At then end of the trellis, Paul has constructed a raised bed for two mirliton plants using the same fast-draining soil mix that he will use in the hills. This has a drip irrigation system and articifical sub-surface drainage using corrugated perforated drain pipe looped inside the bed and both ends outlets are on one end. The corrugated pipe is available at all big-box hardware stores for about $6 for 10' of pipe.
These are two inexpensive but long-lasting 50' trellises made by Paul D'Anna in Folsom, Louisiana. They are made deliberately short and narrow (5' tall and 48" wide) to make them more accessible than typical 7' high and 12-24 feet wide systems so that (1) the fruit can be hand pollinated if honey bees, the only effective natural pollinator, don't visit the plant (2) the vine can be more inspected and treated for insects and disease and (3) the trellis can be quickly and tightly covered with 6 mil, 100' x 20' plastic for frost protection at night. Instructions and costs in caption on next photograph.
Two ends of the corrugated pipe exit the end of the raised bed. He covered them with the filter sock which comes with the pipe but is not needed with a light soil like this. The socks tend to get clogged up.
Trellis Parts:Fence Wire, one roll 50’ long, 2” X4” mesh, welded = $40 (he uses 4" x 4" mesh which is better but hard to find in small rolls)Steel Fence posts. 10 @ 6’ (7’ even soft soil) @ $6 = $60PVC pipe, three 1 ½ inch schedule 40 in ten foot lengths @$4.75 each, cut into 6 five foot pieces = $14PVC elbows, 90 dregree, 10@ $1 each = $10Cable ties, 14”, 20 to pack@$2.67 , 2 packs = $10Total: $134 for 50' trellis, See note on next photo.
This raised bed drains directly into the top soil, so the corrugated perforated pipe (french drain pipe) was added to remove excess water to pink bin.
These are 6' posts set 12 inches into the ground. If you have softer top soil, you can use 7 foot posts. Important to mulch all the are under the trellis to prevent splash-up of soil-borne fungus. To complete this system, you will need 24" diameter cylinder trellis to place over the plants to give them a path to the horizontal trellis. This 50' trellis has 5 plants placed 12' apart, so to make 12 cylinder trellises you will need another 30 feet of fencing and some support stakes. See comments on hill planting system in next photo
View of trellis system from raised bed end
Monarch knot fencing. place barbed end down so plastic wont tear is you have to cover the plant. Most big-box stores carry 100' rolls of 6 mil plastic, 20 feet wide which can cover at least one trellis. If you use 4"x2" mesh, make sure that you push new fruit through the mesh so fruit grow under the trellis (since it will grow larger than the mesh)
Ground level of hill planting system with branch in foreground. These are probably about 9 cubic feet. Essentially this is raised bed and provide all the drainage benefits of a raised bed in which you can control the growing media. This his is mainly compost and mulch, but he will add a special mirliton growing mix purchased from Laughing Buddha Nursery in Metairie, Louisiana.
Paul's greenhouse overwintering "Papa Sylvest" mirliton variety.
Healthy containerized plant trellised up a few feet. These can be cut back all winter without hurting the plant. The advantage of container planting in a high-quality potting mix is that the plants will have a well-developed root system when transplanted into the ground in April. This is the right color of green that container plants should have in leaves--indicating that they are not over-watered and that they have a good uptake of nitrogen.