Growing melons/cucumbers vertically?

[Satori]

I'm trying to figure out how to make the most of my space since I'm determined to put in a lawn next month and have my garden too but it means I'm limited to around the edges of the fence. I could swear I've seen people grow heavy fruits like watermelon and cantaloupe vertically up a lattice then support the fruit by putting it in a pantyhose and attaching it to the lattice. I've got limited ground space so I'm thinking vertical where I can is the way to go.

[CariOfOz]

While I haven't done it myself, I HAVE seen pictures of just that idea on the net. pantyhose 'hammocks' supporting melons etc as they grow up a trellise. Apparently it works pretty well as the hose supports the weight but stretches as the fruit grows.

[Minxie]

I saw in a book an A-frame trellis; seen from the end it looks like an A. That might work well for you; it also showed them tying the pantyhose to the frame underneath the developing fruit.

Here are a couple of sites showing what I mentioned:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2224037_buil...e-trellis.html

http://www.ecomii.com/gardening/vege...taking-veggies

[Satori]

it was my moms garden last summer I saw it in

[Minxie]

Originally Posted by Satori

it was my moms garden last summer I saw it in

Well, that should make it easier to get advice.

[Ruthiegirl]

Yes! We grow all of our cukes and cantalopes on the back fence. Haven't tried watermelon, but I could see it working with a little extra support for the heavy melons.

I use regular old twine and staple it to the wooden fencing. I make a vertical zig zag, up and down, across the fence. It takes a week for the vines to find the twine -- I have to help them up a bit, but once they get going they take care of themselves.

[Satori]

Originally Posted by Ruthiegirl

Yes! We grow all of our cukes and cantalopes on the back fence. Haven't tried watermelon, but I could see it working with a little extra support for the heavy melons.

I use regular old twine and staple it to the wooden fencing. I make a vertical zig zag, up and down, across the fence. It takes a week for the vines to find the twine -- I have to help them up a bit, but once they get going they take care of themselves.

Twine will work? So I won't need to buy something like metal chicken/dog wire? My parent used some kind of metal square chicken wire but they had long rows of it and a lot of stuff growing up it so maybe they needed more support?

[Pepper44]

I did this one year with lemon cucumbers, which are about apple sized. It worked really well. I just used a regular trellis leaned against the side of my house, no extra support, and the vine went right up.

[laohaire]

I made the trellis described in Square Foot Gardening. Honestly, my garden was a no-show last summer, so I don't have any real experience with how the fruit bears up, but just handling the trellis it seems pretty solid and I have no doubt melons and cukes would be fine on it. We used rebar to pound in the ground (2 x 3 feet long I think, pounded halfway in), electrical conduit (2 x 6 feet tall, and 1 x 4 feet) and then 2 corner attachments for the conduit to make a frame (easy peasy). Then nylon netting cut to size and tied to the conduit. I'm not handy at all, and it took me no more than 10 minutes to put it all together (though DH did the pounding of the rebar). I think the cost was around $10-12 to buy the materials new at Home Depot.

ETA: The only hitch, also described in the SFG book, was cutting the conduit to spec. They come in 10 foot long bars - too long to realistically use for this purpose. You can buy a special tool to cut it but it's a shame to blow, say, $30 on a tool you'd need for 3 minutes. As recommended in the SFG book, we managed to appeal to the Home Depot workers to let us borrow one of their tools and do it right in the store. They did make it clear they wouldn't do it themselves, that was fine. (Not laziness, but policy for whatever reason).

[Ruthiegirl]

Originally Posted by Satori

Twine will work? So I won't need to buy something like metal chicken/dog wire? My parent used some kind of metal square chicken wire but they had long rows of it and a lot of stuff growing up it so maybe they needed more support?

My fencing is strong. I use strong staples and a staple gun and it works just fine. The cuke vines are not that heavy. Neither are the cantaloupes, but the fruit are heavier. I tuck them into the vines and the vines help support them.

You could certainly use something heavier. I do use some heavy wire fencing material to support the tomato vines, but they are heavy!

I am a frugal kind of gardener (some say cheap) and the wire fencing can be really expensive so I only use where I have to.