Florida Weave

[christian1971]

If I want to do the Florida weave, is there a recommended length between t posts? 5', 10 '...I'm guessing as long as the line is tight enough, it doesn't matter.

[TC_Manhattan]

Originally Posted by christian1971

If I want to do the Florida weave, is there a recommended length between t posts? 5', 10 '...I'm guessing as long as the line is tight enough, it doesn't matter.

Here's an article from Penn State about Florida weave:

http://extension.psu.edu/business/st...-your-tomatoes

They recommend spacing plants 18"-24" apart, and staking with T-posts every other plant.

I tried the weave once and was stingy about the posts, putting one every four plants.
Did not work. Everything sagged. Once the plants got bigger and had fruit, just too much downward/outward pressure. Also, I did use twine (sisal) which they tell you not to use because it stretches. Yep, that is what it does. Stretches like a rubber band, especially once it gets wet from rain.

Hope this helps. I am just a beginner..

[christian1971]

That's rather discouraging. Tomato cage prices can really add up. I'm not good at building wire cages. Are the cages from homedepot, the ones made in China good enough. I read mixed results.

[reddeheddefarm]

we florida weave with bailing twine (sisal) and it does sag. We stake every 3 plants and will go through and tie up a helper line back to a post. Its cheaper than cages and works well for us

[pmcgrady]

Originally Posted by christian1971

That's rather discouraging. Tomato cage prices can really add up. I'm not good at building wire cages. Are the cages from homedepot, the ones made in China good enough. I read mixed results.

The tomato cages they sell around here (Rural King) would work for peppers, not big tomato plants. A roll of concrete wire re-mesh runs about $100 it's a 150' roll, I cut into 5' sections using a pair of lineman pliers. Makes 30 cages 5' tall, for a little more than 3 bucks a cage. I stake the cages with a 5' piece of rebar. My lumber yard will cut the wire remesh, whatever length you want, so you don't have to buy a whole roll.

[FourOaks]

Last year I tried something new. I call it a modified Florida weave. I staked tposts every 10 foot. Using poly baling twine, I started at one end by tying a knot. I then walked down the row and wrapped the twine around a post a few turns, then continued to the next post. When I got to the end of the row, I worked my way back up to the starting point.

After the first row, I started a new row about 12 inches up the post. I continued this until I had 4 rows of twine on the posts. Think of it as "pre-loading" the twine onto the posts before the tomato plant would even need it.

As the plant grew up, I snapped a "greenhouse" plastic clip on the twine and attached it to the tomato plant. The plants stayed put.

[Gardeneer]

Florida Weave is suitable when you grow in the field, long lows.
Basically every other plant ( between two ) is staked .
There are more than one way to do it.
If the distance between two poles is two long then the twine/line will sag, I think.
There are lots of Youtube videos on the subject, that are much better than describing in words.
A clip is worth a book !

Gardeneer

[Cole_Robbie]

Let me second that advice about the sisal. It sags like crazy. The synthetic baler twine works a lot better, and is very cheap. However, it's a big pain to clean up when the season is over. The stuff never goes away. Next year I might try to use sisal just for the short pieces I use to tie the plant to the long runs of the synthetic twine.

My take on plant supports is that it all depends on how big your plants get, and a lot of that is a function of your soil. You don't know how big a variety is going to get until you try it in your particular garden.

My plants get huge, which sounds like I am bragging, but it is a curse when they get so big that they collapse my supports, and I lose most of the crop to bug bites from sitting on the ground and in the grass. Last year I built h-shaped posts out of 3/4" conduit. That worked for bushy determinates and dwarfs. Indeterminates collapsed it. This year, for my indeterminates, I am going to use up all my cattle panels first, by hanging them from t-posts. Then I am going to buy treated 2x4s and rip them longways to make two 2x2s. I'll make the same h-shaped posts, drill holes in them, and run multiple strings down each side of the row. I may have to brace some of them horizontally against the next row, too.

[reddeheddefarm]

We have oak stakes that came from a lumber mill. I like them better than conduit. I use the sisal instead of synthetic for the reason you mention

[timbucktwo]

Only recently returned here but thought I'd give another possibility that works well for me & was designed by member dcarch at seedsavers forum some years back. Permanent system (although could be relocated if required). Cost and time required initially, but following years are pretty straight forward once it's in place.

Here's the link to the album I've just added. Hope it's helpful to someone, and this year I need to develop a drip irrigation system for it.

http://www.tomatoville.com/album.php?albumid=373

[WhippoorwillG]

I have used Florida weave quite a bit, but inevitably I get behind and I have to improvise, using clips, vertical ties, etc to get it done as the plant growth outpaces my tying speed once it gets over a few hundred plants.

After a storm disaster one year, I use posts every third plant. I use one metal t-post, followed by two wooden posts, then another metal t-post, tied with tomato twine from Johnny's. Beastly plants need to see the spacing be only two plants between posts.

I am always looking to find a new/better setup, but I am with you that hundreds of tomato cages isn't really in the cards for me.

I have a friend that does vegetable garden for a living, and he uses hogwire attached to t-posts at angles, just letting the plant rest on the angled wire. It didn't look too good for disease control since air flow was restricted around the base of the plant, but he sure does yield a lot of tomatoes, so what do I know?

[Shapshftr]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Let me second that advice about the sisal. It sags like crazy. The synthetic baler twine works a lot better, and is very cheap. However, it's a big pain to clean up when the season is over. The stuff never goes away. Next year I might try to use sisal just for the short pieces I use to tie the plant to the long runs of the synthetic twine.

My take on plant supports is that it all depends on how big your plants get, and a lot of that is a function of your soil. You don't know how big a variety is going to get until you try it in your particular garden.

My plants get huge, which sounds like I am bragging, but it is a curse when they get so big that they collapse my supports, and I lose most of the crop to bug bites from sitting on the ground and in the grass. Last year I built h-shaped posts out of 3/4" conduit. That worked for bushy determinates and dwarfs. Indeterminates collapsed it. This year, for my indeterminates, I am going to use up all my cattle panels first, by hanging them from t-posts. Then I am going to buy treated 2x4s and rip them longways to make two 2x2s. I'll make the same h-shaped posts, drill holes in them, and run multiple strings down each side of the row. I may have to brace some of them horizontally against the next row, too.

My supports never fall over anymore since I made these. I only grow large indeterminates and very heavy bearers. Also, not bragging, I grow them at least 7 ft tall and with stems an inch and a half in diameter at the base. My plants get lots of air circulation and stay up all season.

[Worth1]

If you are going to use bailing twine use the synthetic twine by far better as it doesn't do the stretching thing.
Put some good stout end posts in and make it as tight as a fiddle string.
These are your linear support.
The steel or smaller posts are for lateral support.
I believe in doing things once.
Worth
A little over kill for tomatoes but you get the idea.

[christian1971]

Does the following tomato support have possibilities?
Each plant gets a t post which it is loosely tied to. Around the plant and t post are three wooden stakes about 5 ft tall. Tie material around the stakes as plant grows. Still has major support from t post in case soil gets soft and stakes loosen.🙈 Nothing ventured nothing gained I guess.

[TC_Manhattan]

Originally Posted by christian1971

Does the following tomato support have possibilities?
Each plant gets a t post which it is loosely tied to. Around the plant and t post are three wooden stakes about 5 ft tall. Tie material around the stakes as plant grows. Still has major support from t post in case soil gets soft and stakes loosen.�� Nothing ventured nothing gained I guess.

This sounds like a great idea! Especially if you already have the stakes.
I tried something similar last year with a few plants for which I had no cages.
(I am gradually adding to my cage collection each year now.)

First I started by tying to each stake, then eventually progressed to running twine around the whole plant and stakes, like you describe.

BTW, I checked out those tomato cages you mentioned at Home Depot (54" high and 16" diameter, at $4.50 each). I wouldn't bother. They looked like a taller version of the flimsy cheap ones. If you can find them, Glamos Wire makes really heavy-duty cages (wire gauge at least twice as thick as the cheap ones) that are 54" high x 18" diameter. A local family-owned garden center here sells them for $9. each and I now have 14 of them. They work great for most of the varieties, and especially good for those wispy heart varieties to protect the fruits from sun scald. If you can find those, they're a good deal, but Glamos also makes a similar sized one that's not heavy-duty, and the other garden centers sell those for even more than the HD ones I bought. I add to my collection bit by bit.


I'm springing for 3 Texas tomato cages this year to try them for some larger indeterminates (Brandy Sudduth, Brandy OTV) so I can spare all the stem pruning.
I had them on 8' tall 2"x2" stakes last year and think they'll produce more in those cages.
You can buy 3 of their 6' cages with shipping for $90. That's pricey, but everyone who has them swears by them, so maybe bit by bit…

P.S. I spear each conical cage with a stake on one side to stabilize it once the plants get big and loaded.