In small gardens, the vines may be trained on a trellis, wire cages or fence. A simple trellis can be made by setting posts 12 to 15 feet apart and 6 feet high. Tie plastic twine at one-foot intervals between the two wires. When the vines begin to run, they can be trained to grow up the twine. When the climbing varieties are supported, the cucumbers hang free and develop straight fruits.
Wind whipping the plants can make vertical training impractical.
For the flower to develop into fruit, pollen must be carried by bees from male flowers, on the same plant or on different plants, to the female flower, the one with the tiny swollen cucumber. On a normal cucumber plant, the first 10 to 20 flowers are male. Gynoecious varieties have predominantly female flowers and are pollinated by male flowers from other plants, the seeds of which are usually included in the seed packet. These plants tend to bear fruit earlier, with a more concentrated set and better yields. Poor cucumber set is common during rainy weather when bees are inactive.