In a week or so, I will be ready to plant my cucumbers. I'm planting Straight 8's this year. I've never tried that variety before.
My question is....Do I need to trellis this variety? It seems from what I've read around the web, it is recommended.
I have some of those wire cone shaped tomato cages, which I found useless for tomatoes. Does anyone have any ideas on how I might use these to the cucumbers?
I was thinking of maybe sinking two of them into the ground and running a wire of some kind between them. I'm not sure if that made sense or not. LOL!
Any ideas or suggestions? I'd like to do this as economically as possible.
I use those cages for my pickling cucumbers. They work well. I usually place one down around the young vine, as I would a tomato plant, and then train the vine to it with ties as it grows. You might want to drive a short stake down inside the cage and attatch it to one of the legs, the cages tend to topple over as the vine gets heavier with fruit if it rains or gets windy.
Instead of wire for a crossbar trellis between two of the cages, you could just lay a stick or stake across between the two. Maybe tie it in place with twine or ties or even old cloth. It would be a bit sturdier and cheaper than wire, though the wire would work too.
Instead of wire for a crossbar trellis between two of the cages, you could just lay a stick or stake across between the two. Maybe tie it in place with twine or ties or even old cloth. It would be a bit sturdier and cheaper than wire, though the wire would work too.
One of the things about Straight 8 is that it stays straight without trellising. Trellising is always a good way to save space, and cukes take to it pretty well, but you could let those guys ramble over mulched ground if that's easier.
There was a study done several years ago that showed that trellising enhanced cucumber yields, probably because the plants get so much sun when they layer up with leaves. Makes sense for a plant like cuke, that has a ramble-till-you-tangle growth habit.
There was a study done several years ago that showed that trellising enhanced cucumber yields, probably because the plants get so much sun when they layer up with leaves. Makes sense for a plant like cuke, that has a ramble-till-you-tangle growth habit.