trying different support systems

JRinPA · September 28, 2017

My mom used to stake/sprawl tomatoes. Some years were good, but others were ugly. If the garden stayed too wet or ignored/weedy, the entire patch could be pretty much lost to rot, birds, and squirrels. When I started gardening, it did not take me long to make changes. Of course, the internet has made finding alternatives very easy.

I first used cages about 5 years back. CRW cages, 5' high, 18-20" wide. It was a huge step up. While they can be a pain to store, they are really easy to grow in, keep the tomatoes up off the ground, and give large numbers of tomatoes through the whole season. The first few years I'd worry about disease and try to keep them pruned, but have since decided it really isn't worth the effort, here.

A few years ago I read about florida weave, and a grower friend showed me soon thereafter that he does it that way, though he called it stick and string. I tried that for two years at a friend's garden patch, but both years were dry. It worked, and was good experience, but was not great yields.

Last year I was able to try the weave for the first time at home, in rich soil, where I could tend it everyday and water if necessary. The plants were late plantings, but still turned into a jungle in no time with decent yield.

This year, I florida weaved about 25 plants, planting out in mid May. Full sun, good compost, deep aeration, and black bio mulch. They grew like heck, and generally produced heavily for a few trusses before really getting overrun with blight/septoria. I had planned from the beginning to pull them in August to put in fall peas. I topped them in mid-July, planted peas on either side of each row in early August, and left the tomatoes in for pea shade and ripening of last ones. I finally pulled the tomatoes in late August. That worked out perfectly, but to be honest they were pretty rough with disease by mid July. I don't prune as a rule, and while that seems to work fine in cages, that weave got really heavy by August. When the bottom leaves died, there was some slippage as well. I don't see the possibility of Florida weave lasting until end of September with unpruned indeterminates - something that works fine with CRW cages.

This realization led me try single stem for the first time this year. Maybe I would need to sucker the florida weave plants, but I wanted to test first. In early August when I put the peas in, I also transplanted a couple of big beef seedlings near them. I ran them up a string tied to a 10 ft rebar, and have been suckering them religiously. I will say, it is much easier to keep track of them as single stem. They both set two trusses of 3 good size tomatoes, then part of a third before running out of water or warmth. They look like they should ripen, but now we are getting mid 40s again so we'll see. Still, I can see the advantage and I could plant really close; I start my own seeds now so growing 100 is no more work than growing 25.

What concerns me though about the single stem is the blight following those single stems right up, just the same as the blight does in florida weave or cages. These have plastic under them, so no splash. They are not in contact with other tomatoes. Plenty of air around them, and still the disease. It just seems to be the nature of tomatoes here - if they are out in this humid air the leaves get spots no matter what, and the leaves yellow and die off. It's just a matter of how soon, depending on the weather. The tomatoes are still fine, usually. It's not late blight, or grey mold, or any really nasty stuff. I have to wonder, though, if single stem from the start in May will just be too susceptible to disease overpowering that few number of leaves. Next year I will definitely consider florida weave with just 1-3 stems per plant, instead of the uncensored version I had this year.

This year I also tried another type of support that I read about here - a horizontal fence in multiple layers. I don't know if it has a name. I've been calling it the "tomato sandwich". In spring I had brocolli and peas in a 3.5x11 ft, 4" deep raised bed. In May I put in a line of tomatoes on east side edge of the bed. They'd get a few hours of sun in the morning, then were shadowed by buildings and by the peas in afternoon. Consequently, they grew tall and skinny, and were severely retarded compared to my normal plantings. I pulled the pea trellis in mid June and put six rebar in a rectangle around the bed. The tomatoes at that time were a skinny 3' or so, straight up on the east edge. I layed the CRW horizontally, about 2' high, and secured with zipties to the six posts. I added another horizontal layer as they grew, and finally a third layer at the top. They had spread out of course and filled the whole panel by the third one. I did have to put some cut up pool noodle as bumpers on that first layer of CRW so the dogs could see it, but other than that, it has really worked well. The tomatoes are super easy to harvest, have huge area to sprawl with support, and lots of air. It is less conventional, but it definitely works. I would say it is a two person job to construct, but could be done solo with a couple of vice grips/bar clamps to act as ledge to hold the fence up on one side while the other side is adjusted and tied in.

Other than cherries, my cages are about done, the florida weave is long done, those single stem poles have some tomatoes that should ripen, but that flat fence is still loaded with tomatoes.

I always find it pretty neat to think how many different ways tomatoes can grow. Next year I will still use CRW cages, but will also use these other systems when it suits. Maybe a new support if it sounds good. And I will most assuredly stagger tomatoes and pea trellis in the same space. They complement well in the same space with some overlap at end of spring or mid-summer.

September 28, 2017	#1
JRinPA Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: SE PA Posts: 972	trying different support systems My mom used to stake/sprawl tomatoes. Some years were good, but others were ugly. If the garden stayed too wet or ignored/weedy, the entire patch could be pretty much lost to rot, birds, and squirrels. When I started gardening, it did not take me long to make changes. Of course, the internet has made finding alternatives very easy. I first used cages about 5 years back. CRW cages, 5' high, 18-20" wide. It was a huge step up. While they can be a pain to store, they are really easy to grow in, keep the tomatoes up off the ground, and give large numbers of tomatoes through the whole season. The first few years I'd worry about disease and try to keep them pruned, but have since decided it really isn't worth the effort, here. A few years ago I read about florida weave, and a grower friend showed me soon thereafter that he does it that way, though he called it stick and string. I tried that for two years at a friend's garden patch, but both years were dry. It worked, and was good experience, but was not great yields. Last year I was able to try the weave for the first time at home, in rich soil, where I could tend it everyday and water if necessary. The plants were late plantings, but still turned into a jungle in no time with decent yield. This year, I florida weaved about 25 plants, planting out in mid May. Full sun, good compost, deep aeration, and black bio mulch. They grew like heck, and generally produced heavily for a few trusses before really getting overrun with blight/septoria. I had planned from the beginning to pull them in August to put in fall peas. I topped them in mid-July, planted peas on either side of each row in early August, and left the tomatoes in for pea shade and ripening of last ones. I finally pulled the tomatoes in late August. That worked out perfectly, but to be honest they were pretty rough with disease by mid July. I don't prune as a rule, and while that seems to work fine in cages, that weave got really heavy by August. When the bottom leaves died, there was some slippage as well. I don't see the possibility of Florida weave lasting until end of September with unpruned indeterminates - something that works fine with CRW cages. This realization led me try single stem for the first time this year. Maybe I would need to sucker the florida weave plants, but I wanted to test first. In early August when I put the peas in, I also transplanted a couple of big beef seedlings near them. I ran them up a string tied to a 10 ft rebar, and have been suckering them religiously. I will say, it is much easier to keep track of them as single stem. They both set two trusses of 3 good size tomatoes, then part of a third before running out of water or warmth. They look like they should ripen, but now we are getting mid 40s again so we'll see. Still, I can see the advantage and I could plant really close; I start my own seeds now so growing 100 is no more work than growing 25. What concerns me though about the single stem is the blight following those single stems right up, just the same as the blight does in florida weave or cages. These have plastic under them, so no splash. They are not in contact with other tomatoes. Plenty of air around them, and still the disease. It just seems to be the nature of tomatoes here - if they are out in this humid air the leaves get spots no matter what, and the leaves yellow and die off. It's just a matter of how soon, depending on the weather. The tomatoes are still fine, usually. It's not late blight, or grey mold, or any really nasty stuff. I have to wonder, though, if single stem from the start in May will just be too susceptible to disease overpowering that few number of leaves. Next year I will definitely consider florida weave with just 1-3 stems per plant, instead of the uncensored version I had this year. This year I also tried another type of support that I read about here - a horizontal fence in multiple layers. I don't know if it has a name. I've been calling it the "tomato sandwich". In spring I had brocolli and peas in a 3.5x11 ft, 4" deep raised bed. In May I put in a line of tomatoes on east side edge of the bed. They'd get a few hours of sun in the morning, then were shadowed by buildings and by the peas in afternoon. Consequently, they grew tall and skinny, and were severely retarded compared to my normal plantings. I pulled the pea trellis in mid June and put six rebar in a rectangle around the bed. The tomatoes at that time were a skinny 3' or so, straight up on the east edge. I layed the CRW horizontally, about 2' high, and secured with zipties to the six posts. I added another horizontal layer as they grew, and finally a third layer at the top. They had spread out of course and filled the whole panel by the third one. I did have to put some cut up pool noodle as bumpers on that first layer of CRW so the dogs could see it, but other than that, it has really worked well. The tomatoes are super easy to harvest, have huge area to sprawl with support, and lots of air. It is less conventional, but it definitely works. I would say it is a two person job to construct, but could be done solo with a couple of vice grips/bar clamps to act as ledge to hold the fence up on one side while the other side is adjusted and tied in. Other than cherries, my cages are about done, the florida weave is long done, those single stem poles have some tomatoes that should ripen, but that flat fence is still loaded with tomatoes. I always find it pretty neat to think how many different ways tomatoes can grow. Next year I will still use CRW cages, but will also use these other systems when it suits. Maybe a new support if it sounds good. And I will most assuredly stagger tomatoes and pea trellis in the same space. They complement well in the same space with some overlap at end of spring or mid-summer.