Trellis Size and Container Needs

[Halfway]

Ok folks, I have a very nice batch of tomatoes I have started from scratch and will begin hardening them over the next 2 weeks for a planting the week after mother's day.

I have 2 4x4 raised beds and several 10 gallon (+) planters I intend to use for the mix of peppers and tomatoes.

I have searched, but still not fully sure of my trellis needs.

My question is the room required (horizontal and vertical) for determinate and indeterminates. None are dwarf variety, all are early girl / beefsteak / big boy.

Which will need the tall rings/trellises?

Are the determinate generally smaller / bushier while the indeterminate need plenty of room?

Thanks in advance.

[hendi_alex]

Most determinate tomatoes don't grow over about 2.5 feet for me. The indeterminates will however grow out the top of five foot basket, with many of mine often growing seven feet or more.

[TZ -OH6]

Determinants are usually shorter than indeterminants because the flowers develop on the growing tips, stopping growth at that point.

Peppers: Depends on the peppers. Ancho and Pasilla got 5-6 ft tall on me last years while Guajillo only went to 2 ft. Most varieties [Bells, etc) do OK with the short/medium store bought three ring tomato cages, or a stake and some twine.

I'm not sure about early girl, but Beefsteak and Big Boy can get very tall (6-8 ft) in a container if given enough water and nutrients. I know of one tomato grower who uses containers and he takes two large 3 ring tomato cages, flips one over and ties it on top of the other. Width is something you can control through pruning. One plant could take up the entire 4ftx4ft bed, or you could prune it to 2-4 vines on a stake and fit four plants in that space. Even in a 21" cage, I prune down to about 5-6 vines to keep the cage from getting over crowded.

[Halfway]

Thank you very much. I think I hit information overload at some point and couldn't seem to retrieve the requested info.

Sounds like 4 grids (each grid at 1 sf) per indeterminant at a minum, and maximize the containers for determinants.

Has anyone used a trellis "wall" instead of round cages? It looks interesting if used against or near one of the sides of the raised bed. Maybe a wall along one edge (4 ft.) to support 2 plants?

[SP8]

I just use single poles:

[img]https://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a360/SamhainP8/Veggie/apollolarge.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a360/SamhainP8/MC.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a360/SamhainP8/eggplant-4.jpg[/img]

or rolled fencing mesh:

[img]https://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a360/SamhainP8/Trellis.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a360/SamhainP8/Cukes-4.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a360/SamhainP8/Veggie/SnowPeas-2.jpg[/img]

And then you can go for as tall or as short as you need.

[Halfway]

Thank you very much sp8!!!!!

[TZ -OH6]

I tore up our old rusty horse fence and put ten foot sections of that onto metal conduit pipes. I hang the conduit off of stakes/posts for trellises. The back side of the house is a wall of tomatoes, during the summer and the side of the barn is a wall of sugar snap peas and cucumbers. I hang the trellis about 2 ft off the ground for tomatoes and then use a short stake or drop line to train them up to it. That gives about six feet of height. Its not pretty, but it works for cheap.

[SP8]

Thank you very much sp8!!!!!

No worries, the wooden stakes are just broom handles and I fit a length of plumbing pvc pipe over the top of the handle which can extend the support up to 8ft. Just put a caple tie on the wooden pole to stop the pvc pipe from falling right down and then slide the cable tie up or down to your required height.

See the links below if you want to see how I fix them at the bottom of the containers etc.

https://veggie-might-sp8.blogspot.com/2009/10/making-self-watering-containers-out-of.html

https://veggie-might-sp8.blogspot.com/2009/08/water-management.html