I'm so jealous I could scream ! : )

For cucumbers, I built a horizontal frame with mesh net.

This post was edited by Daniel_NY on Sat, Aug 30, 14 at 19:53

The cucumbers spread very fast

The cucumbers can either sit on the net

Or hang...

For tomatoes I made something similar but vertical. Of course I thought about vertical trellis for the cucumbers, but the only place where I can plant the cucumbers is⦠in front of my house, and the village might not like a 6 ft. high trellis there.

Your trellis is nice, but 5 ft. high I think is not high enough.

Especially if you donâÂÂt prune your tomatoes⦠AT ALL.

Also keep in mind that heavy winds might put down your trellis with heavy foliage, and those 2 feet deep into the ground might or might not be enough. The rebar / tubing could also bend.

That concrete reinforced mesh is ok - I use this wire / mesh fence (3 ft. high) - but IâÂÂd suggest you to use 2 x 4 lumber to make a frame. Also, 2 x 4 poles are VERY sturdy.

This post was edited by Daniel_NY on Sat, Aug 30, 14 at 20:00

Still screaming !

marvelous!

Gardenmediator...........Very nice!! Looks good and sturdy.
I love using concrete reinforcing mesh for my pole beans and cucumbers, and I make round cages out of it for the tomatoes.
I also use galvanized electrical conduit pipes for the vertical frames.
Great job!!

Those are brilliant ideas, GM and Daniel.

GardenMediatot, what size rebar and EMT do you use ?

seysonn wrote:

> Those are brilliant ideas, GM and Daniel.

Whew, FINALLY somebody like MY trellis too...

All,

Thank you for your comments. Daniel, that is a very interesting horizontal setup, it does look cosmetically more pleasant!

Deeby, thank you for the kind words, if you have the room you could do something similar too :)

To answer some of the questions, EMT conduit was 1/2 inch. For the sturdiness of the setup, please see attached photo, I actually had added side panels to close the walls into a 'box'. Those added shear panels help bring stability to each 'box', so that it will not topple over.

For the 5 ft height, I am quite happy with, except for my cherry tomatoes which would have needed more like 8-9 ft. I did not expect them to get that tall, especially given the shady area where I planted them!

GardenMeditator, you can always train the cherries vines HORIZONTALLY, back and forth at different levels. Or even train them AROUND the trellis at different levels - in a kind of spiral way. Start lower - at least 1 foot high, to avoid rain water splashing - and slowly go up till the 5 ft. Don't forget to mulch: I use both Fabric and

If you lean on the trellis - at 45' - on its weakest points, and it doesn't fall, then it might resist to some strong winds. I would even try to push the trellis. Heavy foliage with lots of tomatoes and strong winds don't mix very well.

In order to make the structure stronger, I would connect opposite poles, UNDER THE GROUND, 1 ft. deep. Each horizontal EMT conduit connection I would secure with 3 Metal Garden Stakes and then cover with soil.

I would also connect the opposite poles ON THE TOP.

Then your structure would be pretty safe.

One more comment: like I wrote in a previous message, I use wire fences I prefer it because the rectangles are smaller than the squares of the concrete reinforcement mesh that you used, and itâÂÂs easier to tie the branches. To tie the branches, I use these plastic clips.

This post was edited by Daniel_NY on Mon, Sep 1, 14 at 15:58

Thank you for the comments, I will keep that in mind for next season :)

@ GM
Now that 2014 season is over, you should be a better judge and have a pretty good evaluation about your system:

--- Was it strong enough ?
--- Was it tall enough ?

I also thought that 5 ft was a bit short for most indeterminants.

On the wire mesh: I though you could use a lighter weight galvanized mesh. Once the steel mesh is tied/secured to the frame, there is no way that is will yield to weight or wind force. CRW is too heavy, I think. Plus it rusts. Light weigh galvanize should be better. Next year I might erect one such trellis as experiment.

Seysonn

When I use a trellis for my cherry tomatoes, mine a 8' tall. I have a fence line and I tack on 8' x 3" boards in horizontal positions and also as cross braces (BTW, cross braces are extremely important as tomato plants grow huge and can be very heavy).

I then staple on support netting and wa-la... instant 8' trellis for cheap. The support netting is made of plastic so it really survives the elements well (see link).

Using this setup, for pretty cheap, I have a 12' x 8' trellis structure in which I grow six different cherry varieties on. That being said, at the end of my growing season. the tomato plants totally engulf this trellis, rise over the top and then start growing down the other end. So it could be bigger. On the other hand, if it was bigger, I'd have issues harvesting the tomatoes at the top. Last year I went about topping off the plants when they reached the top and that worked better than letting them go free.

smithmal

Here is a link that might be useful: Support Netting

@seysonn

Was it strong enough?
Actually, this thing was extremely solid! I will be doing the exact same setup as far as reinforcements, because for my perticular area it works. I do have a small suburban backyard which is fenced by 14 ft conifers, so they cut down on the wind quite a bit I suppose.

Was it tall enough?
It was just the right height for my Brandywines, but the cherries ended up going over, so I made a 'roof' between the rows to create some kind of an arch. This was my first run with these cherries, next year I will try to top them and grow them laterally instead.

The CRW did not rust though, it is galvanized.

@smithmal

Thanks for the input, I need to build another trellis for next season (expanding the garden more!!), so I will keep it in mind when designing the next rig.

Cheers!

GS, thanks for the report. So you've got a working system. I might copycat your design next year, with your permission.
I might try to make it a bit taller
If the wire was/is galvanized then probably is not CRW. As far as I know CRW is not galvanized.

Seysonn

Seysonn, of course you can copycat it! That is why I put it up here. The community helped me put together a design that I was inspired from reading tons of posts on these forums. I wanted to give back by showing my own version of this type of trellis.

One thing I can tell you is that it is definitely galvanized; it has the signature coating on it. After one season, the only signs of rust is on the edge of the wire where I had made cuts. Check it out in the link below, it is also mentioned in the specifications:

Here is a link that might be useful: Galvanized CRW

GM, You are right. The specs says Galvanized CRW (for durability). That sounds good. I have only seen non galvanized CRW in sheets at HD ( 48" x 82" ?). I think they have them in rolls too. I have to recheck.

Seysonn

The absolute best tomato cages I've ever used are made of 6" mesh concrete wire. They are easy to reach though for harvesting and nearly indestructible. Mine have lasted 20 years and don't show signs of falling apart.

I checked wit my HD store. Thy have nothing taller than 5 ft of anything in CRW category. They have 42" by 84" sheets at $7.20, not galvanized. I have made few cages out of those before. They are sturdy for sure but not tall enough. That is why I want to experiment with trellis.

Seysonn

Well, I lived with 5' cages for decades. I generally slowly bend the vines above the cage back down around the sides carefully. But there are 2 options. The first is that you don't have to bend the cages the natural curve of the CRM. You can cut them the other direction, any length, and curve them to 5' in diameter rather than height. That only gives 16.5" in diameter (5' divided by pi) but that might work for you. The second is that you could make standard 5' high cages and add more to the top. Takes more cutting and shaping, but it might be what you want to spend one day at doing. After all, the CRM lasts nearly forever.

I'm planning to do that second idea my self.

Thanks Yardenman
I have already thought about various options.

Actually when 5' is used as base, (with a 6" overlap) you can make a cage with over 17" diameter. Then if I make them 7ft tall , each cage will cost me about $9 plus all the struggling with bending, tying. Another MINUS of cage is winter storage.
For the above reasoning, I can use a lighter gauge galvanized material and make trellis with 1/2" EMT. So that is what I am going to try on one of my raised beds this year.

Seysonn.

Well, if you go with the 5' high, you can make them as large around as you have CRM. I made mine 2' diameter.

But the CRM cages I made 25 years ago are still fine, so consider it a one-time cost and forget about it.

I simply store my cages behind the shed each winter. But what's wrong with just leaving them in place if you don't have a place to hide them?

The lighter cages don't stand the test of time or the demand of each season, in my opinion.

What support - if any - did you use this year for your tomatoes ?