The reason I use the 10ft steel pipes is because they are very structurally sound, creating straight angles, and you can also drill holes in them with a steel cutting drill bit. I made a huge expansion on my luffa trellis which should still get filled up in another 3 weeks so that it is more like 28ft X 42ft with a couple other attached trellises on the side as well. The longest luffa vine is already about 12-13ft away from the end of these trellises so if it still gets taken over very easily, I might have to add another 1000 square feet by August just so they can produce well. These luffas seem to have trouble producing fruits when too many vines are in the same place competing for light, and my biggest vine is already over 2/3 inches in diameter this early in the season so I expect the vines to really run out. 10ft pipes are pretty easy to install as shown here, and they should last for many years. They are purposely made up to 8ft off the ground so the grass is easy to mow without ducking, and so that if a deer manages to get past the deer net, they won't be able to reach the luffa leaves anyways. I'm actually surprised how these nets which are weak enough so you can simply break them by walking through it will discourage deer from coming into an area.marcat wrote:I have used bamboo for trellises by drilling a hole into the first internode and ramming a rebar up it. I try to keep the bamboo a few inches above ground contact. Seem to last well. Use punting pole mainly.
MarCat
One another note, I'm noticing that the longest pumpkin/butternut/ other ground running vines are already getting up to 10ft in length so I'll have to start training them to climb up the trees as they are running out of space. These vines can grow up to 8 inches per day on a hot summer day.
I've also wondered about; How long do blackberry vines live for? I'm not sure if they produce on their 2nd year, and then die off the following year if if they continue to produce for a few years. Does anyone have any experience with this?