Climbing plants, though, are among the most
innovative entrepreneurs of all. Why waste energy
on producing woody lignin for self-supporting trunks,
plus the deep roots to support it all, when you can just
borrow your neighbor’s instead?
Climbers evolved on the ground, where little light
reaches. If they were to flower and fruit, they had to
find a way to get up to that light. Their evolutionary
breakthrough was to co-opt the larger, stronger
trees they grew alongside instead of trying to
compete with them.
Climbing plants start by creeping about until they
find something they can borrow for support. There’s
evidence when they’re in this scrambling, horizontal
stage, they grow away from the light, as they’re more
likely to come across a tree trunk if they grow into the
center of the forest than out of it.
Once they hit something, this physical contact
triggers chemical changes that completely alter the
way the plants grow. Instead of growing sideways,
they now start reaching up, against the direction
of gravity. The stems may start twisting round or
leaves may modify into tendrils that search out
further supports to hitch it upwards. Once they
scramble up and over neighboring plants for long
enough and high enough, they eventually reach
sunlight and can flower and fruit.
It’s a form of parasitism and an incredibly efficient
way of saving energy for the important stuff (the
flowers and fruit they need to procreate). Luckily for
us, those fruits are also some of the most delicious
and nutritious you can grow.
A good third of the crops we grow have evolved into
climbing plants. They include peas, climbing beans,
cucumbers, melons, mashua, grapes, kiwi fruit, and
blackberries. You can exploit their natural inclina-
tion to tuck themselves in just about anywhere
and find a way to the light, meaning you can
squeeze a climber into any garden or growing
system. They’re the ultimate survivors.
Pea tendrils are modified leaves. Other tendril
climbers like grapes and passion fruits use shoots
produced separately from their stems. Either way,
tendrils are too delicate to grip a sturdy pole. They’re
better trained onto slender structures like twiggy pea
sticks or string mesh netting, though make sure the
mesh is about five inches square or those waving
tendrils won’t sense the gap.
Larger tendril climbers like melons and cucumbers
can be very vigorous, so a little editing helps them
concentrate on quality as well as quantity of fruit.
Pinch out the growing tips of melons when plants
have four strong side shoots. Then, once four good
fruits have formed on each stem, pinch out the ends.
Pinch out cucumber side shoots two leaves beyond
a female flower to encourage more side shoots and
more fruits to form.
“
A good third of the crops we grow
have evolved into climbing plants.
They include peas, climbing beans,
cucumbers, melons, mashua, grapes,
kiwi fruit, and blackberries.”
TYPES OF CLIMBERS
Not all climbing crops grow the same way
and understanding the different habits
they’ve evolved tells you a lot about the
conditions they need to thrive.
Tendril climbers
Examples: Peas, cucumbers, melons
Support with: Wide-gauge netting, pea sticks
Some climbing plants send out delicate, tendril-
like feelers to find potential supports. As soon as
a cucumber or pea tendril touches something, it
hooks on and winds itself in like a corkscrew, pulling
the plant closer to the support and creating a spring
that can bounce in windy conditions like a car’s
suspension system.
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