To get most of your cucumber plant, you must grow them vertically using trellis.
Trellis support the vine to climb to certain height and saves the plant from diseases and avoid tangling with neighboring plants.
But to prepare your own trellis, you must know how tall cucumber grows.
Depending on the variety, cucumber plant can reach up-to 6 to 7 feet height. However, to easy harvesting process prepare trellis of 6 feet.
Bush cucumber is one such variety that reaches 1-2 feet high and don’t really require trellis. Anyway, you can use tomato cage or pea netting to support their growth.
Those who’re living in a concrete jungle can prefer bush cucumber to grow in a pot. As mentioned it grows not more than 2 feet yet produce 6 inches of delicious cucumbers.
Also Read: How Deep Do Cucumber Roots Grow?
Importance of Trellising Cucumber
Benefits of growing cucumber vertically on trellis isn’t just that it helps to save garden space, there are other uses of trellising cucumbers.
- It is easier to water the plant at the main stem if you’re growing cucumber plant on trellis.
- Harvesting cucumbers is easy and you won’t miss any fruit.
- Hanging fruits that don’t touch dirt will be clean and saved from rotting.
- Cucumber that grown on trellis will have uniform color due to adequate sunlight.
- You can expect straight clean cucumber from such plants.
- Growing on trellis need less space and won’t tangle with companion plants.
If you aren’t convinced to grow cucumber on trellis, then give a try and let them grow on ground. Moisture on leaves will attract fungal infestation and when the fruit touches the soil it easily gets rot.
Also Read: How Often to Water Cauliflower?
How Tall Do Cucumber Plants Grow?
If you’ve missed above lines, I already mentioned that cucumber vine grows 6 to 7 feet long.
When the cucumber plant gets enough sunlight and adequate water, it produces essential food to grow vertically on trellis.
Though cucumber plant can grow small garden space it requires enough vertical space to reach certain height.
Depending on the variety you choose prepare trellis to support the climbing vine.
Cucumber Varieties
Vine and bush cucumber are two major types of varieties that you can grow in your garden.
Bush Cucumbers
As mentioned this type of cucumber require 2 to 3 square feet of your garden space and don’t need trellis support.
However, the yield is delicious enough to enjoy.
Cultivars of bush cucumber are salad bush, parks bush whooper, pickle bush, pot luck and spacemaster.
Small families who don’t want to deal with a huge cucumber crop can opt for bushy cucumber.
Cucumber Vines
When compared to bush vining cucumber plants produce high yield and quality fruit. Heirloom lemon and white-skinned cucumbers have no match in bush varieties.
Leaving vine cucumbers to crawl will end-up messing with tangled climbers. Instead, if you support the vine with trellis or fencing it will thank you with lots of cucumbers.
You can also use vine cucumber for screening your landscape. Thus, not just that it saves your space it will add aesthetic appeal to your garden.
Here are few cultivars of vine cucumbers, Slice Nice, Dasher 11, County Fair 83, Burpee Hybrid, Slice Master Hybrid, Liberty Hybrid, Saladin and Sweet Success are commonly grown by gardeners.
Check this out: Should I Cut Off Yellow Cucumber Leaves?
How to Support Cucumber Plants in Pots or Garden?
There are lots of DIY trellises making videos that explain how to build your own cucumber trellis in backyard. But, how can you support cucumber plants if you don’t have enough space in your balcony.
First thing, you’re not alone who grows vegetable plants in container. Due to increase in apartment culture and zero garden space, many prefer growing plants in containers.
Growing cucumber in garden soil is easy when compared to container.
Potting soil plays vital role during planting cucumber seedlings.
A well-drained, fertile soil that retains moisture is the best choice to grow cucumber.
If you doubt the importance of trellis, please read above paragraphs.
One of our fellow gardeners decided to carry experiment by not supporting cucumber plant and allowing them to spread on the ground.
After few rainy days, when the gardener saw the gardening space was filled with cucumber vines. Though this might sound good, but the reality is that the plant gets ensnared with neighboring plants.
Also Read: Is Epsom Salt Good for Cucumbers?
How to Support?
It is important to tame cucumber vines with trellis.
For bush cucumber plants you can either leave it or use tomato cage to support its growth.
Gently place the cage around the seedling and regularly push the vines inside wires, till it grows-up to climb on its own.
As the cucumber vine grows-up to 6-7 feet it needs long trellis made of wood, mesh or netting. Initially, you must train the vines to climb the new trellis.
Once it gets hold of the trellis they continue to grow when you provide sufficient sunlight and adequate water.
Check this out: Is Bone Meal Good for Cucumber Plants?
Ideas for Cucumber Trellis
It’s time to put your innovative side of brain to work.
It will be fun, just make sure the trellis are vertically long not more than 6 and strong enough to withstand string winds.
- Traditionally you can use straight trellis that most gardeners use.
- For raised bed garden you can use small lean trellis or large lean trellis. This trellis will provide enough support for vines and you can plant garlic underneath it.
- A-frame trellis will make your harvesting easy. Hanging cucumber and good airflow will reduce fungal growth and every part of the plant gets enough sunlight.
- You can plan arch trellis; it is more fun and adds beauty to your garden. Check out few ideas here.
As a gardener you must know how tall do cucumber plants grow, because this will help you to plan ahead to build trellis for your long vines.
So, how high should be your trellis?
If you planned trellis of 8 feet and your height is only 5 feet, then it would be counterproductive to harvest the fruits.
It shouldn’t be too low that you’re crouching to pluck cucumbers.
Trellis cucumber plant with 5 to 6 feet long chicken wire trellis.
You can also use wooden or metal trellis.
Folding trellis are can be used depending on your height.
Choose trellis that is 2-3 feet wide. However, this depends on the garden space you’ve.
A wooden trellis will add aesthetic appeal to your garden space. You can build it on your own. Check this site.
If you’re lazy, you can use chicken wire around the cucumber vine.
Else, you can buy trellis made of metal.
In any of the options, you should dig a hole deep enough to hold the trellis. Sturdy trellis efficiently supports cucumber vine plant.
What Happens If You Don’t Support Growing Cucumber Plant With Trellis?
Even if you’ve lots of unused garden space around, letting cucumber vine to sprawl all around isn’t a good option.
- Vines get ensnared and the moisture on leaves invite fungal and bacterial infection. Hanging or growing them vertically will slow down the fungal infection, due to sunlight.
- Vines sprawling on ground won’t allow good airflow and the leaves stay moist all the time, thus attracting infestation.
- Your yummy cucumber fruits will end-up rotting when they touch moist soil or moist floor.
- Harvesting isn’t an easy job if you’re growing cucumber vines without trellis.
- You can’t inspect the cucumber plant leaves and act prior to halt disease or fungus spread.
- Overall, your yield quality can be reduced and the disease could spread to other plants too.
Can you grow two cucumber plants on one trellis?
Yes, but the base of the plant must be at-least 4 inches apart.
How high should cucumber trellis be?
Trellis is important to support cucumber vines. But, choosing tall height of more than 8 can make harvesting tough.
Height of trellis should be 5 to 6 feet.
Conclusion
How tall or high cucumber plant can reach depends on the variety you choose to grow.
However, an average cucumber vine plant reaches 6-7 feet long. Bush cucumber varieties reach 2-3 feet and they can manage without support from trellis. Anyways, a tomato cage will train them to grow vertically.
Leaving cucumber vine to sprawl on ground isn’t a good option. Plan ahead and build trellis to support your growing cucumber vine plant.