Tips Bulletin

Useful Tips To Make Your Everyday Life Just A Bit Better

Navigation

  • Cleaning
  • Garden & Yard
  • Food Preservation
Home >> Plants >> Vegetables >> Growing Cucumber

How to Grow Cucumbers Vertically

By Joan Clark

Cucumbers are popular plants to grow at home with their rapid growth and crunchy, refreshing green fruits. They’re a member of the Cucurbitaceae family, along with watermelons and gourds, such as zucchini. Learn how to grow cucumbers vertically to enjoy these tasty, nutritious fruits without sacrificing valuable garden space.

Taking up a smaller area is not the only benefit of growing pickling cucumbers vertically. The plants are less likely to suffer from pests and diseases. The improved air circulation and relative ease of keeping the leaves dry when watering help prevent fungal diseases like powdery mildew.

The leaves also have a lot of space to spread out, meaning they receive more direct sun, leading to healthier plants and larger cukes. In addition, the cucumbers remain cleaner and grow straighter since they’re not resting on the ground. Harvesting the fruits is also easier on the back since you don’t have to stoop.

How to Grow Cucumbers Vertically titleimg1
(orestligetka/123rf.com)
tb1234
tb1234
Table Of Contents
  1. Tips for Growing Cucumbers Vertically
    • How to Grow Cucumbers Vertically
  2. Getting Started on Growing Pickling Cucumbers Vertically
    • Choosing a Cucumber Variety
    • Selecting a Trellis for Growing Pickling Cucumbers Vertically
    • Choosing and Amending Soil for Cucumber Plants
  3. How to Grow Cucumbers Vertically: Planting
    • When to Plant Cucumbers
    • Sun and Light Requirements for Cucumber Plants
    • Sowing Cucumber Seeds
  4. Growing Pickling Cucumbers Vertically: Caring for Cucumber Plants
    • Watering and Fertilizing Cucumber Plants
    • Training Plants for Growing Cucumbers Vertically
    • Pruning Vertical Cucumber Plants
  5. Harvesting Cucumbers Grown Vertically

Tips for Growing Cucumbers Vertically

Like the way to plant gourds, trellising cucumber plants is similar to growing them on the ground. The only major difference for growing cucumbers vertically is the trellis. Although you may need to train the cucumber vines initially, they’ll quickly cling on their own. Other veggies, such as zucchini, also grow well on a trellis.

How to Grow Cucumbers Vertically

Use vining cucumber types for growing cucumbers vertically. Bush cucumbers only grow on the ground, while vining cucumbers grow up trellises too. Vertical cucumber growing is ideal for small gardens since the plants only occupy about one square foot.

Plant cucumber seeds after the last frost or start them indoors several weeks earlier. They thrive in highly fertile soil, so amend the soil before planting. It’s possible to grow vining cucumbers in containers as long as the pots are large enough.

Ensure that the cucumber plants receive plenty of water and sunlight during the cucumbers growing season. Purchase a cucumber trellis or make your own from materials like wooden posts and string or garden netting. If the tendrils are not winding naturally around their support, tie them loosely.

Prune the climbers if they get too overgrown and watch out for pests like cucumber beetles. Harvest the plants as soon as they’re ripe so that they don’t turn bitter.

Getting Started on Growing Pickling Cucumbers Vertically

Several cucumber varieties are suitable for vertical gardening. Several trellis styles work, too.

Choosing a Cucumber Variety

Other than looking for a vining variety, you’ll need to choose between slicing and pickling cucumbers. Slicing cukes are larger and best for eating fresh. Pickling cucumbers are smaller and, unsurprisingly, suitable for pickling.

The Marketmore cucumber is a common slicing variety that resists common diseases. Lemon cucumbers are a distinctive, yellowish heirloom variety with a rounded shape and mild flavor.

The pale-green Armenian cucumber is technically a member of the muskmelon family. However, its long, slender shape resembles that of a cucumber.

Selecting a Trellis for Growing Pickling Cucumbers Vertically

Buy a cucumber support online or at a hardware or garden store, or make a DIY version. The trellis should be sturdy, four to six feet tall, and easy to harvest from all sides.

tb1234

Possible Cucumber Trellises

  • Wooden slats with twine or netting attached
  • Cattle panels bent around stakes or a raised bed
  • A chicken wire frame
  • An A-frame trellis
  • Tomato cage(s)
  • An arch
tb1234

If you use garden netting or chicken wire, make sure the holes are large enough to reach through when it’s cucumber harvest time. Sturdy A-frame trellises take up more space. Tomato cages are small enough that you may need to stack several on top of each other.

Choosing and Amending Soil for Cucumber Plants

The perfect soil for cucumbers is well-drained, loose, deep, neutral, and rich in organic matter. Loamy soil is best, although sandy is fine if it contains enough nutrients.

Add an organic, slow release fertilizer and several inches of well-rotted manure or compost before planting. When the cucumber plants are several inches tall, spread mulch to retain moisture and prevent weeds.

How to Grow Cucumbers Vertically: Planting

The most common cucumber growing method is from seed. Ensure that your plants receive plenty of sunlight.

When to Plant Cucumbers

Direct sow cucumber seeds in late spring after the last frost. They prefer soil temperature around 70℉.

Alternatively, start the seeds indoors three to four weeks before the final frost. Then, harden them off in the garden for several days before transplanting them.

Sun and Light Requirements for Cucumber Plants

These sun lovers require at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight daily. The location should also enjoy protection from the wind. Ensure that temperatures remain above 50℉. The ideal range is between 60 and 95℉.

Sowing Cucumber Seeds

Install your support before planting. Sow the seeds along the base of the trellis, six inches apart and one inch deep. Thin out the weakest seedlings from each bunch so that the plants are one foot apart.

You can also start cucumbers indoors. Insert one seed per cup. Ensure the soil temperature is at least 70℉—use a heat mat if necessary.

Expect the seeds to germinate in 7 to 14 days. When the plants have a few leaves, transplant the healthiest to the garden. Cucumber plant spacing is important. Place the seedlings one foot apart.

It is possible to grow cucumbers in large containers. When growing cucumbers in a pot, ensure that the pot is at least 12 inches deep and wide to leave enough space for the roots.

Growing Pickling Cucumbers Vertically: Caring for Cucumber Plants

Provide your cucumbers with consistent water and some fertilizer. Train young plants if necessary and prune any that become overgrown. Watch for a cucumber turning yellow, as it is no longer good to eat at this stage.

Watering and Fertilizing Cucumber Plants

Cucumbers require regular and deep watering due to the fruits’ high water content. Give them one inch of water every three to four days. Avoid getting the soil soggy or splashing water on the leaves or fruits.

Apply fertilizer in early summer and fall. Use slow release fertilizer or fertilizer tea.

Training Plants for Growing Cucumbers Vertically

If the vines do not reach out to grab the trellis, gently wind them around it. It might not even be necessary to tie the tendrils. However, if you do, secure them with twine, soft fabric strips, twist ties, or plastic plant ties.

Tie loosely since the stems could grow larger. If the ties become too tight, loosen or remove them.

Pruning Vertical Cucumber Plants

If your cucumber plants get too large, prune them five to seven joints from the bottom to give the vines room to spread. Always prune the secondary vine, not the main one, and use bypass pruners.

Consider pruning the lower fruits so that the plant directs more energy toward vine growth. You could also remove lateral runners.

Harvesting Cucumbers Grown Vertically

Cucumbers are typically ready to harvest in 60 to 90 days. Check the seed packet to confirm the variety’s final size and the number of days to maturity. Inspect the plants daily once they start producing since cucumbers grow fast.

Harvest when the fruits feel firm. Pick cucumbers regularly to encourage the plant to be productive. Do not let them ripen for too long, or they’ll turn bitter.

Wear gloves when harvesting since some cucumbers are prickly. Cut off the fruits with a sharp knife or pruners. Leave one inch of stem attached.

Cucumbers stay fresh in the fridge for about one week, although their flavor is best soon after picking. Store them in the crisper or an open container lined with paper towel. The way to tell if a cucumber is bad inside is by looking at the outside first. A very limp and slimy cuke is bad. Toss it.

Grow cucumbers in the vegetablegarden along with other veggies like broccoli and cabbage. Growing pickling cucumbers vertically allows you to enjoy homegrown cucumbers even in small spaces.

Cucumber plants are relatively easy to grow, demanding only fertile soil, sufficient space and sunlight, consistent watering, and occasional fertilizing.

The main difference for how to grow cucumbers vertically instead of on the ground is training the vines around a trellis.

Read our tips for growing cucumbers vertically, from choosing cucumber varieties to installing a support like a DIY trellis or tomato cage. If necessary, tie the cucumber vines loosely in place using twine. Add cukes to your vegetable garden today. #cucumbers #plants #vertical #gardening
(orestligetka/cmpsthailand/123rf.com)

If you found these cucumber growing tips helpful, please share this vertical gardening information with your friends on Facebook and Pinterest.

Receive the latest Home & Garden Tips by entering your email below:

 We respect your privacy and take protecting it very seriously. No spam!

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Top Posts

  • Homemade Floor Cleaner
  • Baking Soda
  • Vinegar
  • How to Repel Mosquitoes
  • Witch Hazel Uses
  • Hydrogen Peroxide Uses
  • Castor Oil Uses
  • How to Clean Leather
  • How to Keep Spiders Away
  • Contact Us – About Us
  • Privacy Policy – GDPR – Medical Disclaimer – DMCA
Affiliate Disclaimer: Tipsbulletin.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com