Some vegetables, such as peas and beans, have climbing habits that require some type of support to grow on. Other vegetables — including tomatoes, cucumbers, and even melons — have sprawling habits that benefit from some type of staking or support. Staking plants, tying them to a trellis, or growing them inside wire cylinders keeps their fruits off the ground where they may be attacked by bugs or become sunburned (fruit skins get burned due to sudden exposure to strong sun, and these fruits eventually rot). Supported plants are also easier to harvest and require less space to grow (they go up instead of out). Following are some suggestions for supporting different types of vegetables:

• Cucumbers and melons: Plant bush varieties inside small (2- to 3-foot or 0.6- to 1-m high) wire cylinders similar to those used for tomatoes. For more vigorous varieties, use a more sturdy version of the A-frame trellis that’s used for peas and beans. Yes, you can grow melons on a trellis. Choose small-fruited varieties of watermelon or any variety of cantaloupe, and plant your seeds at the base of the trellis. Tie the vines to the trellis as they grow. After a fruit forms, slip the leg of an old nylon stocking over the fruit, tying the bottom of the stocking in a knot. Then, tie the other end of the stocking to the wire trellis so that the fruit is supported. As the melon grows, the stocking expands and supports the fruit, which may break off otherwise (see the image below).

  
  Support your trellised melons with a sling as soon as the fruits form

• Peas and beans: These twining or clinging plants grow best when they’re supported by some type of string trellis. An A-frame trellis allows you to grow plants on both sides, but single poles are fine, too.
• Tomatoes: You can support tomato plants by tying them to stakes, growing them inside wire cages, or constructing string or wire trellises. The type of support you choose depends on the tomato varieties that you grow. Smaller determinate varieties grow well in small cylinders or cages. Larger indeterminate varieties need supports that are a little sturdier and more firmly anchored. (Click here for info on tomato varieties.)