Last year I planted my first garden...it's a box garden 15ft x 5ft (see pics). I made two major mistakes: 1) I didn't keep a diary 2) I grew my tomato plants too close to one another and WAY too many.
This year I'm keeping a diary so I know what was planted when...what worked and what didn't...and when I could expect results.
My tomato situation was a travesty. My plants grew into one another, the weight of some crushed their own cages (maybe that says more about the quality of the cages), some of them grew over and destroyed my pepper plants. The amount of produce that went unharvested or damaged was shameful. I still yielded an incredible amount of vegetables, but I hate waste.
Last summer, well after planting my garden, I saw a program that talked about using rope as support and stringing the plants up from above. I decided to reduce the amount of tomatoes I grew this year and I was going to try the "rope" method. I had a few questions:
1) What exactly is this procedure called? If I knew the name of it maybe I'd be able to research the rest of my questions.
2) What type of tomato plant does this work with?
3) How do I properly "string" the plant? A YouTube video would be helpful.
Full Garden: In the image below the wooden frame on the left is crossed with wire...that will be used for cucumbers. The box on the right, that wooden frame will be to support my tomato plants. I'm going to build another one in the same box (right) about 4ft forward.
[img]https://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f303/MikeIL1969/_rIMG_1469.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f303/MikeIL1969/_rIMG_1467.jpg[/img]
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MikeIL1969
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- Joined: Wed May 06, 2009 3:16 pm
- Location: Chicago Heights, Illinois
I don't know the name for this. There are a million ways to support tomatoes and many of them work very well.
This one works well also.
Take a thin rope 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick. Initial rope length will be one foot longer than you support height. Tie 2 - 3 knots per foot of rope. The knots will come in handy later.
Then tie your rope directly above your tomato plant or in the direction you want to train the tomato plant to grow. One rope can be used for two plants(between them), but I don't suggest it. With the knots it will be short enough not to touch the ground.
I have used cotton material(bed sheets) or something with a little stretch(old t-shirts) and cut in strips at least a foot long, 18" is better. Dad uses cut up tire inner tubes cut in long strips.
Tie one end very loose around the stem of the plant just below a leaf nodule. (this is not tied tight in any way) The stem and leaf will rest in the ring or circle of material and support the weight of the plant. Take the other end and tie it one or two rope knots above where you have tied it to the plant. Tying it tight to the rope and the rope knot will keep the material in place. This will support the plant very well and is an excellent way to keep them off the ground.
As the season goes on you just add as many supports as you need to keep the plants upright. Usually 6-12 per plant if you snip the suckers.
If you are supporting the sucker also, it can use up a bunch of old t-shirts.
Mike old romex also works, but be careful with how you are using the wire, remember keep the insulation on the wire.
This one works well also.
Take a thin rope 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick. Initial rope length will be one foot longer than you support height. Tie 2 - 3 knots per foot of rope. The knots will come in handy later.
Then tie your rope directly above your tomato plant or in the direction you want to train the tomato plant to grow. One rope can be used for two plants(between them), but I don't suggest it. With the knots it will be short enough not to touch the ground.
I have used cotton material(bed sheets) or something with a little stretch(old t-shirts) and cut in strips at least a foot long, 18" is better. Dad uses cut up tire inner tubes cut in long strips.
Tie one end very loose around the stem of the plant just below a leaf nodule. (this is not tied tight in any way) The stem and leaf will rest in the ring or circle of material and support the weight of the plant. Take the other end and tie it one or two rope knots above where you have tied it to the plant. Tying it tight to the rope and the rope knot will keep the material in place. This will support the plant very well and is an excellent way to keep them off the ground.
As the season goes on you just add as many supports as you need to keep the plants upright. Usually 6-12 per plant if you snip the suckers.
If you are supporting the sucker also, it can use up a bunch of old t-shirts.
Mike old romex also works, but be careful with how you are using the wire, remember keep the insulation on the wire.
I guess its called string training. It is often included on web pages discussing tomato support. It is the common way to grow greenhouse tomatoes commercially. You have an overhead rod or line, 3/4" x 10 ft electrical conduit pipe works well, with drop lines (something like clothes line works well) coming down from it. The line is tied to the base of the plant (loosely) and then the plant is spiraled around the line as it grows, one loop between each set of leaves. The plants must be pruned to one or a few stems, and each stem gets its own drop line.
Standard indeterminant tomatoes get quite tall so you would want the overhead rod or line to be at 6-8 ft.
I prefer to use 8 ft 2"x2" wooden stakes rather than string training because you can much more easily tie 3-4 stems to a single stake, and you have more flexibility over where you put your plants.
Standard indeterminant tomatoes get quite tall so you would want the overhead rod or line to be at 6-8 ft.
I prefer to use 8 ft 2"x2" wooden stakes rather than string training because you can much more easily tie 3-4 stems to a single stake, and you have more flexibility over where you put your plants.
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Venomous_1
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- Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2009 11:59 am
- Location: Murfreesboro, TN - USDA Zone 6b