Hold Me Tight

We used a net to support our cucumbers

Let me come out clean and say this at least once: We haven't been the best planners when it comes to our garden. Partly because of inexperience, partly because of laziness and partly because of plain old stubbornness (that last one applies to me only). But our loss is your gain and we hope you learn from our mistakes. Today's topic is something we did not fully take into consideration when planning our garden. Trellises. A trellis is a structure made of metal, wood, bamboo, plastic, or even rope used to support vines or climbing plants. Trellises come in many shapes and sizes. What you choose will ultimately depend on your garden space and needs.

When planning your garden take into consideration the growing habits and final size of your plants. Common plants such as tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes, beans, climbing roses, and peas require a trellis for proper growth. Vines require a trellis for growth but also to support its fruits. How a vine climbs will determine the type of trellis you use. Some vines, such as cucumber, use tendrils to secure itself to any structure. Other vines use its leaves or stems to wrap around structures. As a general rule of thumb thicker structures are needed for "wrapping" vines while thinner materials may be used for "twiners". For our cucumbers (a "twiner") we used a net tied to our balcony posts for support (see picture above). We helped the plant by loosely wrapping the tendrils around the net. After a few hours the tendrils will coil and wrap themselves tighter thus securing itself.

Bamboo fence used as a tomato trellis

Tomatoes, on the other hand, are not a true vine. However, their stems are extremely weak and require a trellis or a cage to hold the plant (and fruits) in place. If you don't provide a trellis your tomatoes will grow on the ground or, as we can attest to (see the classic Man Down! post), your plant may break. We eventually learned our lesson and bought a retractable bamboo fence for our tomatoes. We tied the fence to our balcony posts using plain old tie wraps. Then we tied the stem and branches to the trellis using garden training wire.

It is always recommended that you secure your trellis to your pot or to a strong structure. Otherwise it may shift during strong winds, heavy rain, or under heavy weight. Also, metal trellises are not ideal to use in Puerto Rico because they tend to get hot and burn your plants.

Almost any material can be modified into a trellis. This post barely scratches the surface on trellises. The only limit is your imagination. So share with us what you've used to provide support for your plants and join us next time for more on container gardening in Puerto Rico.

Pickling your interest

Our cucumber container

So today we're going to talk about cucumbers (also known as pickles or cukes). Cucumbers are an ideal plant to grow in Puerto Rico. Originally from India cucumbers like hot and humid conditions and hate the cold (much like myself). Cucumbers will generally germinate only when temperatures are above 70 F (21 C). The warmer it is the faster they'll sprout. Cucumbers currently hold our current record for fastest germination: overnight! Seed today, plant tomorrow.

Cucumbers are usually categorized into pickling and slicing varieties. Slicing varieties are ideal for eating raw while pickling are better for making...pickles. In nature they grow in vines but plant breeders have come up with some variations that grow like a bush. Our cukes are the vine type. Vines can grow up to 6 feet long so take that into consideration when planting cucumbers.

Small strings attaching to the net

Space plants at least 1 foot apart with a minimum soil depth of 10 inches. Under the right conditions the vines (and the fruit!) can grow very quickly. Vines send small strings to attach themselves to any available structure. Trellises or other support structures are recommended for growing any vine plant, especially cukes. We used a net which we tied around some posts as our trellis. We then trained the vines to move around the sructure. We'll see if the net holds up when the cucumbers grow heavy.

Pollinating a female flower

Cucumbers produce two flowers: a male and a female flower. Both flowers are yellow but they are easy to distinguish since female flowers contain a small cucumber behind them. Bees or other animals pollinate these flowers but if there are no bees in your area you can pollinate the flowers yourself. Early in the morning pick up a small soft brush and go from male flowers to female flowers. Congratulations, you've just become a human bee.

Well that's all we have for today. If we pickled your interest join us tomorrow for more cucumber action. Who knows we may even show you our cukes!