3 Projects for the Winter

[Taiji]

10 new tomato cages, 4 ft. high; 2 and 1/2 feet diameter; each with their own 6 foot stake in the middle. I had this field fence laying around. I want to be able to harvest tomatoes more easily and have them take up a little less space! ( I liked Gary's idea of a cage with a stake!) (See, I pay attention sometimes )

A protective cage 4 feet wide; 2 feet high; 6 feet long. I used scrap lumber and 1/2 inch aviary netting that I already had. This is mostly for Swiss Chard and Beets. The birds around here devastate those 2 plants especially. It's lightweight so easy to lift and stand up in the walkway while harvesting or working the bed.

I'm a glutton for punishment, so I made 3 new garden beds for next season, 4 feet wide by about 13 feet long all in a new enclosure. They are on the south side of the building. Still waiting for the rye to sprout after about 2 or 3 weeks; it's been wet and cold; hope the seed didn't rot in the ground. It is a little late to be planting it though.

[ccar2000]

Nice! I have too many project and am feeling overwhelmed about it. I just need to "get to it" Thanks for the inspiration.

[Asica]

I think, I will steal your idea for tomatoes. This may help me with the rats eating tomatoes too.

[jal_ut]

Winter projects? For me that means remove snow. This morning another 3 inches.

[imafan26]

Nice. I make my tomato cages with 7 ft tall CRW and the tomatoes still spill over the top. four foot ones will work but you will have more tomatoes hanging over. Birds are a problem for me too and I have to put bird netting over my tomatoes or they will eat every large one. They eat the cherries too, but there are too many of them so I actually get a few of those.

I wish I had more space, but then I would have to deal with more weeds.

[bri80]

Looks good! I was thinking about making something very much like your protective covering for chard/beets, but with shade cloth, to protect lettuce/broccoli during hot spells. We generally have mild summers but lately have been getting several spells of really hot weather that tend to trigger bolting.

[jasonvanorder]

Looks good with the cages. I saw a video on youtube using bailing twine and a stake at each end of the row and use that to weave or tie the tomatoes up. Looked pretty neat but the size plants I grow it would never hold up. So new cages are on my list. Along with a trellis for the cukes and beans. But thats after I work on filling the 4 4'x10' raised beds I built this fall.

[The garlic man]

I love this idea! I have been working on some new trellis's and cages this winter and I really like the idea of a "hands-off," no-fuss method of supporting tomatoes and cucumbers for easy support and picking. (Little or no tying.) Your wire cages seem like a great way to accomplish this. Thanks.

[digitS']

That's probably the "Florida Weave," you are talking about, Jason'.

I've done that and the livestock fencing and stake. Then, I used 2 stakes, then 3. Wind! It looks like "Gary's Idea" is to tie the plant to the stake, not the fencing ... that should put less weight on the downwind side of the cage for me.

Wind didn't seem to be much of a problem with the Florida Weave. I bet it could be if all my plants were above 7'! But no, early season weather and cool night temperatures throughout -- limits tomato plant growth. I remember a neighbor putting a plant in his yard and telling me it was a tomato variety that was supposed to grow above 5' but that he had never seen a tomato plant that tall. I'd never grown my tomatoes on the other side of his fence while he briefly lived there. I didn't suggest that he drive several miles to see my 5' plus tomato plants but ... I doubt if he would have been very impressed .

Sprawl is what I've gone for lately and it doesn't work so well. I use the excuse that there are too many plants to bother with but that isn't necessarily true. It's disappointing to have otherwise nice fruit damaged because it's lying on the soil. Mulching takes work, too. Then, I get voles under it! No, I should go back to a reasonable way of tying them up!

Steve

[applestar]

I use french/florida weave up to the rung of string tied to top of the 6 foot in the ground fence posts (T-posts or doubled 7/8" bamboo stakes), but the vines are not only supported upward but also twisted and tied along each of the upper string rungs (kind of like grape vines I guess), including the tallest/longest vines that grow beyond the 6 foot limit along the upper-most to more like 8-9 feet.

I grow them too close and don't have the space for sufficiently sized cages and I also begrudge the in-between spaces while the tomato seedlings/plants are smaller and prefer to plant stuff like peas, greens, onions, bush beans, etc. that will be harvested by the time the tomatoes and roots get big enough to be using the space.

Best way for success with this method is to do your research and intersperse the tallest growing varieties so they don't run into each other as they snake along the top-most rungs, plant the shorter indeterminates that wont grow more than the 6 foot height, and some extra early determinates that will "finish up and die" on sunnier side of the trellis and in between.

The "research" is part of *my* winter project list.

[digitS']

Florida!!!

Yes -- thank You, AppleStar!

French is the hair braiding... I edited.

Steve's digitS', oh no, his brain would never make that mistake ... twirling a loose strand of hair ...

[sweetiepie]

I am on the fence, HaHa, about staking tomatoes. It truly depends on the year here. Staking does help with mice etc. But I have found ways now to get them out of my garden so that's not so much a problem. I have found I get twice as much fruit if I leave the branches sprawl on the ground because our wind is so drying to the branches and I think lots of blossoms get blown off. But it is nice to harvest when they are staked as to digging around all the branches on the ground. So I usually do both because it depends on the weather mostly.

[jasonvanorder]

I use french/florida weave up to the rung of string tied to top of the 6 foot in the ground fence posts (T-posts or doubled 7/8" bamboo stakes), but the vines are not only supported upward but also twisted and tied along each of the upper string rungs (kind of like grape vines I guess), including the tallest/longest vines that grow beyond the 6 foot limit along the upper-most to more like 8-9 feet.

I grow them too close and don't have the space for sufficiently sized cages and I also begrudge the in-between spaces while the tomato seedlings/plants are smaller and prefer to plant stuff like peas, greens, onions, bush beans, etc. that will be harvested by the time the tomatoes and roots get big enough to be using the space.

Best way for success with this method is to do your research and intersperse the tallest growing varieties so they don't run into each other as they snake along the top-most rungs, plant the shorter indeterminates that wont grow more than the 6 foot height, and some extra early determinates that will "finish up and die" on sunnier side of the trellis and in between.

The "research" is part of *my* winter project list.

Thats what I was thinking of. Even found the video too. Ill leave the link here if anyone wants to give it a watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeYFSeWICKk

[Taiji]

Yes I realized that the tomato plants would probably overflow the 4 foot high cages, but with tying the to the stake figured they'd be ok. Lately, my plants haven't been getting much higher than around 4 to 5 feet high anyway with the exception of the cherries.

The plants I've been letting sprawl are hard to harvest; the vines are so heavy they sometimes snap when I lift them up to search! I invariably miss a lot of them too, til it's too late.

I have seen that "Florida weave" too and may try that someday. Would you say that that method requires a fairly heavy pruning?

[applestar]

Aside from lower branches to prevent splash-ups and to open up for air flow and to allow companion plants to grow, I only prune branches that grow font and back into the paths or the next trellis in a double-row -- picture "espaliered" tomato plants.