Sisel twine or ?

[b54red]

I am putting up my rack for my single stem bed and will start planting them out in the next two days if possible. I am going to use clips to tie my tomatoes to the drop lines but I'm not sure what to use for the drop lines. I have a roll of sisel twine but I am not sure if a single strand will support a large vine with fruit on it though it sure seems strong enough and works great with the clips. I haven't been able to find any polypropylene or whatever but I'm sure I can if I really search all the local farm suppliers. I need to get it before I plant so ordering off the internet is not an option. Most of the plants going in that bed are already too tall and will need support immediately so I plan to have the drop lines secure before planting so I can just clip the new plant to it as soon as it is planted. Has anyone had any experience with using sisel baling twine for support like this?

Bill

[Worth1]

The only thing good about it is it is biodegradable.
You will make it tight and it will stretch out and sagg.
Experience with it many times on long runs.
Worth

[b54red]

Worth I was worried about the same thing and also how the sisel twine can deteriorate if it rains too much and stays wet too long. I would hate to get a vine loaded with fruit to the top of my trellis and have the whole thing fall down. Thanks.

Bill

[LDx4]

Bill,

I use braided nylon mason twine with clips. Super strong and doesn't sag. I tie to the top of the support beam and then to a lower beam close to the ground.

Lyn

[bower]

Bill,

We used sisal to tie up the tomatoes at the farm a couple of years ago. Then approaching harvest time it broke under the weight of loaded vines! and several plants fell to the ground. Ouch. It was not a heavy weight sisal but seemed the right thickness for tying. I must say I thought it was saggy too.

[kurt]

http://www.greenlee.com/catalog/Fish...ategory_id=930 Greenlee Polyline 430 found at Amazon 32 bucs per pail.


No sag ,no rot ,no pathogen/bacteria harboring.Found at most of your electrical supply houses for wire pulling/fishing.Reusable,I rewind mine every year with a drill gun, allthread attached to two disks.

[ddsack]

I use sisal purchased as a big roll of baling twine and have never had a problem with it breaking during the season -- but granted your southern season is longer and wetter than mine. I normally tie so that I can re-tie if needed if it should stretch too much. What I like is that I can cut it all down at the end of the season along with the vines and compost it. I don't have much patience for unwinding and untying strings in the fall.

Actually, now that I think about it, they do also produce an artificial plastic type of baling twine for hay bales, that would probably be stronger and not stretch. I have seen it on hale bales in a reddish orange color, and have re-used pieces of it for other projects. Personally I would not like that color in my garden, though soon enough I suppose the vines would cover it. (Another reason I like the baling sisal is that I can get it in a green color instead of the paler natural straw color.)

[Doug9345]

I'd use poly baler twine I've had it lay on the ground under a composting hay bail for two year or lay in the sun for a year and it still has its strength. It comes in a two or three, maybe more strengths. Remember you can pick a single 50lb bale up by a single loop without having it break.

This is 130 lb tensile strength. I believe that is a knot rating.
http://www.agrisupply.com/product.as...FWNo7AodA2EAUA


This is 240 lb tensile strength.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/stor...f-twine-orange


Your local farm supply store should have some kind of poly twine.

[MrBig46]

I use a spiral wire instead of a twine. It is solid, flexible and durable. I recommend.
Vladimír

[b54red]

I was going to go with the Tractor Supply variety of baling twine but they are out of all of them in my local stores except sisel. I need to check whatever I buy first to make sure the clips will go on it and not slip. I used some of the clips and sisel today on some of my multi-stem plants and it worked great. I have been using this brand for many years and have rarely had a piece break before the season was over but I have never put the whole weight of a loaded plant on just one piece of line. Thanks for all the suggestions.

Bill

[Doug9345]

Can you double the twine up? What I'm picturing is to use a long piece and a short(er) piece. Clip the bottom half of the plant to the longer piece. As the plant grows taller clip the top half to the shorter piece.

I score macramé cord and any other kind of cord/twine I can find at Thrift stores- Doesn't matter what color it is- I can use most of it several times- it's soft so won't damage the plants, and just doesn't break.

[b54red]

Found some orange baling twine at a tractor supply store today. Tested a clip on it and it wouldn't slip even when I pulled hard on it. It looks just like the stuff on some hay bales I bought last year and that stuff is strong. I tried to break it by wrapping around my shoe and applying as much pressure as I could and it didn't stretch or break. The only real problem I saw with it was I had to buy 20,000 ft in two rolls as that is the only way they sold it for 30 dollars. Oh well, if I'm still gardening in 25 years I may have used most of it by then.

Bill

[travis]

Yeah, I like that orange bale cord. It's ugly and strong. Also long lasting. I left some strands taken off straw bales last spring hanging on wire cages all winter, and used it this spring to tie up some 6-foot arbor vitae to 6-foot fence posts. They've been through several storms in the past couple of months with no sag, stretch or breakage yet.

[b54red]

I went back and swapped out for the thicker baling twine used on square bales because it was easier to handle and it is stronger though I doubt I need stronger. So now I only have 9,000 feet of indestructible twine.

I put a bottom bar on my trellis right on the ground and attached it to the verticals so it would stay in place and then tied up my vertical twine approximately every two feet and allowed enough extra at the top that I can drop the vines some if need be later. Now all I have to do is plant out the seedlings and mulch them. Boy I sure hope this works because it will eliminate so much tying up during the season which is becoming more difficult every year. I can see that getting all the twine gathered up at the end of the season will be a pain but there seems to be a downside to every good idea in gardening.

Bill