Homemade cucumber trellis on a budget!

by Robert Leavitt

Cucumbers can be grown in two different ways.  You can grow them in raised hills like you would watermelon, cantaloupe, squash, etc... or you can trellis them.  Trellis is usually preferred over hill plantings for the home gardener because of space limitations and higher yields.  If you do choose to grow them on the ground, be sure to mulch under the fruit and keep it directly out of the soil to avoid pests and rot.

I personally have a lot of space and I actually have cucumber plants that are grown in hills as well as on my trellis.  I needed a trellis but I didn't have the budget to afford one.  A trellis can be constructed for a very low cost.  This trellis, while not a sign of fine craftsmanship, is an example of how I used things I already had and one trip the store for some twine which rang up at $1.50.

I had a deck project going on earlier in the year so I had some thin long pieces of scrap. These mesaured about 1 1/2" x 8' x 1/2". These were thin, long strips of wood.I didn't have enough however to create a latitice which would have been preffered, so I decided to get creative and make a frame and weave some twine through it like a loom.  It's a little bit far fetched, however I am confident that it will hold the cucumbers!

This is a rough sketch to show you the basic idea:

Example of a trellis for cucumber using a twine weave

 This is the layout of the frame.  I used 2x2 braces in the corners, for just a little added support.  You can also see either side of the trellis frame is longer to be driven down like a steak into the ground.  Everything was secured using torx 25 decking screws, but I could have used nails or whatever screws I had lying around.  I just happened to have those outdoor screws from the deck project I mentioned earlier.

Frame for the cucumber trellis

This is the outside edges of the frame before assembly, where I drilled holes for the twine to pass through:

Outside edges of cucumber frame with holes for the twine to pass through.

After screwing all the pieces together (drill pilot holes if you are using thin wood like this to avoid nasty splits)  I stated to weave.  I started at the top and went from top to bottom.  I then cut a second piece of twine to run left to right.  Each end of the two twine pieces were tied off to themselves.

Starting to weave the twine for the cucumber trellis

Weaving the twine in a pattern to make the cucumber trellis

This is the finished product:

Finished Cucumber Trellis

Now I know what you are thinking...That's the coolest cucumber trellis ever right?  Well OK maybe not, but it's just an example of what you could do.  The bottom is not broken, it's 2 pieces that are only being held with one screw.  I will go out and put another piece to reinforce it, or I wont.. That's the beauty of this system, it's your garden!

This idea could be applied to PVC, wood, or aluminum, or heck anything you can get your hands on!

You can learn more about Robert Leavitt on his Google Plus page.