im needing a strong trellis for a dragon fruit tree. suggestions? do you have a work shop for this ?
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @mj3. It's terrific to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about creating a trellis.I'd suggest you create a sturdy frame out of H3 treated Pine and then mount a mesh panel onto it. These mesh panels are significantly stronger than chicken wire.
If you can draw me a sketch of the type of trellis and frame you'd like to create, I can draw some renders and provide details of the products you'll need to purchase. Let me know if you need a hand uploading an image.Please let me know if you have any questions.Mitchell
Do Bunnings have frames already put together or workshop's to make one?
thanks
Hi @mj3,
We don't have frames specifically for dragon fruit. After checking out what growers use, it appears to be quite a specific frame. Unfortunately, we don't have workshops on how to make one, but I could guide you through the process. Let me start by providing a rendering of an option that seems very popular with growers. The top section is easily constructed using 90 x 45 H3 treated Pine and screwed together with 75mm timber screws. The top frame can then be mounted onto a H3-treated post. You'll need to paint the bottom of the post with bitumen paint before concreting it into the ground. Alternatively, if you grow in a very large pot, the frame could be installed into it.
Let me know what you think.
Mitchell
Good afternoon @mj3 The frame that @MitchellMc has shared is brilliant as Dragon Fruit needs to climb up and then cascading down , that is really important. It’s a special frame that needs to be made not something you can buy if that makes sense. Good luck, can’t wait to see what you create 😃🪴
does treated pine will caused harm to human when the treated chemical leased into the soil and absorb by the plant and fruit?
I’m interested to built a pot trellis for dragon fruit and saw few video on YouTube. I’m looking for suitable timber material to use that I can source from Bunnings. Any advice would be greatly appreciated and
Hi @subie,
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is wonderful to have you with us.
Modern treated pine, like the H3 framing mentioned above, is typically treated with ACQ (Alkaline Copper Quaternary), which is much safer than the old arsenic-based treatments. Because of that, it’s generally considered fine for garden use.
That said, it’s still not usually recommended for direct contact with edible parts of plants or where soil is heavily used for growing food. There’s very limited evidence of harmful uptake into fruit, but some people prefer to err on the safe side.
For something like a dragon fruit trellis, treated pine should be perfectly fine since the fruit won't be in direct contact with the timber. In saying this, if you want to be extra cautious, you can:
Let me know if you have any further questions.
Jacob
