Reuse garden twine / clips or spread disease? - Page 2

bower · October 23, 2018

I have a variety of ropes that I re-use for tomato support, and over time I found that the bleach does rot them after several years. Nothing synthetic is really happy being bleached. It seems fine one day and the next it's shedding fibers like crazy. This year I washed the ropes with oxyclean in the washing machine instead of a bleach soak and rinse by hand. There was no disease issue with stems using these ropes, so any spores or disease on the rope must have been well taken care of.

It is a hassle to reuse this stuff but even sadder if you find it soon has to be replaced anyway...

At my friend's farm they use a very coarse sisal twine and the tomatoes are okay with it. End of season it gets tossed with the plants into the compost. I think I might do the same in future, instead of the reusable rope chores.

Johnniemar · October 24, 2018

I plan to reuse both. My clips after one season are like new. So are my bailing twines.

jtjmartin · October 24, 2018

I'm learning as I go & grow. My first year I used two strands of the thin orange bailing twine - I was afraid it wouldn't bear the weight. This year, I was down to a single strand and again - no breakage.

The twine roll may well last longer than I do so I will rewrap all my tomahooks over the winter months.

October 23, 2018	#16
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,794	I have a variety of ropes that I re-use for tomato support, and over time I found that the bleach does rot them after several years. Nothing synthetic is really happy being bleached. It seems fine one day and the next it's shedding fibers like crazy. This year I washed the ropes with oxyclean in the washing machine instead of a bleach soak and rinse by hand. There was no disease issue with stems using these ropes, so any spores or disease on the rope must have been well taken care of. It is a hassle to reuse this stuff but even sadder if you find it soon has to be replaced anyway... At my friend's farm they use a very coarse sisal twine and the tomatoes are okay with it. End of season it gets tossed with the plants into the compost. I think I might do the same in future, instead of the reusable rope chores.

October 24, 2018	#17
Johnniemar Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: North carolina Posts: 199	I plan to reuse both. My clips after one season are like new. So are my bailing twines.

October 24, 2018	#18
jtjmartin Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2016 Location: Williamsburg VA Zone 7b Posts: 1,110	I'm learning as I go & grow. My first year I used two strands of the thin orange bailing twine - I was afraid it wouldn't bear the weight. This year, I was down to a single strand and again - no breakage. The twine roll may well last longer than I do so I will rewrap all my tomahooks over the winter months.