The preheat hose does not have any exhaust gasses running through it. It's simply a hose that funnels heat from around the exhaust manifold to the air box.
But you have be watch out for those kick-boxing squirrels (video in our back yard): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t0CBKeEDcDGQ4XpULGB5Vy1Oj6XSqmwb/view?usp=drivesdk
My wife grows our cucumbers on a trellis (concrete reinforcement mesh), snapped a pic of it and a few of our tomatoes which are doing really well this year. However, need a few outdoor cats to fight the rats!
Probably won't watch, too early, but my name is on it, along with 11 million others.
https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/24877/send-your-name-placard-attached-to-perseverance/
You might want to consider this:
Cucumber vines put down a single tap root that grows 3 to 4 feet deep, but the main bulk of the roots extend out 2 feet in diameter right below the soil surface. The lateral-growing surface roots form a dense mat in the top 8 inches of the soil. Additional surface roots grow 4 feet long just under the soil surface.
Usually need 18-24" of soil depth.
That looks like a Green Terror Cichlid, a species from South America. I bred those for a while in the late '80s and sold the offspring to local shops, it got me the second 55 gallon tank.