Morning Glory Trellis

Howdy Ya'll .. A few years ago, someone posted a link that showed different kinds of small trellises for japanese morning glories in pots. Any one remember that? Or can point me in a directions where I can find templates for making small trellises for potted up MG's using wire?

Here is what I'm growing this year:

1. Good Morning

2. Apricot Candy

3. Blue Silk

4. Rose Silk

5. Yellow Trumpet

6. Grandpa Ott

7. Platycodon Blue

8. Hanahubuki

9. Purple Feathers

Thanks!

X

i use tomato cages for mine. also you can take pieces of bamboo tie them together in tepee fashion and use those. make a circle type cage out of the wire and set it over the pots.

The tee pee idea is easier to clean up after the vines expire. Karen

Thanks! I'll give it a whirl.

Here is a photo of what I am doing this year. I am using 2 of the plastic coated rebar stakes. I then cut a strip of chicken wire fencing to almost the height of the stakes after leaving about 8 - 10 inches at the bottom for sinking into the soil. It's working out much better than the teepees I've always used in the past. The vines still get jumbled at the top, but it looks better and is easier to get to all the blooms for hand-pollinating!

X - I am doing just about all container gardening this year because of the root knot nematodes which have killed a great many of my plants over the past 2 years. I am making cheap (like almost FREE hand-made self-watering containers). As you can see, even with the temps hovering around 90 degrees already and it's only May, all my container plants are thriving! And you can see what the cheapie chicken wire trellis looks like once the vines reach the top of the trellis. These two ideas are the best I've come up with yet to try and I am very happy with the results!!!

Edited to add:

What is "1. Good Morning" plant? Never heard of that!

This message was edited May 21, 2010 7:35 PM

where do you get the rebar from Becky and how do you attach the wire?

what is a good morning plant?

Marie - I get the plastic coated rebar from HD or Lowes. They sell it in the plant department where they sell trellises, bamboo, and plant stakes. They come in different sizes. I get the 3/4" thick stakes that are 6' tall. They are a little pricey, but they last a long time. I think they run about $2.50 - 3.00 per stake. The chicken wire isn't as cheap as it used to be ... at least kinda pricey here, but it comes in roll that I can use to make a lot of trellises with.

To make it - I just kind of weave the rebar stakes in and out of the holes in the chicken wire and then bend the wire towards the rebar to make it secure.

cool because tomato cages are getting pricey too. the ones i use are sorta triangle shape and they went up to 6 dollars. more then i can afford now a days. so gotta try a different method.

Marie - I don't know how many tomato cages you needed, but my new trellis isn't any cheaper I'm afraid... :-(

well i am running out my fence line on front which is 200 feet long. and my trellises hubby made now have honeysuckles on them. seems all the rain this year has made my honeysuckles run like crazy. so gotta have something new. hmm maybe do like japan does. run strings for them

Marie - I'd use fishing line. :-)

cool have some placs i can try ti. see how it works. if i ever get outside. rained at least 3 days this week and threatening with it tommorow

What I'm actually looking for is a small trellis design for 1 gallon pots for gifts. For my serious morning glory grow outs I have 3 large rectangular containers and chicken wire on a pvc frame. I also use those gauze gift bags to sequester flowers.

The Good Morning is a Sun Smile variety .. don't know if it's violet or dark purple

X

This message was edited May 21, 2010 9:21 PM

Closer

X , I like that idea.. very close to what I do along my fence. I use a rectangle grow planter and then lead them to the fence with a yarn called lions mane, it stays wet when watered and the vines seem to love to follow it. I have the good morning mg too. I can't wait. Looks like you have a great selection of mgs to grow out.
One thing I do for smaller containers is take a wire clothes hanger and cut it and bend it the way I want it to go. Also I use the fence pieces tha come in a pack for about 2 bucks, separate the segments, bend them in to form the "trellis"
They come in green and blend in wonderfully on a container.

Sorry to hear of your root-knot problem, Becky. We had a similar occurence in our Pepper garden. I read it is possible to starve them out by not planted anything in that area for a year or so, so we are trying that. I also read it is best to grow your own plants from seed because some of the plants you purchase can already have infested soil. I have several peppers in the hanging planters this year that are doing pretty well. Soil can really be a problem here in Florida.

I went through my seed list and pulled out the oldest so I can get some fresh seeds. I do that every year with all my seeds. I found I had some 10 year old asarina scandens seeds and the ones that came up (about 10%) shot up like a rocket and promptly bloomed. Having never grown it before I was a bit put off finding the vine and flower so tiny!

X - Thanks for the information about the Good Morning MGs. I have never heard that before. So it is more of a container MG?

OK ... I LOVE your set-up! What a great idea! That is outstanding!!! Seriously!! I would not have ever thought about using PVC! It looks great! Thanks for sharing and giving me ideas where I could also use a set-up like that! I want to grow tomatoes so bad. I have a few in grow-bags this year, but the bags just dry out too fast. I still got cherry tomatoes, but not as many as I should have. They were some of the best tomatoes I've tasted in a loooooong time! Yummy! So I need something like your set-up to grow them up along with cantalope. You should see all the veggie and fruit plants they now sell at Home Depot! I kinda figured with this recession, that people were growing their own food now. Most definitely! Thanks so much for sharing your large trellis photo! Awesome!

gardenpom - Everyone that I have talked to lately here in FL has been complaining about their garden soil. The knot-root nematodes are outta control here it seems. I am having amazing success with the hand-made self-watering bucket containers. Much easier for me to water my plants now, too. My plants are the biggest I've ever seen them! :-) :-)

Debra - Good idea about using a coat hanger for a container trellis. It's almost impossible to find metal coat hangers here anymore. Good Will or thrift shops are the only place I see the wire hangers these days. I threw all my away about 10 years ago and now I wished I'd kept them! LOL! Hindsight ...

X - I grew asarina scandens a couple of years ago. The blooms kinda reminded me of pea vine blooms. And yes! Mine were small too. Aren't they a host plant for butterflies? Or are they a nectar plant?

I had the neatest experience this morning. I have been noticing that something is hitting my MG blooms before 7 am. I am seeing pollen all over the inside of my blooms. Well, y'all know how much I like to hand-pollinate my MGs to cross them. Well, something has been beating me to it! Guess what it is? A male Ruby-throat. I was outside doing my hand-pollinating and heard the familar buzz/hum sound and look up. 2 feet away from me was a hummer perch on a branch of a vacant lot tree. He flew right down and started nectaring from the MG I was standing behind. I guess he didn't see me there at first. Or maybe he did and didn't feel threatened. I stood still and watched him. Cute little guy. I normally only see females at my feeders, but this was a first to see a male that close-up. He flashed that bright red chest at me! LOL! Too cool! I had taken all my feeders down because I stopped seeing the females about 4 weeks ago. But the feeders are back up again now! LOL! Someone told me that when the females are nesting, they don't eat the nectar as much as they do the bugs (for protein), so maybe the females are still around, too and are just raising babies right now. Every year another hummer uses my yard. This male makes 4 birds I've seen this year. I remember when I had none and tried everything to attract them to my yard! LOL! Plant it and they will come! :-)

The frame was real easy to make and under 20 dollars. I used 3/4'' pvc, Fittings were 2 crosses, 2 elbow and 8 T's. I used T's on the bottom instead of elbow in case it needed more stability and I could add more "feet" at the bottom. I decided not to glue the pipe/fittings so I could dismantle it in case of a hurricane.

I do not think 3/4 inch would be sturdy enough for tomatoes or melons.


This message was edited May 22, 2010 9:56 AM

think I may have asked this last year in another thread, but need to ask again as I can't remember if I ever got an answer..... will cows eat Morning Glory and if they do, will it harm them in any way!?