Cucumber plant help?
Question:I have never grown cucumbers before and just started this spring. They are getting pretty large and i am not sure how to make the plant more stable. I have used sticks as support in the beginning but not they are getting much larger. Would chicken wire around the plant help its growth be more tame and help the vines? I also should add that they are planted in pots
Answers:
Unless you planted pickling or Kirby cucumbers the fruit on the plants make them top heavy and prone to falling over in a slight wind. To stabilize the potted plants, dig a hole in the garden and put the pots in the hole and cover with dirt to the top of the pot. Add stakes around the back of the pots so you can use garden wire to train the plants.
The best planting spot is in a sunny garden with good drainage. After you plant the seeds, place planked (2 inches wide & 2-3 feet tall) garden stakes behind each row and nail or staple chicken wire to the length of each row.
As the plants become larger, use the green plastic coated wire to train the plants to grow up the trellis. The pointed, plastic garden stakes are good to embed near the front of the plant to train it toward the trellis. This saves space and keeps the cukes off of the ground.
Your local garden shop should have tomato cages that you can use to help support the plant. If you think the vines are getting too long you can cut them to prevent them from growing any further and focus on growing the cucumbers instead.
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