YIKES! String Broke. Tomatoes on Ground

[PaulTandberg]

I went out to my little poly greenhouse to check on my tomatoes and two were on the ground. The string I had been clipping them to broke.

Tomato #1 was a fully laden Damsel about 6' tall. Tomato #2 was a fully laden Chef's Choice Bi-Color also about 6' tall.

- The string was from a roll of string I purchased from Johnny's along with a bag of those plastic clips used for clipping the tomato vine to the string. The string and clips were packaged together and intended to work together well with each other.

- The string the tomatoes were clipped to was in it's second year of use.

- The string, in each case, broke where it was wrapped around the top tube of the greenhouse frame. The string was directly beneath and in tight contact with the poly, pinched between the steel tube and the poly top the tube was supporting. It has been sunny and hot lately.

Last year I had no trouble with a single strand of string supporting large, laden vines. Was I lucky? Is the string meant to be replaced each year? Could the string, trapped between the steel pole and the poly top, have succumbed to the heat? Or friction? Are you supposed to use multiple strings for large fruit-laden plants? (the youtubes I watched on "string and clip" support systems only used one, or so I recall, maybe I wasn't looking carefully).

I attached fresh string to a couple anchor clips on the plants and hoisted them back up (like I was hoisting a mast of a ship). They appear unharmed by the experience, for the most part.

I now have three strings assigned to supporting each plant at various points. And I have assigned additional support strings to the plants that didn't collapse. Next year I may attach a sturdy ring/loop thingie to the tube and attach the string to that.

Where did I go wrong? What should I know? I sure didn't expect this.

[imp]

I can't help you about the strings other than to suggest fatigue could have played a part. I cage my tomatoes, so have no experience with tomato plant weight versus heat and wear on a second year string.



Lucky that no damage appears to have been done.

[biscuitridge]

You can't use the string for more than one season because of UV degradation, also don't leave any spools of string out in the sunlight because it will fail on you right when you don't want it to. I've had the exact same issue several times, I've also had weak spots in the twine. I now use a heavier gauge twine.

[PaulTandberg]

Thanks, Imp and Bisquitridge.

Now that I consider the effect of sunlight on the string, that poor string didn't have a chance pinned between a steel pole and the poly with two summers' worth of hot sun bearing down upon it. Duh! (headslap!)

Next year, fresh string.

Bisquitridge, do you ever use more than one string for a heavy plant (as insurance) or is one string fine if the right type of string is used?

I like the idea of a slightly heavier gauge of string, but I don't know what to look for in string as I expect there is more to a string's worth/quality/grade than just thickness. Where do you get your string and what type do you get?

[TomatoDon]

I don't mean to be unsympathetic to your calamity or to be rude or disrespectful in any way, but you have just described another reason why I have never, and will never, use that system. It's not as strong or reliable as other methods, such as caging with CRW, and too much can go wrong. In this case, one little thing happened that affected and hurt all of the plants. I do understand, however, that it may be the best option for some growing in high tunnels or conventional green houses. But if you have other options, whatever they are, I'm confident that most anything will be better than using string like this.

[biscuitridge]

I use 2 strings because I do 2 main leaders.

[biscuitridge]

Originally Posted by TomatoDon

I don't mean to be unsympathetic to your calamity or to be rude or disrespectful in any way, but you have just described another reason why I have never, and will never, use that system. It's not as strong or reliable as other methods, such as caging with CRW, and too much can go wrong. In this case, one little thing happened that affected and hurt all of the plants. I do understand, however, that it may be the best option for some growing in high tunnels or conventional green houses. But if you have other options, whatever they are, I'm confident that most anything will be better than using string like this.

I used to use CRW, but never again after trying the twine method,I grow outdoors as well as tunnel, nothing compared to the twine method, you have much better air flow,less disease, easier harvesting by far, easier pruning, bigger fruit,there's good reason why all commercial growers use it,if it didn't produce as much or as nice ,they surely wouldn't use it, it's the bottom line that counts with them, so that means it has to be the most productive system, and in order for making a profit, it has to be less labor intensive as well. Just a few reasons why I use it, I'm sure a lot of people find it much easier to set a cage in the ground than to build some sort of overhead support system, but once you have it in place, you won't go back. It also makes it easier to support a 9 lbs tomato by hanging it from the overhead support. I don't mean to start a conflict over which is best,this is just what I've discovered in my 43 years of growing tomatoes. Each to his own.

[PaulTandberg]

Various support systems have pluses and minuses, but this particular incident was, as they say, all on me. Thank goodness those big, beautiful, heavily laden with fruit, plants weren't damaged. If they had been wiped out because I hadn't bothered to take five minutes to replace three cents worth of string... that would have a tough one. Not a lot cover.

I am a hobbyist. I grow to eat but I also grow for fun. I wouldn't know how to put one ahead of the other, both are present in full measure. I have a little 8' X 10' poly greenhouse (rectangle with straight sides). This is my second year of "stringing". I have five big beauties* on strings going down the middle and Red Racers and Chocolate Taz's in cages along the perimeter. And it works so slick. Except for the not using fresh string part.

* the five down the middle: (2) Damsels, Jersey Boy, Chef's Choice Bi-Color, Chef's Choice Striped.


(I like Tasmanian Chocolate, but I think I will try Boronia to try get an earlier crop. Rosella Purple and Brandy Fred are also options, but it appears (according Victory Seeds) that Boronia is the earliest of the dark dwarfs. And in North Dakota, early matters.)

[Johnniemar]

I use bailing twine from tractor supply. This is my third season using the same twine and I leave it up year round. Never had one even come close to breaking! Best method possible in my opinion, and l have tried them all.

[PaulTandberg]

When I checked in on them this afternoon, I saw that a third string had broken, right at the top where it was looped around the top support pole, pinned between the metal pole and the poly cover.

Fortunately, I had assigned the plant two "insurance" strings the day before (fresh ones) so the plant was supported as nicely as could be. Calamity averted!

I have so many strings in that little greenhouse now it looks like a spider web.

Next year,new string and bigger string. And new clips, as well.

[TomatoDon]

"there's good reason why all commercial growers use it"

All commercial growers don't use it. The biggest commercial producers I know of use the Florida weave. Other than one hydroponic operation, I've never seen anyone in my area use the string and clip method.

[dshreter]

I’m not completely clear on what you’re describing by it being pinned beneath the metal pole and the poly cover, but it sounds like they are succumbing to friction. In general, twine is very strong, just try to snap it pulling between your hands. But it is vulnerable to abrasion, and can easily damage over time if it is running against something.

You might just need to investigate another method of securing it up top so your not creating a week link. Proper knots, or just doubling over the string with a couple loops at the fastening point at the top may do the job well vs insurance strings. That sounds like a mess, and difficult to manage if you don’t have to.

[biscuitridge]

Originally Posted by TomatoDon

"there's good reason why all commercial growers use it"

All commercial growers don't use it. The biggest commercial producers I know of use the Florida weave. Other than one hydroponic operation, I've never seen anyone in my area use the string and clip method.

I was referring to greenhouse growers, I've never seen a high tech greenhouse growing tomatoes in cages, they are always lower/lean systems. Maybe I'm just not up to the latest greatest caging systems out there.

[brownrexx]

Cages would take up too much room for commercial growers but I think that they are great for home gardeners and it's what I use but then I only grow about 20 plants.

The peppers are only in cages until they are big enough that the bunnies don't bother them.


20200604_105604 by Brownrexx, on Flickr

[brownrexx]

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