Do Cucumbers Grow Better On A Trellis Or In The Ground?

When you're already busy planning next year's summer garden, deciphering how and where to plant your favorite refreshing fruits and vegetables is all part of the process. If you're deciding whether your garden needs a trellis for planting cucumbers, Chowhound secured some expert advice to help you out. Sure enough, the owner and creator of Earth, Nails & Tails, Philip Longo, recommends growing cucumbers in a trellis over the ground for the best results. 

According to Longo, a trellis saves valuable ground space by allowing plants to grow vertically. Since cucumbers spread out as they grow, their vines can quickly take over your yard and become tangled and unruly. He believes that giving these plants a reliable way to grow upward, as opposed to horizontally along the ground, is essential.

"[A trellis] promotes airflow to reduce disease, and it makes it easier to spot those cukes for harvesting!" says Longo. In fact, one of the best ways to minimize pests in your vegetable garden is to use a trellis, especially for cucumbers. While the ground may give your cucumbers too much shade and moisture, trellises provide space, light, and elevation.  Before you buy or make your own trellis and start implementing this growing technique in your home garden, there are a few pointers you should learn in order to receive a bountiful harvest by next summer.

Now that you can add the idea of using a trellis to your mental database of the best vegetable garden tips worth remembering, it's time to get to work. Fortunately, trellises come in all shapes and sizes. You can easily purchase one on Amazon, such as the MTB Garden Store's Garden Cucumber Trellis A-Frame, or you can make one yourself with a variety of materials like chicken wire or a few wood panels and a spool of heavy-duty string.

Before you go through the trouble of making or installing a trellis, choose cucumber seeds or plants that actually prefer vertical growth. Unlike bush cucumbers, which are more compressed, vining cucumbers benefit from a trellis due to their long, winding stems and leaves. Gardening expert Philip Longo suggests taking your time to choose varieties that specifically thrive with the help of a trellis. Among the most popular varieties, Lemon, Suyo Long, and Marketmore 76 are all solid choices.

Once you start to notice that your cucumber plants are slowing their climb up your trellis, there are a few easy ways to support their continued growth. Longo says, "Continue to help guide them up the trellis and spread out the offshoots as they climb." Especially for newer plants that are just beginning to climb, guiding the tendrils in and through the open spaces of your trellis can help move your cucumber plants in the right direction. A device this simple can truly be a game-changer for fresh produce on the vine.