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Square Foot Gardening

Cucumber vine control

13 years ago

I'm a completely inexperienced SFG (and a newcomer to this forum as well). My first foray into a home garden was done with very little planning, and I've been looking at this growing season as a bit of a learning effort - and an opportunity to ask some really basic questions!

Anyway, my cucumber vines have rapidly outgrown the rather flimsy trellis that they're on. They're already a foot past the top of the support, and starting to sway rather brutally in the wind. Should I prune off the end of the vine? I'm worried that in another week or two, the vine will snap off by itself - but I don't want to injure the plant or stop it from fruiting (I just started getting some female blooms).

Thanks in advance!

Alan

Featured Answer

Tiffany, Portland OR Zone 8b

8 years ago

This completely answered my question as well, thank you so much for confirming we can prune the top leader

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Comments (7)

hookilau
13 years ago
I'm totally inexperienced too but thought I might add that I read recently on the sfg forum that someone recommended to someone else (a friend of a friend) who's vining plants were outgrowing the trellis to train the new growth down the other side of the trellis...they also suggested going horizontal but well, I guess that depends on whether that would throw too much shade to the plants below.
ladycraft
13 years ago
I have a jungle!! Tomatoes and cucumbers fighting. Think I am going to try to go taller then ??? But I am so proud how well this is working.
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albaby
Original Author
13 years ago
I appreciate the responses, but what I really wanted to know was whether it is safe/appropriate to prune off the end tips of the vines so that they'll stop growing out. I'm having problems with both the cukes and my honeydew - the vines are getting way too long for the space available to them. I'd like to prune back the ends, but I don't want to do that if it will damage the plant or jeopardize the still-growing fruits.

Alan
Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
13 years ago
Hopefully next season you'll get a much bigger trellis, appropriately sized for each vining fruit. What likely will happen is that the axils will start growing and you'll get lots of side shoots that will elongate and try to continue growing. I doubt too much will happen with the fruit proper.

Dan
ribbit32004
13 years ago
Mine have far outgrown their trellis also. I take which ones I can and train them back down (actually to the side and back again so it makes a bit of a basket weave) which is a task since they always want to go back up. Eventually, I'll pick a few and trim the leading vine back and like Dan said, they'll send out smaller, but still productive side shoots.

So, train as many back down as you can.

Here is a link that might be useful: TCY
viktoria5
13 years ago
I am citing Douglas Green from Canadian Vegetable Gardening:

"Train the central leader, the fastest growing and original shoot, straight up the fence until it gets to the top. Then prune it off level to the top of the fence. This 1.3-m vine will then develop multiple side shoots which will bear profuse amounts of fruit."

Having said that, I have a trellis about 7 feet long, so I don't think my cukes will ever grow over it. I also have watermelons and cantaloupes along the same trellis, and I am really hoping that once the melons outgrow the cukes, whatever room the cukes will not climb up to will be free for the melon vines to roam.

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