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Vegetable Gardening

Tomato cages for cucumber trellis?

Tabatha Thompson

8 years ago

Hi! I'm a first timer, so I'm a little confused about a few things. I'm growing a variety of different vegetables in containers of different sizes. Tomatoes (Cherokee Purple and Mortgage Lifter), crookneck squash, jalapeños, sugar baby watermelon, and county fair cucumbers. I'm pretty sure, after a month or two of researching here, that I have all of my plants in appropriate containers with well drained and fertilized potting mix. My question is about trellising the cucumbers. Is it possible to do so with a tomato cage? If so, what size? And do you simply let the plant grow UP the trellis? Or can you kind of manipulate it and wrap it around and up, saving space? I'll try to explain what I have pictured in my head here; a vine that I simply spiral around a tomato cage, while still leaving space for airflow and whatnot. Sound possible?

I have a feeling that simply growing straight up would require a very tall trellis that I'm dreading to attempt to build, much less try to harvest from (I'm a 4'10" lady lol). Any advice will help (:

Featured Answer

LoneJack Zn 6a, KC

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

I am growing County Fair this year for the first time also. Cucumbers are fairly easy to train but they grow pretty fast so you have to be vigilant or they can get away from you. The Tomato cage should work, but the cucumbers will want to climb much higher in my experience. If you can use 2 tomato cages stacked where only 2' or so of the top cage extends above the bottom cage it might work better and you should still be able to reach the top. If you do manipulate the cucumber tendrils by hand they should be made to wrap counter clockwise as they do naturally. The crookneck squash and sugar baby watermelons in a container might be rather challenging to keep contained though. Good luck!

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Comments (7)

LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
8 years ago
Forgot to mention that there is a 'Container Gardening' forum on Gardenweb. The folks over there will have more ideas on what works well for supporting various veggies in containers.
Tabatha Thompson thanked LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
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beesneeds
8 years ago
Sure, you can use a tomato cage for growing cukes in a container. You might want to supplement the gaps between rings with some additional twine, and probably would want to weave the vines up.
Tabatha Thompson thanked beesneeds
digdirt2
8 years ago
Depends on what you mean by a "tomato cage"? That label means very different things to different folks. :)

The 3 ring things they sell in stores that they call tomato cages but actually don't work for tomatoes? Wouldn't be nearly tall enough tho like Jack said you could maybe wire 2 of them together, stacked on top of each other, add some additional wire or strings and make it work. But you will need to stake it well or as the plant grows it will just fall over, especially if windy. You need something at least 5' tall and 6' would be better.

Look at all these pics and see if you can't get an idea from them that will work.

cucumber+trellis images
Tabatha Thompson thanked digdirt2
kathyb912_in (5a/5b, Central IN)
8 years ago
I grow Muncher cucumbers up a 4' tall tomato cage -- the plants don't get taller than that for me. I wrap the cage with some twine early in the season to give the tendrils more places to grab on to, tying the twine off at multiple points to give support and prevent sagging. They pretty much climb on their own; I don't need to give them much help. 2-3 plants per cage.

If you're growing in containers, just be sure the cage can extend deeply enough into the soil that it stays stable.
Tabatha Thompson thanked kathyb912_in (5a/5b, Central IN)
Tabatha Thompson
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you guys so much for responding!

LoneJack I knew someone might say something about the squash and watermelon lol. I know that there's a possibility that they might not do too well :/ However, even if I only get a few squash and an itsy bitsy melon, it'll be a small victory for me. This year is just a learning experience (: Also, thanks for the counter clockwise info. I wouldn't have known.

Digdirt2 Yeah, those are the ones I'm talking about haha. I realized quickly after buying them that they're definitely not going to work for my tomatoes. I might just use them for the jalapeños and construct some kind of trellis with bamboo and twine for the cucumbers.

Container gardening sounded like such a great idea at first..... Next year these suckers are going in the ground.
jolj
8 years ago
YES, I grow tomatoes in 24" dia, cages, 48" tall & plant 3 -5 cucumbers around the edge of the cage with no harm to any of the plants & I am an organic gardener, so I can not throw a little more 5-10-10 around the cage. the tomatoes & cukes are all supported by the same 24 inch compost & pine straw mulch all season.

I agree that container garden form is a good one, but this is a good link too.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/vertical
Tabatha Thompson thanked jolj

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