Trellis for cucumbers: we build simple and convenient trellises with our own hands (135 photos and videos)

Features of the use of trellis structures

Cucumber is a climbing plant of the Cucurbitaceae family, the length of its lashes can reach up to 2 m. The tendrils help it cling to everything that comes in its way. But they alone are not enough if you want to reap abundant harvests from this crop.

The best solution is special supports for cucumbers. Tying them to them allows you to provide the plant with the highest level of illumination. And this, in turn, helps to increase the number of ovaries and accelerate the formation of fruits.

What does it represent?

A trellis is a structure erected using metal posts, a mesh stretched between them, and steel wire. During the development process, the cucumber vine climbs the mesh cells, evenly distributed over the entire area. In general terms the design looks like this:

1. Metal pipes are driven along the bed (can be replaced with wooden pegs).
2. To make the structure stable, the pipes are immersed in the ground by at least half a meter. This must be taken into account when determining their total length.
3. The height of the structure is determined depending on the selected grade.
4. If there are a large number of beds, the distance between them should not be less than 1.5 meters.



Note! Cucumbers need plenty of watering. When growing a large crop, it is advisable to build an automatic irrigation system. This will save you time and effort.

In the absence of a large budget, the construction of trellises is possible using improvised means. The main thing is to maintain general proportions.

Advantages of growing on a trellis

It has been scientifically proven that growing cucumbers on supports specially made for this purpose is more preferable than spread out, since with a vertical arrangement the plant can completely get rid of bacteria accumulated in the soil over the winter. And even if the infection gets on the lower leaves along with water, it will not spread, but will evaporate with the moisture.

As trellis structures, you can use vertical surfaces that already exist on the site - building walls, pillars, fencing.

A do-it-yourself trellis for cucumbers can also be used when growing in a greenhouse. Such a solution brings with it a lot of advantages. It:

• saves land area;
• reduces the risk that the plant will get sick;
• accelerates the growing season;
• increases productivity;
• simplifies care and harvesting;
• facilitates movement between beds;
• prevents creases and damage to stems;
• allows you to collect clean fruits.

This cultivation method is also good because when ripe cucumbers are picked, the small thorns located on the stems injure the skin of the hands significantly less.

Metal structure

And the strongest support is made of metal tubes (photo 2).

To build it, you need some tools and materials:

• 2 two-meter metal pipes or poles;
• 1 pipe for the crossbar, equal to the length of the bed;
• metal pegs (their number also depends on the length of the bed);
• construction tape;
• leg-split;
• knife;
• electric welding and electrodes;
• shovel;
• hammer;
• wire.

Here's how to make a metal trellis.

1. First, dig in 2 pillars at opposite edges of the bed.
2. The depth of the holes for their installation is 40 cm. But for stability, they are additionally driven into the ground with a hammer another 25 cm.
3. Having filled the holes, the soil is compacted.
4. Now a horizontal crossbar is secured on top of the pillars by electric welding.
5. Pegs are placed on the sides of the bed every 20 cm.

And then they pull the twine for the curly cucumber trunks. The technology for stretching it is simple: the edge of a skein of twine is tied to the outermost peg. Then - up to the crossbar, wrap it and lower it to the opposite peg, securing it with a knot. All pegs are connected in the same way, creating a trellis “L”. Twine is often replaced with wire. When the cucumbers on the trellis wrap around the twine, the support will turn into a green tent.

Advice! To prevent rust from damaging metal pipes, they are primed or treated with some kind of anti-corrosion compound.

Rectangular trellis

The main elements are support posts and mesh. The first can be made of metal, wood, concrete, and the second can be made of metal wire, hemp rope, twine, plastic.

The mesh must be attached to the posts along the upper edge, and the lower end must be buried in the soil, pressed with tin hooks.

Tips and secrets of experienced summer residents

Experienced gardeners always have useful tips for beginners, proven over the years:

1. You need to start forming the plant in the morning. Within a day, the wounds from pinching will have time to heal.
2. Leaves and vines should not be turned in the opposite direction. A forcibly deployed shoot can stop growing, turn yellow, or even die.
3. Trimming of lashes is performed only with clean tools. This way you can avoid infecting the plant.
4. You should not plant cucumbers in one place for several years in a row. Pests and pathogens accumulate in the soil.

Round and arched designs

They are more difficult to implement. Creating an arch is especially difficult, but it looks incredibly beautiful.

The choice of a specific option depends on the amount of square meters of land allocated for supports, the selected material of manufacture and personal preferences.

Principles of planting cucumbers when growing trellises

There are two ways to plant cucumbers under trellises - by seedling method and by direct sowing. In both cases, loose fertile soil with neutral or low acidity is used for planting. But each method has its own nuances.

Table 2. Principles of different methods of planting cucumbers.

Landing option	Nuances
Transferring seedlings to open ground	In this case, the harvest can be harvested much earlier. 1) Young seedlings are grown indoors in the usual way. 2) Sprouts ready for transfer have 3 true leaves, they reach a height of 15-20 cm. Cucumbers should be replanted in late spring, when the risk of night frosts decreases.
Seeding	1) Planting material must be heated at a temperature of 50-60 degrees for 3 hours, then soaked in a pink solution of potassium permanganate for 20-30 minutes. 2) Seeds are placed in the ground when the top layer of soil warms up to +15 degrees. There are 3-4 seeds per meter of bed. 3) To speed up ripening, the crops are covered with film. The covering is removed when 5-6 fresh leaves appear on each growth.

The soil under cucumbers must be kept moist, since cucumbers are very moisture-loving. The growing shoots are watered every 4-5 days. From 3 to 6 liters of water should be used per square meter of bed.

How to make a wooden cucumber stand yourself

It will take approximately two hours to make. The support should be erected after planting the seeds, but before the first shoots appear.

Here are instructions on how to make a support for cucumbers:

• Decide on the type of structure.
• Install the pillars, maintaining a distance of 1.5-2 m.
• Secure the supports at an angle of 70 degrees and anchor them with guy wires.
• Build a frame by nailing a horizontal cross member to the top of the support posts.
• Perform the sheathing. It is best to use thin slats 30 mm thick for this. The optimal cell size for cucumbers is 15*15 cm.

To build a trellis for cucumbers in open ground, experts advise choosing hardwood - chestnut, oak, ash, mulberry.

You should not use birch or poplar wood - it rots quickly. To extend the life of a wooden support, before burying it in the ground, the bars should be covered with two layers of drying oil or treated with an antiseptic.

If properly designed, a cucumber trellis can adequately decorate your site, acting as a non-standard element of landscape design. Therefore, there is no need to spare time and effort on its construction.

How to install the system on site?

As a rule, most gardeners opt for a standard design. To create it, scrap materials that are unnecessary on the farm are often used. They will not look as aesthetically pleasing as more modern trellises, but they will be very functional.

Classic trellises are placed on a ready-made bed, taking into account the following recommendations:

1. The supports are dug in the center of the bed in one longitudinal line. There remains a distance of 4-5 meters between the pillars.
2. From support to support, stretch the wire in 3 rows one below the other. If the mesh will not be attached to the wire, the supports should be installed in smaller increments.
3. A metal mesh with 15x15 cm squares is tied to the wire and supports. To prevent the mesh from sagging, the top wire can be replaced with a wooden lath or a metal stick. This will add rigidity to the structure.

Metal mesh on supports

This is just a classic variation of the device. Thanks to the resourcefulness of gardeners, a lot of other, no less functional manufacturing methods have appeared.

Installation of a classic design

Prices for metal mesh

metal grid

Making different types of trellises

Trellis are quite easy to make. Among the variety of methods, the simplest is considered to be the manufacture of a wooden structure. It is the easiest to assemble, and the slats connect as quickly as possible. At the same time, it takes up very little space.

Wooden structure

When creating a wooden frame, you need to consider that:

• wooden posts made of pine are suitable as support;
• the outermost pillars must have a cut diameter of at least 5 cm and a length of 2.8 m, since they will bear the entire load;
• intermediate support pillars can be 40-50 cm shorter, cut diameter - 3.5-4 cm;
• The step for installing additional supports depends on the length of the bed: if it is shorter than 3 m, auxiliary posts may not be useful.

The table below shows the easiest types of trellis to make. At the same time, the designs are very reliable and tested by dozens of gardeners.

Table 1. Design options for trellises.

Design Variation	What you will need	How to make	Photo
U-shaped system	— a frame in the shape of the letter P made of wooden slats or iron pipes; - strong twine.	1) The U-shaped frame is installed on the bed similarly to the classic design. For greater stability, the distance between the posts should be up to 3 m. 2) The standard length of the posts is 2.5 meters, but the final figure depends on the variety of cucumbers. 3) Strong strands of twine are thrown over the top crossbar and secured on both sides of the bed. The threads must be placed at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other. The cucumbers will grow and grab the twine with their antennae, thereby stretching upward.
Frame made of wooden sticks	- iron or pine poles for support; - thin wooden slats.	1) From long wooden slats you need to put together a lattice with windows 15x15 cm. The slats are attached to each other using self-tapping screws. 2) Supports are installed on the bed according to the standard scheme. 3) The grille is attached to the supports.
From scrap materials	- 2 wooden posts; - metal grid. You can use a frame from an old bed with armored mesh.	The pillars are installed at the end and beginning of the bed, and a mesh is stretched between them. There is an inconvenience in this method: under the weight of the cucumbers, the mesh sags greatly. In this case, it can tear or destroy the entire structure. To avoid this, the mesh is pulled up, securing it to a wooden lintel between the posts. The pillars are installed at the end and beginning of the bed, and a mesh is stretched between them. There is an inconvenience in this method: under the weight of the cucumbers, the mesh sags greatly. In this case, it can tear or destroy the entire structure. To avoid this, the mesh is pulled up, securing it to a wooden lintel between the posts. If an old bed frame is used as a trellis, it is placed vertically and deepened by 60 cm. To be on the safe side, the frame is tied to the supports. They can be the walls of a house or strong trees.
Hut construction	- several straight branches from a strong tree or wooden slats; - boards or slate for fixing the structure; - strong rope.	1) The branches are stuck into the ground in the garden bed according to the principle of a hut structure. 2) They need to be deepened by at least 30-40 cm. 3) The branches that are opposite each other are tightly tied with a rope at the top. 4) A wooden strip is laid along the bed on the tied branches to secure the structure.
Round trellis	- old bicycle wheels; - straight wooden sticks or metal rods.	1) Wheels are placed on the stick from different sides so that it comes out from the center. 2) The wheels are secured to the support using screws. 3) Vertical threads are pulled between the upper and lower wheels. They can be attached to the spokes or the rim. The finished structure is installed in a convenient location. You can make as many of them as you like.

If you don’t have time to design trellises yourself, you can go to a specialized gardening store. They sell convenient ready-made structures of various shapes and sizes. As a rule, they are easy to install and remove for the winter.

Important! The supports at the beginning and end of the ridge should be much stronger than the additional ones. After all, it is they who will bear the entire burden during the ripening of the crop. Even if you plan to create a wooden structure, it is recommended to use reinforced concrete pipes as outer supports.

Photo trellises for cucumbers

Features of care

How to care for cucumbers:

• Water abundantly throughout the season. It is advisable to irrigate the soil every 3 days, pouring water as close to the base of the stem as possible. Do not pour water on the leaves, otherwise they will “burn”;
• fertilize the soil. Feeding bushes with mineral and organic fertilizers, for example, manure, will achieve impressive results;
• mulch the soil around the stem;
• do not forget about pruning, removing excess green mass in the form of leaves and side shoots, especially in the upper part.

Advantages and disadvantages of the method

The advantages include:

• Cucumber vines have the opportunity to develop as nature intended (up).
• It’s easy to pick a ripe fruit; you don’t have to scour the thorny bushes.
• The fruits do not rot because they do not come into contact with the soil.
• Aesthetic appearance. Thanks to the vertical design, the garden looks well-groomed.
• Easy to process the plant.
• A lot of space is saved without compromising the amount of fruit collected.
• The entire bush receives sufficient sunlight.
• The plant is less susceptible to diseases.
• It is easier for insects to pollinate bushes.

The disadvantages include:

• It is difficult to assemble the structure yourself.
• It is important to install securely so as not to lose the harvest.

Tying a cucumber vine to a trellis

Without a garter, cucumbers are not able to grow long shoots, so it is unlikely that it will be possible to grow a good harvest without it. The lashes quickly thicken, and then rot and dry out. The fruits quickly lose their presentation.

There are several ways to tie a cucumber to a trellis.

Vertical garter

To tie the cucumber vine to the top bar of the trellis, synthetic twine is most often used. Twine can be replaced with other available material, the main thing is that it meets the following requirements:

• did not absorb moisture;
• was quite strong and elastic;
• did not damage the stem.

This procedure should begin after the stem has grown by about 30 cm. Usually at this time 4-5 leaves form on the shoot. The bush is tied under the bottom leaf. It is best to tie the rope to the trellis using a sliding knot, as it allows you to adjust the length of the twine as the rope grows.

Vertical garter

Note! The choice of garter timing plays a big role in fruiting. There is no point in doing it prematurely, and if you delay this procedure, you can easily damage the plant.

Horizontal garter

This garter differs from the vertical method in that a strong twine or rope is stretched between the two outer supports in several rows. The distance between the rows is about 25 cm. The whip is first tied to the lowest row, and then, as it grows, to higher rows.

Mesh for gartering cucumbers

For trellises, you can use nets specially made for spreading plants. They successfully replace both vertical and horizontal garters and allow the lash to be freely woven into the mesh cell. The use of a grid gives a great stimulus to the gardener's imagination. It can simply be stretched between two supports, placed on a bed in the form of a rectangle or triangle, or placed on the site in some other way.