Isnt it just Sickening"- when you tie up a truss and-wh

michael johnson · August 6, 2006

Isnt it just sickening (this must have also happened to lots of you in the past )- when you notice a particular truss of very heavy tomatoes -say 3 to 5 in the truss-not yet ripe but not far away, some of them in the 2 1/2 lb region, of a particular variety you wanted to save etc, so you take a nice piece of flat polyethlene garden string to tie it up as the sheer weight of the truss is causing the stem to bend too early and cut off the supply of juice to the truss, so what do I do"- tie the string around the truss stem and gently lift it up again on the stake support- went twice round the stake with the string and then tied the first knot tightly- when "whamo" the gosh darnoodly string breaks and the whole truss drops down and snaps clean off at the main stem.

I went stomping off around the garden -gosh darnoodling, and jiggery flipping right across the garden-but much more colourfull than that.

I whoefully picked up the fallen truss and put it on a table in the conservatory hoping it would finish ripening properly-jiggery flip the flipping things-I say

8)

dcarch · August 6, 2006

I am not joking. I forgot where I saw this post the past few days. I am not even sure if it was in this Forum.

Someone was talking about the French sometimes use old Bra to support tomatoes.

dcarch

Althea · August 6, 2006

I'm going to get a roll of velcro to "tie" tomatoes to the stakes next year and avoid the disaster you experienced.

michael johnson · August 7, 2006

when a whole truss of large tomatoes just snaps off like that and falls on the ground at your feet- you feel just speechless and flabergasted-I stood there for a couple of seconds just staring at them- and muttering and muttering-as I had already been struggling with them for a couple of minutes as it was, trying to position the string around the truss and the wooden stake to stop it sliding down again with the weight of the truss.

I am just hoping that they will continue to ripen now in the conservatory on the table,, and contain some seeds if they are developed enough,- but I do have more trusses of tomatoes on the same plant so all is not lost,- there is one thing for sure though -for the average tomato grower-by the time he or she has managed to get their crop into a state of ripe tomatoes ready for picking-from the hard work they all put into it- they have truly earned the full bounty of the crop and its rewards-its not easy and can be very trying at times.

Mantis · August 7, 2006

Two years ago I decided one day to prune back leaders on and Akers West Virginia in the greenhouse. I selected what I thought were the ones with no fruit on and snipped. Cut the one with a truss of 4 nice fruit by mistake didn't I. Wasn't happy

landarc · August 7, 2006

Mantis, yeah, cut the stem without the fruit and when it thuds heavily to the ground, that is a wonderful feeling too. Know it too well.

MJ, I don't use the string, preferring to cut my own strips of plastic grocery bag, or cotton dish towels (old socks, undershorts etc...) and using them to gently tie up the truss. That and sometimes even adding a splint of bamboo to the mess.

dcarch · August 7, 2006

michael johnson

this place has just what you need:
http://www.hydro-gardens.com/growsup1.htm

dcarch

sirtanon · August 7, 2006

I've found two things that really do the trick nicely...

#1 - Old T-shirts, which otherwise have very little usefulness and usually just end up taking up space in the trash bin.. I cut them, or rather TEAR them, into 1" wide strips, varying in length from 8" to 16" in length. When you pull on them, they give a little stretch and they curl around themselves, just a bit. They're nice and soft and they are strong.

#2 - Lowes around here sells big rolls of velcro tape. It's green and it's easy to cut. Cheap too (around $2.99 for a big roll). I reuse this stuff but you don't really have to.

jcarter · August 7, 2006

I wonder if placing the broken branch in a fertilised container of water would do any good. It might pump a few more nutrients at the tomatoes. Too late for this truss, of course.

On the other hand, I have had green tomatoes ripen more than a month after they were picked in the autumn. If yours were within a month then they might also ripen.

The glass is not half full, you are using a glass that is twice as big as you need!

michael johnson · August 8, 2006

Thanks Dcarch, thats a good website for truss supports etc, I might try some,

Bet Y-all didnt Cuss as loudly as I did though, when it happened to me,- I have also done what Mantis did in the past and accidentaly cut the wrong stem- its a bit of a problem sometimes trying to see which one it is-in amongst all the stems and leaves.

But my favourite party trick each season is- to be bending down low looking for fresh side shoots to pinch out near the base of the stem-and then straighten up and knock off half a truss of green tomatoes with either my head or shoulder- which take great delight in cascading down to my feet and rolling about like golf balls an the ground- more colourfull explitives usualy suffice.

The wife - Bless her-usualy comes to my rescue in times of strife and high frusteration- as I came into the house from stomping around the garden muttering plenty of gosh darnoodlys and some deep meaningfull Jiggery flips to it etc, she looked at me and said are you alright dear -you look a bit pink around the gills, after I explained to her what the problem was- she offered me a decent alternative suggestion- she said never mind dear I can always make them into green tomato chutney for you-oh' oh- dear your going pink at the gills again.

Reign · August 9, 2006

I know your pain, Michael. Stem broke on these last night. There are three others that are not going to make it. I must have looked pretty close to tears because the husband jumped into "say something to make it better mode."

First came - "Well are you growing them to big." He knew that was a bad attempt before it got all the way out of his mouth. But I could see where he was trying to go.
Then came - "We can do fried green tomatoes." He gets nada from me.
Then..."What is that stuff (green tomato chutney) you make with all the left over green ones? I love that stuff!" He got the evil glare.

I informed him it was a historic day. "This is like the first time I've ever wished I could just stomp the doo-doo out of you. Oh - did I mention... these are your Brandywines?"

He almost cried.

michael johnson · August 10, 2006

Thanks Reign- you cheered me up no end,

But you have to sit down and laugh about it later

its all down to "sod's Law" again.

And its such a shame realy as your tomatoes look such good ones too-not too far off ripening either by the looks of them, isnt it funny also how our other halfs always have the ideal solution with ever-so helpfull suggestions-just at a time when you realy need the support.

I think my Father- when he was alive, had the best idea for preventing truss breakage happening,he grew tomatoes for fifty odd years before he died and in the last ten year of growing he developed a method which I have never seen before.

He built a large greenhouse and installed large growing troughs at about four foot high from the ground all the way round the inside,and then every season filled them with suitable 125ltr bags of general purpose compost-like giant grow bags, he then planted the tomatoes in holes cut into the top of the bags and fed and watered them from there.

But his personal trick-was to grow all the plants up the greenhouse roof supports at a sharp angle-up one side and down the other-over a ten foot wide roof span, all the resulting trusses of tomatoes all hung more or less straight down from the roof-so there was no bending of the truss stems at all-all the plants main stems were supported by plastic ties along the roof.

He had some tremendous crops as a result of this method and I never once saw any truss stem breakages- the plants always did very well too as they were as close to maximum light and heat you could get, and they always set well too with every truss set from top to bottom- mind you -having said that- I caught him once or twice going over the flower trusses with a five foot cane with a fluffy dried rabbits tail tied to the end- which he swore was his best pollinator.

This also brings to mind a very funny real life happening here in the Uk- years ago- I used to be a member of (Simpsons Seeds) tomato club, and every month or so they used to publish a news letter for members to read-with lots of new varieties etc, well in the first page of the news letter the Simpson family always used to publish family happenings and way of life in their tomato environment etc- well it appears that the eldest son at the time -probably about 18-to 20, had been carpeted by the father and mother for his inventive capabilities, apparently the parents suddenly noticed that the family prize persian fluffy cat, had a bald patch suddenly appear on its back, upon further investigation they discovered that their son had clilpped a large chunk of fur out of the cat and tied it to a long cane- to polinate the tomato flowers with.

Funnily enough they never patented the idea or developed it further

and put it down to a family catastrophy

.

August 6, 2006	#3
Althea Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: z4MN Posts: 261	I'm going to get a roll of velcro to "tie" tomatoes to the stakes next year and avoid the disaster you experienced. __________________ Solanaceae Hugger

August 7, 2006	#6
landarc Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Left Coasty Posts: 964	Mantis, yeah, cut the stem without the fruit and when it thuds heavily to the ground, that is a wonderful feeling too. Know it too well. MJ, I don't use the string, preferring to cut my own strips of plastic grocery bag, or cotton dish towels (old socks, undershorts etc...) and using them to gently tie up the truss. That and sometimes even adding a splint of bamboo to the mess. __________________ Lets see...$10 for Worth and $5 for Fusion, man. Tomatoes are expensive! Bob

August 7, 2006	#7
dcarch Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: NY Posts: 2,618	michael johnson this place has just what you need: http://www.hydro-gardens.com/growsup1.htm dcarch __________________ tomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomato matomato tomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomato matomato tomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomatomato matomato

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August 6, 2006	#1
michael johnson Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: UK. Posts: 960	Isnt it just Sickening"- when you tie up a truss and-wh Isnt it just sickening (this must have also happened to lots of you in the past )- when you notice a particular truss of very heavy tomatoes -say 3 to 5 in the truss-not yet ripe but not far away, some of them in the 2 1/2 lb region, of a particular variety you wanted to save etc, so you take a nice piece of flat polyethlene garden string to tie it up as the sheer weight of the truss is causing the stem to bend too early and cut off the supply of juice to the truss, so what do I do"- tie the string around the truss stem and gently lift it up again on the stake support- went twice round the stake with the string and then tied the first knot tightly- when "whamo" the gosh darnoodly string breaks and the whole truss drops down and snaps clean off at the main stem. I went stomping off around the garden -gosh darnoodling, and jiggery flipping right across the garden-but much more colourfull than that. I whoefully picked up the fallen truss and put it on a table in the conservatory hoping it would finish ripening properly-jiggery flip the flipping things-I say 8)

August 7, 2006	#5
Mantis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Oz Posts: 1,241	Two years ago I decided one day to prune back leaders on and Akers West Virginia in the greenhouse. I selected what I thought were the ones with no fruit on and snipped. Cut the one with a truss of 4 nice fruit by mistake didn't I. Wasn't happy

August 7, 2006	#8
sirtanon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Phoenix, AZ (zone 9b) Posts: 796	I've found two things that really do the trick nicely... #1 - Old T-shirts, which otherwise have very little usefulness and usually just end up taking up space in the trash bin.. I cut them, or rather TEAR them, into 1" wide strips, varying in length from 8" to 16" in length. When you pull on them, they give a little stretch and they curl around themselves, just a bit. They're nice and soft and they are strong. #2 - Lowes around here sells big rolls of velcro tape. It's green and it's easy to cut. Cheap too (around $2.99 for a big roll). I reuse this stuff but you don't really have to.

August 7, 2006	#9
jcarter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Perth, Ontario. Canada. Posts: 23	I wonder if placing the broken branch in a fertilised container of water would do any good. It might pump a few more nutrients at the tomatoes. Too late for this truss, of course. On the other hand, I have had green tomatoes ripen more than a month after they were picked in the autumn. If yours were within a month then they might also ripen. The glass is not half full, you are using a glass that is twice as big as you need!

August 8, 2006	#10
michael johnson Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: UK. Posts: 960	Thanks Dcarch, thats a good website for truss supports etc, I might try some, Bet Y-all didnt Cuss as loudly as I did though, when it happened to me,- I have also done what Mantis did in the past and accidentaly cut the wrong stem- its a bit of a problem sometimes trying to see which one it is-in amongst all the stems and leaves. But my favourite party trick each season is- to be bending down low looking for fresh side shoots to pinch out near the base of the stem-and then straighten up and knock off half a truss of green tomatoes with either my head or shoulder- which take great delight in cascading down to my feet and rolling about like golf balls an the ground- more colourfull explitives usualy suffice. The wife - Bless her-usualy comes to my rescue in times of strife and high frusteration- as I came into the house from stomping around the garden muttering plenty of gosh darnoodlys and some deep meaningfull Jiggery flips to it etc, she looked at me and said are you alright dear -you look a bit pink around the gills, after I explained to her what the problem was- she offered me a decent alternative suggestion- she said never mind dear I can always make them into green tomato chutney for you-oh' oh- dear your going pink at the gills again.

August 9, 2006	#11
Reign Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: NY Posts: 130	I know your pain, Michael. Stem broke on these last night. There are three others that are not going to make it. I must have looked pretty close to tears because the husband jumped into "say something to make it better mode." First came - "Well are you growing them to big." He knew that was a bad attempt before it got all the way out of his mouth. But I could see where he was trying to go. Then came - "We can do fried green tomatoes." He gets nada from me. Then..."What is that stuff (green tomato chutney) you make with all the left over green ones? I love that stuff!" He got the evil glare. I informed him it was a historic day. "This is like the first time I've ever wished I could just stomp the doo-doo out of you. Oh - did I mention... these are your Brandywines?" He almost cried.

August 10, 2006	#12
michael johnson Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: UK. Posts: 960	Thanks Reign- you cheered me up no end, But you have to sit down and laugh about it later its all down to "sod's Law" again. And its such a shame realy as your tomatoes look such good ones too-not too far off ripening either by the looks of them, isnt it funny also how our other halfs always have the ideal solution with ever-so helpfull suggestions-just at a time when you realy need the support. I think my Father- when he was alive, had the best idea for preventing truss breakage happening,he grew tomatoes for fifty odd years before he died and in the last ten year of growing he developed a method which I have never seen before. He built a large greenhouse and installed large growing troughs at about four foot high from the ground all the way round the inside,and then every season filled them with suitable 125ltr bags of general purpose compost-like giant grow bags, he then planted the tomatoes in holes cut into the top of the bags and fed and watered them from there. But his personal trick-was to grow all the plants up the greenhouse roof supports at a sharp angle-up one side and down the other-over a ten foot wide roof span, all the resulting trusses of tomatoes all hung more or less straight down from the roof-so there was no bending of the truss stems at all-all the plants main stems were supported by plastic ties along the roof. He had some tremendous crops as a result of this method and I never once saw any truss stem breakages- the plants always did very well too as they were as close to maximum light and heat you could get, and they always set well too with every truss set from top to bottom- mind you -having said that- I caught him once or twice going over the flower trusses with a five foot cane with a fluffy dried rabbits tail tied to the end- which he swore was his best pollinator. This also brings to mind a very funny real life happening here in the Uk- years ago- I used to be a member of (Simpsons Seeds) tomato club, and every month or so they used to publish a news letter for members to read-with lots of new varieties etc, well in the first page of the news letter the Simpson family always used to publish family happenings and way of life in their tomato environment etc- well it appears that the eldest son at the time -probably about 18-to 20, had been carpeted by the father and mother for his inventive capabilities, apparently the parents suddenly noticed that the family prize persian fluffy cat, had a bald patch suddenly appear on its back, upon further investigation they discovered that their son had clilpped a large chunk of fur out of the cat and tied it to a long cane- to polinate the tomato flowers with. Funnily enough they never patented the idea or developed it further and put it down to a family catastrophy .