DIY Cucumber Trellis

Grow your own cucumbers up an A-frame trellis with this really easy DIY for the food garden.

You will need:

• 4 @ 900mm x 102 x 32mm CCA treated timber
• 4 @ 1600mm x 102 x 32mm CCA treated timber
• 4m @ 50 x 50mm weld mesh (fencing)
• Handful of tek screws
• Fencing staples (U nails)
• Offcut piece of timber 900mm long
• 1m2 landscape fabric for the base

Tools: drill driver with a nut setter, pliers/side cutters, hammer

Steps:

1. Construct a box that is 900 x 900mm by simply screwing the corners together with the tek screws. The size of this base can be adjusted to your growing space.

2. Staple the landscape fabric into the base.

3. Lay the 1600mm lengths on the ground and overlap the top to form a “V” with enough space to rest the offcut piece of timber. Join the 2 top planks with a tek screw – you will need to adjust the angle slightly.

4. Position the uprights into the corners of the base and secure onto the base with a tek screw on each side until it’s in position and then secure with a second tek screw and repeat on the other side. Place the offcut 900mm timber across the top of the structure, slotting into the “V” created and secure.

5. Unroll the weld mesh and reverse roll or bend it into ‘more or less’ a flat length.

6. Drape the mesh over the offcut piece of timber and bend it into shape where necessary.

7. Secure to the base as well as the uprights on all sides with the fencing staples, and trim any overhangs with pliers or side cutters.

8. Move the trellis to your preferred location and fill the base with 50% potting soil and 50% compost mix. Lettuce and other herbs can be grown underneath the trellis as the vine will provide dappled shade once established.

Tips for growing cucumber:

• Grow cucumbers in full sun and in fertile, well-composted soil. Add a generous amount of compost to the bed before planting.
• Sow three seeds in one hole. No one really knows why, but this just seems to work. Seeds should germinate within 7 days and the soil should be kept consistently moist during germination.
• Pinch off the growing points when the plants are 60 cm high to encourage side shoots, as most of the fruit develops from this growth.
• As the plant grows it can be pruned to keep it under control, but only once it has developed sufficient fruit (about 12 fruit per plant).
• Water well during hot and dry periods – cucumbers are not drought tolerant
• Feed with a balanced fertiliser, like 2:3:2, or a liquid fertiliser 2-3 times during the growing season.
• Fertilise if you see yellow leaves – the plants will recover quickly after feeding

Learn more about growing cucumber here.