I am trying to grow Cantalope and english cucumbers. Do I stake them?

Question

Hello!

I am growing a small garden in my back yard. Two of my plants are -a cantalope and an english cucumber that have very large vines. I had them staked and they are trying to produce, but they are a jumbled mess. I originally put them in a tomatoe "cage" and they have climbed up. They are so heavy-they are bending it however. Would they be better on the ground?

Answer 1

Ahhhhh, the vine monsters of summer!

Since they are alreay caged, you might damage them by trying to get them out of the cage....don't keep throwing the ends back into the cage....let them take off this year....just treat them like the unruly children that they are and start again next year!  Tomato cages are not strong enough to support vines of this magnatude...tomatos are much lighter and dont extend 30 feet into the distance......wellllllll.....there was that one I had a few years ago that I had to keep trimming back....definatly inderterminant.........but I digress....

I trellis my Cukes and ground row the Lopes.  But you really need to set their limits when you put them in the ground.  They are just like two year olds!!  They'll try you every chance they get!  Be firm, consistant, and gentle......it will pay off in the end!!

I lash 4- 1x1's or Furring strips together, hold them with a couple of s***w in the corners, and use natural hemp to create a web inside of the frame.  (I've gotten really good at makeing decorative inner works....but that's another question...isn't it??)  Then I brace it with the 5-6 foot tomato spikes on each side of the side rails.  

Put the trellis in the ground so that the sun passes directly over head through its path for the day....this means no shade cast on your cuke or anything around it!  Plant the cukes on each side in a staggared planting, and they just take off!! Now...for this year.....since you already have them in the ground, you can do a smaller, individual versions and untangle them....or...since they sound like they are already tangled on the ground....save the big one for next time, make the small ones, and simply, lay them flat, slide them under the vines, twist them up on their sides instead of up tall.....this will at least keep the blossoms from getting filled with mud and the majority of the fruit off the ground to keep in from rotting.  One of the other answer-ers said you have got to keep up with ground growing...and they are absolutley right on that count!!  One humid day too many and you have goop on the ground!!

Now, as to the Lopes....I gave up on cages and trellising a long time ago: unless you are doing the mini melons.  The type of trellis I used for the cukes works for those mini melons, and I use knee highs to tie on the fruits....but for regular sized melons.....plant them between the other plants and let them run free!!! (and occassionaly provide a gentle reminder that they are NOT to wrap around the squash stalk, climb the corn, or knock over the eggplant)....another method is to "channel" them.  Actually dig out a small chanel for their vines to go...they can be either straight or curving around the other plants (if you do compandion gardening)......then direct them by driving the small(ish) dowl rods down the middle; this helps you find them, and gives the hyperactive tendrils something to grasp and climb and pull themselves forward with.... Once the fruit starts to develop, simply put a board across the chanel, rest the fruit on top of it and put a small, colorful marker (yarn fades!!) on the top of that particular dowl rod so you can monitor the fruit.....and sit in the shade and drool in anticipation!!  I tend to use old pie tins for my markers.  Punch a couple of holes, feed the dowl rod through, bend the edge around the top to keep it up....They even spin in the wind!! Keeps out the birds and deer too!!

Other than the inconvenience of ground growing due to picking, the general unpleasant appearance of the tangles etc.....the main thing to look out for if you decide this year  is just too much hassle, and to "do it better next time" and just "deal with it" this time.....the ground tangles are much more succeptable to fungus and mildew.  Keep a close eye out.  Water only in the AM.  Don't over water, and snip off leaves that start turning yellow or appear to have a dusting of chalk on them.....these are signs of fungus and mildew.  Your plants will still happily produce minus a few leaves!  

Good luck and happy gardening!!

Answer 2

Cantalopes get too heavy on a vine and the fruit ends up falling.  You need to rig a hammock for them and that requires a sturdy trellis.  Easier to let them stay on the ground.  Cucumbers can be trained up but I found them easier left of the ground, though they rot faster.  You have to stay ahead of picking.  The standard tomato cage is far tooooo skimpy for most tomtoes unless you remove the suckers (you'll have to look that up, hard to explain w/o a picture)  You can put thick bamboo stakes down the side to help support the cages or run the bamboo across the cage from side to side much like you are building a kindling stack for a bonfire.  The plants can then rest on the bamboo.  I start my plants in those skimpy things and then further support them with 4"x4"x4' tall fencing.  This wire size with the 4" openings can be wrapped around the tomato cage  before the plants start peeking out and supported to the ground with 2"x2" stakes about 7 feet tall and driven into the ground.  Now you have a sturdy cage for the tomatoes to grow around inside and enough room to get my hands in there for picking.  

There are many other ways to support tomatoes, be creative, you'll find one you like.  Remember, the determinate tomatoes, those that grow to a certain height, stop and then flower and fruit are probably the best for typical garden cages.  The indeterminate tomatoes, like so many of the smaller tomatoes, will grow and flower continually, often reaching huge sizes.

Answer 3

It is a matter of preference.  Some folks stake them and provide slings for the heavier fruits, other people let them ramble on the ground.  Leaving them on the ground lessens the chances of damage and breakage.  Place a small piece of lumber or plywood under each cantaloupe to keep it off the dirt.  This will help prevent mold or rot.