How to Grow Cucumbers on a Trellis

Welcome to the world of CUCUMBERS! Or at least my world of cucumbers! Let me teach you my ways of the cucumber plant. And I specify MY WAY cause I do what works for us in our garden. Others may have their own ways, however we grow our cucumbers on a trellis! TREMENDOUS space saver!

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Location

In my experience, cucumbers love, love, LOVE sunny spots and proper drainage! Be sure to pick a nice sunny area and avoid those swamp lands! Once you’ve done that all you need is some fertilizer and you’re good to go! (Our fertilizer of choice is alpaca manure)

Trellis

There are many types of trellis you can use! This is where you can be creative and get the artsy fartsy side of you out and about to show off to all your neighbors! Literally anything would work!

My dad made us our trellis from some pressure treated wood and an old sales rack that he happened to find in a dumpster. GREATEST FIND EVER!

There are also great Teepee styles you can set up with some old wood and some string. Or you can use anything metal that is laying around. Say you have and old bed with the metal bars or crib somewhere, maybe old bike wheels? Try stacking them up. Anything that has space for the plant to grow and something for the little vines to grab onto along the way. Here are more easy DIY ideas to grow your cucumbers vertically!

Try this vintage wood decorative Wagon Wheel!

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Growing your Cucumbers

Now once your have your trellis set up and ready to go, now is the time for the plant. If you started from seed, you have a way to go before it can reach the trellis and really grab ahold. If you get your cucumber from your local produce shop then you can plant your seedling and start its journey up the trellis. Just remember to keep your plants at least 6 inches apart. They will need the space.

If you have a trellis that has a gap from the dirt to the base of the trellis, you can use string to help guide it up to the bottom. Once it is capable of reaching your trellis, you can weave it by hand in and out of the given parts that help hold it up. Allowing the vines to grip onto the structure.

Be sure to check on your cucumber plants daily! ESPECIALLY if it has rained at all! You will not believe how much they can grow and get out of hand within a day! I have had a few times where I would let them go a day or two only to come back to them and they have increased in length a good 5-6inches AND their viney bits have grabbed onto whatever they wanted and could!

Then you have to sit there and untangle them the best you can and rework the part back onto the trellis the best you can. Trust me, it’s a real pain! So, make sure to check on them OFTEN!

Companions

Here is another fun part! Mixing and matching!

Check out my post on Companion Planting here!

This past year I didn’t have anything planted in our trellis box with the cucumbers. However, this year I wanted to be more creative. I tried to plant some nasturtiums! Which I think I planted the seeds of the nasturtiums a bit late compared to when I planted the cucumber plants. So, they didn’t end up looking nice together. By the time the nasturtiums bloomed, the cucumber plants where withering because they were done producing.

Never the less! I will try it again this next season! Get the timing better! Its all trial and error!

Nasturtiums are however a great pairing for the cucumber! And have heard they can make your cucumbers more on the sweet side, (not sure how true this is) I do plan on experimenting!

Marigolds, Sunflowers, Carrots and Radish are also great companions.

Check out my post on How to Grow Sunflowers here!

What you don’t want near your cucumbers is tomatoes, and herbs.

Harvesting Cucumbers

Harvesting your cucumbers is simple! Once your plant starts growing your green gold, Just wait for them to be the size you want, then grab and pick. Easy, easy, easy!

The more you pick off the plants, the more your plant will sprout out new produce! You will know when your plant has exhausted out the last of the produce for the season. It will start to turn yellow; leaves will turn brown and die off. Just keep checking back every day for more cucumbers! They are fast growers!

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