Do You Trellis Japanese Cucumbers?

To Trellis or Not to Trellis

• Like most cucumber plants, the Japanese variety grows as a vine that increases in length throughout the season. Flowers appear at intervals along the vine, developing the first fruits about 60 days after planting. These fruits are quite long, about 9 inches in length, and thinner than many other types. You can allow a Japanese cucumber plant to trail along the ground, but when grown this way the fruits can be curved or crooked, bending as they encounter stones or other obstacles. Training the plant on a vertical support, such as a trellis, allows the fruits to hang down freely as they grow and ensures they are straight when mature.

Other Trellis Benefits

• Growing Japanese cucumbers on a trellis provides several benefits in addition to straight fruits. It allows all parts of the vine equal access to sunlight, which increases the leaf-to-fruit ratio and can help the plant produce its highest yield. Cucumber plants are susceptible to powdery mildew, a fungal disease that grows best in moist conditions. Growing the plant on a trellis raises vines off the moist soil and helps increase air circulation around the foliage, which can help discourage growth of this disease. It also keeps fruits off the moist soil, where they are more prone to rotting during wet periods.

Additional Care Requirements

• Japanese cucumbers prefer strong sun for at least part of each day, conditions that also help suppress fungal infections that can attack the plants. Like most cucumbers, this variety has shallow roots and needs adequate moisture throughout the season. Keeping the soil evenly moist promotes healthy growth and also helps minimize bitter taste in the fruits, which can develop when the plant is stressed. During dry spells, provide about 1 inch of water each week. Adding a 2-inch-thick layer of organic mulch such as straw around the plant's roots helps conserve soil moisture, while also keeping down weeds.

Control for Pests and Diseases

• Proper cultural practices, such as not handling wet plants and disinfecting garden tools in rubbing alcohol or a 10 percent bleach solution, can help prevent spread of any fungal organisms from plant to plant. Insect pests such as aphids, mites and cucumber beetles can feed on foliage and damage plants, and beetles also spread a potentially serious bacterial problem called wilt. Whether plants are trellised or growing on the ground, covering them with a protective, floating cover that allows penetration of light and water but prevents entry of flying insects can help prevent serious problems from these pests.