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Subject: Market Farming
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- From: "Glen Eco Farm" <glenecofarm AT planetcomm.net>
- To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Cucumbers
- Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:11:33 -0500
>
>>Need some input on growing cucumbers on trellis. We grow pickling cucumbers about .5 acre per planting. Labor cost for harvest is getting real costly, I thought maybe we could pick faster and have cleaner fruit if trellised. What is your ideas.? Thanks Bill
>
> I grow cucumbers on circles of remesh. This seems to work very well.
>
> A straight line of the remesh would work as well as a circle.
I started a thread on this topic almost a year ago (Jan 29 - Feb1) and got 10 responses. I went back and reviewed them and decided to copy several of them into my "Agriculture Technical" folder in "My Documents" There were some good ideas there. It would be well worth one's effort to go into the MF list archives to dig it up. Don't ask me how to access the MF archives. (smile)
I have grown trellised cucumbers for more than 25 years, in much the same way that my mother did before me. Today, I just use heavy stakes or T-posts set about 4 feet apart and wrap heavy bailing twine between them. Starting very low on the T-posts, paired strands of twine are set about 4 inches apart. On the first pass, the twine is wrapped so that it passes in front of the post. One the return trip, it is wrapped 2 or 3 times around the end post and then wrapped so that it passes behind the post maybe an inch above the previous strand. At the end of the row, the twine is wrapped upward about 4 inches, and again is wrapped so that it passes in front of the bar. The return is behind the bar and an inch or so higher. As the cucumber grows it is easy to pull the cucumbers between the paired strands of twine. Unfortunately, cucumbers are not self-climbing in the sense that beans are, so regardless of the method employed, they will require ongoing training.
My mother's technique was
very similar to what I just described, but she tore her old worn sheets so
that they formed a long continuous strip. Strips were torn from left to
right to about an inch from the edge on one side and the next strip was
torn about an inch below that from right to left, and so on. The strip was
knotted at the edge to prevent further tearing. This ingenuity came from days of
having to make do. And it worked wonderfully. She used wooden
stakes exclusively, wrapping the fabric around the posts in much the same
way as I do the twine. The fabric gets higher marks than the twine in my book,
even though it take more prep time (though it's nice busy work while TV
watching) because the fabric is gentler to the vine, cradling
and protecting them from bending and breaking. It also "holds"
the vine in place better than twine or wire or fencing--all of which I have
experimented with over the years.
It's probably not the
prettiest sight when first set up, but it is quickly covered with the growing
vines. I have done 200 foot rows this way, and it's simple, quick, and
fairly inexpensive.
Elise
On Jan 30, 2008 6:46 PM,
carol
I have grown cukes on a
trellis since my first year doing it on my own...I hated tromping through the
field and trying to not step on sprawling vines. Most of my vines are on
woven wire (some 4"X4" & some 2"X4"), I do have some cattle panels as
well. I just used whatever was handy, rather, on-hand. My rows are
oriented east to west and are straight up and down(no leaning). I try to
keep things simple for myself. I don't have the cattle panels or wire
directly on the ground (makes it easier to weed and lay mulch), I raise them up
some (7-12"-just eyeball it) and wire them to the posts. the woven wire is
easier to keep up because i bend part of a "square" out & slide it over the
post...it pretty much holds itself up but I do wire the bottom on so the wind
doesn't take it and pull the plants out of the
ground.
I'm not sure that the V you
talked about would be necessary. I plant my cukes pretty close and
they do fine all growing on the same trellis. I think what might happen
with a V orientation is that the cukes would begin their journey upward and then
a few might miss the next rung and begin to "lean". The little tendrils
might catch the other side of the V & continue on up. Then, when they
come on you could have cukes in the middle of the V that would be difficult to
get to.
Carol in OK Zone
6
We
trellis all our cukes, but have found the Hortonova doesn't hold up
under UV
for more than a year or two and then leaves a mess of plastic
bits.
The woven nylon trellis net sold by Johnny's and others, on the
other hand,
lasts and lasts and lasts and is light and easy to put up.
take down, store,
etc. We use a local "living post" -- gloricida --
that then provides
leaf mulch and/or partial shade if we need. We bind
a heavy cord or
doubled up twine to the end post, then weave it through
the top edge
of the trellis net for strength, binding it to post tops
down the
line. Usually we plant in "hills" of 3-4 cukes about 3-4'
apart
with "hills" of pole beans planted in between to take over the
trellis
when the cukes fade out to disease. We may plant herbs or some
small
quick crop in the front and some shade-loving crop behind. The
crucial
step for us is helping the vines (both cuke and to a lesser
extent
bean) first connect to the net and then helping wayward vines
connect
anytime we're passing through.
Karen Sutherland
Roots
Farm
Cockrane,
767-449-3038
-
Re: [Market-farming] Cucumbers
, (continued)
-
Re: [Market-farming] Cucumbers,
Garth & Kim Travis, 12/23/2008
-
Re: [Market-farming] Cucumbers,
Allan Balliett, 12/24/2008
-
Re: [Market-farming] Cucumbers,
Garth & Kim Travis, 12/25/2008
-
[Market-farming] where to buy things,
Beth Spaugh, 12/25/2008
- [Market-farming] Peat as animal bedding., Sharon and Steve, 12/25/2008
- Re: [Market-farming] Peat as animal bedding., Beth Spaugh, 12/25/2008
- Re: [Market-farming] where to buy things, Allan Balliett, 12/25/2008
-
[Market-farming] where to buy things,
Beth Spaugh, 12/25/2008
-
Re: [Market-farming] Cucumbers,
Garth & Kim Travis, 12/25/2008
- Re: [Market-farming] Cucumbers, Pat Meadows, 12/25/2008
-
Re: [Market-farming] Cucumbers,
Allan Balliett, 12/24/2008
-
Re: [Market-farming] Cucumbers,
Garth & Kim Travis, 12/23/2008
- Re: [Market-farming] Cucumbers, Linda Amico, 12/24/2008
- Re: [Market-farming] Cucumbers, Glen Eco Farm, 12/23/2008
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