zucchini & cucumber vines ?

kupistar

I am completely new to gardening and I am going to be planting a garden in a raised bed. Probably a 12' x12'....I was just curious if the zucchini and cucumber vines will take up a lot of my garden space and possibly grow over other veggies???

Any tips would be great! Thanks!

rubyiu

My plants don't vine all that much. It's the winter squash that really gets REALLY long vines. Plant them about 2 feet apart and you should be fine!

ChristyDM82

I've never done cukes before, but I know my zucchini easily filled up a 3'x3' space in my garden last year.

LSU628

I gave both my zucchini and squash a tomato cage so hopefully the vines will go up more instead of out.

530jessica

Hi there!  My name is Jessica, and I am in my 2nd year of "on my own" (without my parents) gardening.  I live in Northern CA and with our long hot summers, my zucchini, yellow crookneck squash and Armenian cucumber (the long skinny light green ones) all end up taking about 3x3, like previous posters have said.  If you try to get them to grow in cages, pay close attention once they start sprouting, as the veggies might need to have some extra support. 

If you haven't built your raised beds yet, I might suggest making 2- 6'x12' spaces for easier accesibilty to all the parts of the garden, rather than giving up space for access paths in the 12x12 area, if that makes sense!  Happy gradening, and know that your effort will be worth it in June, July, and August!!

WendyGR

You could put a fence on one end of the bed to use as a trellis. Last year my cucumber found its way out of the fencing and climbed up my porch :-)

This year I plan to grow cucumbers, tomatoes, and melons horizontally.

alliapistor

I gave my cukes each a 1 foot square last year, but they ignored the ground space and started climbing on anything nearby.  In addition to the trellis I provided and the tomato cages the next SF over, they used my corn (5 squares over) as a trellis until it got too heavy and choked/broke the corn stalks.

It may depend on the type of plant.  Some bush cucumbers may not climb as much as mine did.

Scrambles1

We just had a section in the back corner of our garden specifically for our cucumbers because our took up a lot of space. I think it also depends on what kind of cucumbers you're growing too.

msjesct

   I use deer fencing or a trellis made of bamboo, at the back edge of my bed, for my cukes. I plant the cukes against the trellis, and tie the vines to the fencing as it grows to train the plants to grow up and over the trellis/ fence. It works really well and it an amazing space saver.

   For the summer squahes, I find that they do take up a large ammount of space. You could grow them at the edge or your bed and train them to grow down over the side, or stake the plant and tie the main vine to it as it grows. This works really well for me.

   I also prune the leaves on the summer sqush like crazy as the fruit begins to come in and throughout the season. This allows the plant to direct more energy into fruit production. It's not traditional, but it works really well for me and allows more space in the garden for other plants.

Good Luck!

magnoliablossom

I use a small trellis for my cukes to run up.  it saves space and it makes it easier to pick.  I've heard that this works with melons, too. 

Also, have you built your bed yet?  Like a pp, I would suggest something more like a 4' by 12' and make a couple of them.  You can reach everything easier and you don't have to walk on the beds to get to what you want. 

GL!