes.

camprn wrote:

BrianDorry55 wrote:Thank you Camprn.

So do you think some sort of cattle fencing type of trellis would be more appropriate for cucumbers? What do you use?

I planted about 4 sq feet of cukes and just made a simple twine web. I will see if I can find the photos of what I did. It wasn't difficult. Trellis doesn't need to be complicated at all.

LOL
See if you can find the tutorial you did on stringing a trellis.  Sanderson & I each made one and I got the "ugliest trellis" award.

CC

CapeCoddess wrote:

camprn wrote:

BrianDorry55 wrote:Thank you Camprn.

So do you think some sort of cattle fencing type of trellis would be more appropriate for cucumbers? What do you use?

I planted about 4 sq feet of cukes and just made a simple twine web. I will see if I can find the photos of what I did. It wasn't difficult. Trellis doesn't need to be complicated at all.

LOL
See if you can find the tutorial you did on stringing a trellis.  Sanderson & I each made one and I got the "ugliest trellis" award.

CC

but they worked! And one it was covered by cuke vine no one could tell! LOL.

Here is the post but apparently I have to reupload the pics. I'll try to do that this weekend.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t18292-trellis?highlight=trellis

My DH welded rebar frames with 2 long legs and a top cross member.  I tie twine to the cross member and use that to grow my indeterminate tomatoes on.  I do pinch the suckers.  My boxes were against a chain link fence (not the best positioning).  In the past I trained my cucumbers to grow on the fence.  They did well but were a pain to harvest because many were on the other side of the fence.  Last year I scrounged thru my DH's shop and found a piece of chicken wire left from the compost bin construction.  It was only 3' long and I needed 4' so I used tie straps and twine to "weave" the gap between the chicken wire and the adjacent rebar.  Worked great. 

A support structure for vertical gardening does not need to be elaborate or expensive.

A few years ago I decided to grow Cantaloupe vertically.  Hmmm?  What can I use?  I had an 18" by 8' piece of wood lattice left over from another project.  I tie strapped the left side of lattice to an upright of an existing rebar frame.  On the right side I created a temporary upright by shoving another length of rebar into the ground and tie strapping it to the cross member.  I trained the cantaloupe plant up the lattice using loosely tied strips of old cotton t-shirts.   As the fruit grew and matured I was concerned that the weight of the fruit would cause it to break off.  I made "slings" from cotton t-shirts, ripped hose (yes southern women still occasionally were hose) and cheese cloth.

That was the BEST crop of cantaloupe I have ever grown.  The fruit was beautiful - no marks from soil contact, extremely sweet and best of all 2 plants were planted in a 12" x 18" space. 

Prior to that experiment I had avoided planting melons and squash because they take up so much space.  Hurrah for vertical gardening.   

Elizabeth wrote:As the fruit grew and matured I was concerned that the weight of the fruit would cause it to break off.  I made "slings" from cotton t-shirts, ripped hose (yes southern women still occasionally were hose) and cheese cloth.

Not this southern woman.

Elizabeth wrote:A support structure for vertical gardening does not need to be elaborate or expensive. Hurrah for vertical gardening.   

+1