How tall do cucumber plants grow

For those who plan to grow cucumbers on a trellis, you might be in all probability questioning how excessive they are going to find yourself rising. It’s a good query, for the reason that peak of the trellis will rely upon the peak of the cucumbers. I did some analysis to seek out out simply how tall cucumbers will get.

So, how excessive will cucumbers climb? Some cucumber varieties can grow as excessive as 6 to 7 ft tall, whereas different varieties might be lower than one foot tall. Nonetheless, any cucumber can solely grow as tall because the trellis or assist that it makes use of to climb. With out assist, cucumbers will crawl alongside the bottom, spreading out to take up a big house in your backyard.

Reading: How tall do cucumber plants grow

The peak of a cucumber vine will depend on the range that you simply plant, so let’s begin off by looking at among the totally different varieties and their heights. Then we’ll get into the choices for supporting your cucumbers and the the explanation why it is best to assist them.

How Excessive Will Cucumbers Climb?

Cucumbers can grow as excessive as 7 ft tall, or keep shorter than 1 foot, relying on the range and whether or not they’re climbing with a trellis or different assist.

What Are The Varieties Of Cucumbers?

You possibly can grow both vine or bush cucumbers, relying in your backyard, the house obtainable, and your preferences.

Vine Cucumbers

That is the default kind of cucumber, except in any other case indicated in a catalog or at a nursery or backyard heart. Vine cucumbers will take up numerous house if they’re allowed to crawl and sprawl throughout the bottom.

Nonetheless, if you happen to assist vine cucumbers with a stake or trellis, they’ll grow very tall and use backyard house effectively. Some vine cucumbers can get as tall as 6 to 7 ft.

Some vine cucumber varieties embody:

• Diva Cucumber, 58 days to maturity, plant will get 5 to six ft tall. You possibly can take a look at the Diva Cucumber at parkseed.com

• Mexican Bitter Gherkin, 75 days to maturity, plant will get 3 to 4 ft tall. That is technically not a cucumber or melon! You possibly can take a look at the Mexican Bitter Gherkin at parkseed.com

• Child, 46 days to maturity, plant can grow to six ft 6 inches tall. You possibly can take a look at the Child Cucumber at parkseed.com.

Bush Cucumbers

Bush cucumber plants take up little or no house, needing just a few sq. ft per plant. In consequence, they’re good for container gardening, since they received’t often outgrow the boundaries of a 2 foot by 2 foot sq. container (or a 2-foot diameter spherical pot).

It’s also possible to use grow luggage on your cucumbers. For extra info, take a look at my article on grow luggage.

Some bush and semi-bush cucumber varieties embody:

• Choose-a-Bushel Hybrid Cucumber, 50 days to maturity, plant will get 10 to 12 inches tall. You possibly can take a look at the Choose-a-Bushel Hybrid Cucumber at parkseed.com.

• Saladmore Bush Hybrid, 55 days to maturity, plant will get 8 to 10 inches tall. You possibly can take a look at the Saladmore Bush Hybrid at parkseed.com

How To Help Cucumber Vines

Whether or not you plant bush or vine cucumbers, you’ll be able to grow them extra simply by offering assist. There are many methods to do this, however the preferred for cucumbers might be a trellis.

Help Cucumber Vines With A Trellis

A trellis is likely one of the hottest methods to assist cucumbers, and for good cause. A well-placed trellis can enhance the visible enchantment of your backyard, whereas additionally permitting your cucumbers to grow tall and take up much less backyard house.

You should purchase a trellis or make your personal from any variety of supplies, together with wooden, plastic, or steel. An angled trellis permits your vines to grow to their full peak with out making it troublesome so that you can harvest the topmost cucumbers.

As an added bonus, an angled trellis with cucumbers rising on high will present pure shade to plants rising beneath. For those who prefer to grow shade-tolerant plants in your backyard, they may very well be good companions to grow beneath a cucumber trellis.

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You possibly can even use a trellis in an A-frame form, so that you could grow cucumbers up both facet of the trellis. With this setup, you’ll be able to nonetheless plant shade-loving crops beneath the trellis, though you would possibly have to recruit somebody small and agile to reap them!

Another cool choice is an arch, or a curved trellis. You possibly can let cucumbers grow up either side of the arch and meet on the high. Then, you’ll be able to simply choose cucumbers that cling down from the vines, and any that fall off might be straightforward to see on the bottom.

For extra info, take a look at my article on trellises.

Help Cucumber Vines With A Cage

Cages are fashionable for supporting tomatoes and peppers, however you may as well use cages to assist cucumbers. One advantage of a cage is you could feasibly use one as assist for container or indoor cucumber plants.

With a big sufficient spherical cage, you would possibly have the ability to get away with supporting two cucumbers. You would possibly even have the ability to assist 4 cucumbers with an oblong cage – one on either side.

One drawback of a cage is that they’ll make harvesting your cucumbers somewhat harder. I all the time discover it a little bit of a ache to maneuver round cages, however maybe I place them too shut for consolation.

For extra info, take a look at my article on tomato cages.

You’ll have to determine if the trade-off of utilizing cages is value it to you. If not, you’ll be able to attempt among the different strategies to assist your cucumbers, comparable to alongside a fence.

Help Cucumber Vines With A Fence

If the perimeters of your backyard are alongside your property line, you’ll be able to plant your cucumbers alongside the fence and permit them to climb it for assist. A sequence-link fence might be the very best assist for cucumbers as they grow. Simply be sure to reap any cucumbers near the fence earlier than they get caught between the chain hyperlinks!

When you have a picket fence, you’ll be able to attempt driving nails (or screwing eye hooks) into the fence. Then, you’ll be able to let the cucumber seize onto these with its tendrils because it climbs.

Help Cucumber Vines With Stakes

Cucumbers may need somewhat extra bother climbing stakes, however you could have a few choices to assist them out. One choice is to tie the cucumber vines to the stake at intervals as they grow, identical to you’d with tomatoes.

Another choice is to stretch a size of twine between stakes, maybe at heights of two, 4 and 6 ft (relying on the cucumber selection). It will give the cucumber’s tendrils one thing to seize onto because it grows taller all through the season.

Why You Ought to Help Cucumber Vines

We’ve talked about the best way to assist cucumber vines, however why must you do it? Isn’t it alright to let cucumbers crawl throughout the bottom, like they used to do for years with out human interference?

Maybe, however let’s look into among the causes that supporting cucumbers is an efficient factor. Then, you’ll be able to determine for your self whether or not you need to assist your cucumbers or allow them to roam free within the backyard.

Supported Cucumbers Take Up Much less Area In Your Backyard

While you let cucumbers climb up a trellis, fence, or stake, they are going to grow vertically as an alternative of horizontally. This may be the distinction between cucumbers taking on numerous house in all instructions, or taking on a small quantity of house in a neat row.

Also Read: How long for weed and feed to work

When you have restricted house in your backyard, supporting your cucumbers is a good way to be extra economical with the house obtainable. If you’re rising in containers or indoors, it’s a necessity to assist your cucumbers, except you need them creeping into your residing house!

Supported Cucumbers Are Much less Inclined To Illness and Rot

When cucumbers grow alongside the bottom, your complete plant is extra more likely to get moist and keep moist when it rains, while you water, or when there may be dew on the grass. This will increase the possibility of ailments and decay of the leaves, vines, and fruit.

For those who assist your cucumber vines, they are going to not be on the bottom, which makes it simpler to water them, because you don’t have to fret about splashing the leaves. Supporting your cucumbers additionally permits them to dry out quicker after a rain, or if it’s essential to use the sprinkler for watering.

Supported Cucumbers Are Simpler To Deal with For Pests

In case your cucumbers are supported and climbing, it is going to be simpler to see pests on the leaves, vines, and fruit. It’s going to even be simpler to use remedy or to select off bugs if you happen to determine to do it by hand.

Supported Cucumbers Are Simpler to Water, Fertilize, and Harvest

When your cucumbers are planted in rows and supported as they grow, it’s simpler to stroll by your backyard to water, fertilize, and harvest them.

Initially, you don’t have to fret about stepping on leaves, vines, and cucumbers as you undergo to drag weeds or water and fertilize your plants.

Second, harvesting is far simpler since you’ll be able to see cucumbers extra simply, and also you don’t must bend over a lot to select them.

General, supporting cucumbers makes them a lot simpler to grow and handle, and likewise will increase your possibilities of success with this crop.

Conclusion

Now you could have a good suggestion of simply how a lot selection there may be within the peak of cucumbers (1 foot to 7 ft tall!) Hopefully, I’ve additionally satisfied you that it’s a good suggestion to assist your cucumbers.

In that case, it’s time to get on the market and supply the right assist. Simply do not forget that it’s simpler to arrange the helps earlier than the cucumber begins rising. In any other case, you threat damaging the plant.

You possibly can study what to do with tall plants right here.

You may additionally need to learn my article on why cucumber plants wilt after transplant.

I hope you discovered this text useful – in that case, please share it with somebody who can use the data.

If you wish to learn a few of my hottest posts, take a look at the “Best of GreenUpSide” web page right here. Take pleasure in!

~Jonathon

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