Building a Trellis

Today, I  added to my Trellis system for  growing Winter Melons and Kabocha plants.

My current Trellis system ends right before the back of my Garage.  There is a 6 feet separation between the Garage and the retaining wall (see picture to the right).  

 I have tried letting the Kabocha and Winter Melons vines continue to grow into this area.  But this area gets so little sunshine due to the shade provided by the Garage that vines grow too slowly and don't produce much fruit.

This year, I am putting a trellis to wall off this shaded area.

 

I use steel garden stakes to create the trellis.  

I had several 7' and 8' long stakes that I had used last year to support my Cherry Tomato plants.

This year, I am using 8' tall Texas Tomato Cages and no longer need the stakes.

I lined 8 stakes on the ground, each 1 foot apart from the next stake (see picture to the right)

For the cross section, I use 6' long steel garden stakes.

I use 1/8" braided nylon rope to tie the stakes togehter.

I use nylon rope because it is strong, secure and easy to remove if I need to break down the trellis.

I tied 6' stakes to the top and to the bottom of the 7' and 8' long stakes.

I then moved the frame structure to the opening right in front of the shaded area (see picture to the right)

I then continued to tie 6' stakes to the frame.  Each 6' stake is about 1' apart from the next 6' stake.

The picture to the right shows the finished product.

I used 5 gallon containers filled with soil to support the trellis and prevent it from falling down.

You can see from the picture that the Kabocha plant is very close to the new trellis.  

Next week, the Kabocha will start probably start climbing onto the new trellis.