What to to grow on a trellis?

[1voyager1]

The gasses from the eruption killed of our old lilikoi.
I was able to get a couple of cuttings.
Not sure if they'll take, though.

So, I have a trellis left over from the defunct lilikoi, a 16' long x 4-1/2' tall trellis made from 4x8 redwood lattice panels.
my original intention was to plant some kabochas to grow up the trellis.
Now I'm thinking that a 2' x 16' planting area is a lot of kabocha.
I'm considering adding cucumbers to the planting.

Any suggestions for other climbing vine fruit that does well in our climate?

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Dragonfruit will grow on posts or a strong trellis.

If you want to include vegetables:
Yard long beans
Wing beans & wing peas
Malabar spinach
Tomatoes (indeterminate)
Bitter melon (acquired taste)

[ElysianWort]

Chayote squash do very well. So do lima beans.

These are interesting too and do well at my place:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlSEfpFs0Us

[kalianna]

Yes, to all of the above, but why not just plant more lilikoi? They're easy to start and quick to bear.

[1voyager1]

I have started a couple of cuttings from the old lilikoi.
How there could have been any living vines I don't know.
There were no living roots on the stump.
The dead lilikoi was at least 10 years old, maybe 15.
It was growing up a couple of ohias when we move in, with fruit hanging in the tops of the trees.
I put the trellis in trying to control it.
it covered the trellis and went up the ohias again.
Half the fruit we got from it was gathered from under the ohias.
If the cuttings survive we'll have lilikoi again, but not in the numbers we were getting them, not for a few years at least.
Everything I'm considering putting there is grown as an annual and will need to be replanted each year.
I'm planning on having the lilikoi back again, hopefully in a tamer version.

M'Lady has very conservative tastes in food stuff.
The yard long beans would probably get her approval.
She likes string beans.
I can tolerate them.
The tomatoes will be done separately in cages.

I do plan on bringing dragon fruit in, but in a different location.
I'll take cuttings from the one down along Red Rd.

Everything else mentioned so far, other than the lima beans and the squash, is not likely to get approval to be brought into the house.

The beans, though, would probably need more room than they'd get on the trellis.

[ElysianWort]

Dragonfruit likes to set it's roots into the vertical surface it grows on. So to truly make it happy and fruit prolifically it requires something other than just a metal climbing surface to cling to.
I've seen people do wooden pallets standing on edge and connected together with some of the pallets covered with stapled-on cloth where the roots were to start. The cloth areas were the spots where the farmer added liquid fertilizers. A tall rock wall with lots of cracks works well too.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

She likes string beans.

There are pole beans that will grow on a trellis that may be closer to her preference. Local seed varieties are available at KTA, Home Depot, Island Naturals, etc. you can order directly from UH too.

[bananahead]

in Puna... the only good answer is... maile....

then you can propagate by seeds or cuttings and sell 1 gallon 1.5 yr old plants for $20+ ea...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alyxia_stellata

"...Puna and Panaewa
Several lelo noeau from the Hilo and Puna districts on Hawaii Island paint a wonderfully fragrant picture of Puna and Panaewa. Ka makani hali ala o Puna, the fragrance-bearing wind of Puna; Lei Hanakahi i ke ala me ke onaona o Panaewa, Hanakahi is adorned with the fragrance and perfume of Panaewa. These were both places that had a moist climate suitable for maile and other fragrant ferns, as well as the famous hala (Pandanus tectorius) from Puna. The phrase Puna paia ala, fragrant walls of Puna, gives reference to the hinano blossom which was famously hung inside hale of that district to scent the house. People traveled to both Puna and Panaewa in order to pick maile, hence those areas being remembered as fragrant. ..."

~~

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save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha

[ElysianWort]

Yes maile is wonderful smelling and can be sold for profit but:

1) You can't eat it.

2) It is difficult to grow. I have tried many times.


******************************************************************
save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha

Most of the plant's and trees that people grow to better their lives here on the islands are NOT garbage. You're just plain wrong here with you persistent stubborn mantra.

[1voyager1]

Ok, I'm back to this again.
I have been fumbling around working my way through getting this going.
While trying to cultivate an area in front of the trellis, I found that a ripped lot is not conducive to tilling a nice deep area of soil.
[It also follows that I won't be using a trencher to bury cables for the new video security system.]
I broke my o'o, a 6' steel San Angelo bar, trying to pry a boulder out.
It smacked me in the forehead, almost cold cocking me, when it broke.
It was time to rethink the project, as soon as my head cleared.

I was down 4 to 6", so I picked up some redwood 2x6's and made a raised bed, filed it with soil, and am now ready to begin planting.
I have decided what will be planted.

16'x 2' is not much growing area, especially for vining types.
Being as this is an experimental project I've decided to stay with vines and have added a musk melon [cantaloupe] and a mini watermelon to the list.
Each 8' section of the raised bed will get 5 items planted:
Cucumber, kabocha, musk melon, watermelon and tomato.

The kabocha, cantaloupe, and watermelon will be started from seed.
The cucumber and tomato will be from HD seedlings.
Today, I'll transplant the cucumber and tomato seedlings, then set the kabocha, cantaloupe, and watermelon seeds.

The Leilani Estates Squash Farm is now operational.
If this works well, I may add another 16' of trellis, doubling the growing area.