Cucumber Plants on the Ground! :-(

Two of my cucumber plants pulled the stake over and fell on the ground.  They got really heavy because I didn't know to prune them to a main stem.  They were a tangle mess on the ground and partially pulled down a couple of tomato plants as well.    I did my best to get the tomato plants untangled and back on their stakes. Only time will tell as to whether or not they will survive.  Then I spent the next hour untangling and laying the cucumbers out on the ground. 


Clearly these guys are too big to go back on a 6' bamboo stake.  Can I leave them on the ground?  Does anyone have any other suggestions other than that?  I fully realize this is a rookie blunder. I sure would appreciate any feedback and suggestions you guys might have .

Hard to tell from the angle, but a simple (possible) solution is run twine from the wood on your box to the upper rail of your wood fence.
Row gardeners (myself included) have grown cucs on the ground for ions...maybe longer
If the plants are healthy and nothing is actually broken, they should be fine. Cucumbers and tomatoes both can take a beating.

RoOsTeR wrote:Hard to tell from the angle, but a simple (possible) solution is run twine from the wood on your box to the upper rail of your wood fence.
Row gardeners (myself included) have grown cucs on the ground for ions...maybe longer
If the plants are healthy and nothing is actually broken, they should be fine. Cucumbers and tomatoes both can take a beating.

That's a great idea!  Wow!  Thank you Rooster.  I really appreciate it.

RoOsTeR wrote:Hard to tell from the angle, but a simple (possible) solution is run twine from the wood on your box to the upper rail of your wood fence.
Row gardeners (myself included) have grown cucs on the ground for ions...maybe longer
If the plants are healthy and nothing is actually broken, they should be fine. Cucumbers and tomatoes both can take a beating.

Thanks again for the great idea rooster.  I figured it was worth a try. I even ran a couple more for the other two cucumber plants just in case that stake gives way too.  I'm figuring these guys might have a fighting chance now.  With this behind me, now I can get back to battling the leaf footed nymphs.

RoOsTeR wrote:Hard to tell from the angle, but a simple (possible) solution is run twine from the wood on your box to the upper rail of your wood fence.
Row gardeners (myself included) have grown cucs on the ground for ions...maybe longer
If the plants are healthy and nothing is actually broken, they should be fine. Cucumbers and tomatoes both can take a beating.

That's exactly what I did as well, But, with nylon trellis netting.  Worked for Pole Beans as well.

stealthmayhem wrote:

RoOsTeR wrote:Hard to tell from the angle, but a simple (possible) solution is run twine from the wood on your box to the upper rail of your wood fence.
Row gardeners (myself included) have grown cucs on the ground for ions...maybe longer
If the plants are healthy and nothing is actually broken, they should be fine. Cucumbers and tomatoes both can take a beating.

That's exactly what I did as well, But, with nylon trellis netting.  Worked for Pole Beans as well.

That looks great mayhem. I might do the same. I'm a little concerned about all that weight being on one line.  I might run some nylon trellis under my lines. I had the jute on hand so I went ahead and ran 4 lines from the box to the fence.  I have 4 Cuke plants, two of which haven't fallen over off of the steak yet.  I would like to go ahead and run the two that are still on the stake up the lines also, but I am concerned about damaging them in the process and possibly damaging the two tomato plants nearest to them as well.  I can't really decide what to do.  The two on the stakes are also very healthy and have many juvenile cucumbers on them.  That makes the choice even harder as I know  there will be some casualties in the process of untangling them. It could serve a greater good down the road though.  My projected first frost isn't until around 11/15 and many times it's after that. I would like to get some opinions on that from you guys since I'm on the fence.  You guys were smart enough to give me the idea to run the lines. (Great idea again rooster:cheers:). Maybe your input about the other two will bring to light some things I haven't considered.

Brian, your remaining undamaged plants look so heavy and laden that I think they will overcome the bamboo poles.  I would be tempted to do a redundant type support....maybe driving a big wooden sturdy stake in between them and wrapping twine around them for extra veritcal stability????

Scorpio Rising wrote:Brian, your remaining undamaged plants look so heavy and laden that I think they will overcome the bamboo poles.  I would be tempted to do a redundant type support....maybe driving a big wooden sturdy stake in between them and wrapping twine around them for extra veritcal stability????

I think that's a good idea.  Do you think I could get new stakes in there without damaging the roots?

brianj555 wrote:

Scorpio Rising wrote:Brian, your remaining undamaged plants look so heavy and laden that I think they will overcome the bamboo poles.  I would be tempted to do a redundant type support....maybe driving a big wooden sturdy stake in between them and wrapping twine around them for extra veritcal stability????

I think that's a good idea.  Do you think I could get new stakes in there without damaging the roots?

I think if you get it real close to the edge of the box it will be minimal.

Scorpio Rising wrote:

brianj555 wrote:

Scorpio Rising wrote:Brian, your remaining undamaged plants look so heavy and laden that I think they will overcome the bamboo poles.  I would be tempted to do a redundant type support....maybe driving a big wooden sturdy stake in between them and wrapping twine around them for extra veritcal stability????

I think that's a good idea.  Do you think I could get new stakes in there without damaging the roots?

I think if you get it real close to the edge of the box it will be minimal.

I might do that.  I will be keeping an eye on them to see if I need to go that route.  The two bushes/vines are actually starting to reach out and climb the lines I put out for them.  I think that's a good thing.  (See below)