Another staking question

Tworivers1 · May 11, 2011

I'm going to try something different this year on staking my tomatoes and wanted to get some opinions on spacing. I have a 24' x 4' raised bed and I am going to put t posts every 8' on both sides and then attach a 24' length of field fence horizontally and then just thread the plants through the 6" openings as they grow.

My question is how many tiers of fence do you think I would need and how high should I position them on the t posts. I am growing all indeterminates except for Danko.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Mark

frankkj · May 11, 2011

I tried this years ago. I have since gotten away from this type of gardening because of my health. However, since you asked, I'll gladly share my opnion.

Start the wire 12-18" above bed height. I would Allow at least 7-8' total height for my area. The tiers do not have to match-up perfectly and can have an 6-12" gap between them. Good luck! Stay on to of the "weaving" and plan to tie a lot of vines!

Frank

ireilly · May 11, 2011

I think you'll need some form of diagonal bracing to resist side loading from the wind or it may cantilever like a deck of playing cards being shuffled. But it's an ingenious idea.

b54red · May 11, 2011

I did this years ago and it worked great. I used 3/4 inch conduit with cross pieces about every 4 ft for support and held everything together with wire ties. The trick was making sure to keep feeding some of the new plant stems up to the next level and prune them some or you will get a huge tangle of vines. The biggest problem I had was trying to get all the vines off of the fencing when I went to take it down. I used 3 levels starting about 2 ft off the ground followed by one about 4 ft high and a final one a little over 5 ft high. Much higher and you can't reach across to pick the fruit and prune the vines. Make sure you mulch very well under it because weeding is a pain if you don't. Good luck with it.

TZ-OH6 · May 11, 2011

I have the same thing but run a peice of 10" conduit pipe through the top of the fence and use wooden posts bound to the T-posts for added height. The pipe is hung on nails in the wooden post and then wired on. The top of the fence is about 6 - 6.5 ft and I use short stakes-sticks from the bottom of the wire to the ground to train the stems up to the wires.

This one is a little low but you can see the sticks at the bottom. I had to put the plants back a bit behind the trellis so the sticks are tilted. The garden fence in front is for deer.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/5125150...57624247441049

dice · May 12, 2011

I think the original poster had something like this in
mind:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XiMirPKZQS...omato+cage.JPG

b54red · May 12, 2011

Dice that is very similar to what I did but using conduit instead of wood because of the ease of putting it up. I used 3 levels instead of two; but two will work. It allows the tomato to sprawl without leaves touching the ground. I just went to a vertical trellis of conduit because of the ease of construction and the number of plants I have to set out. If I had less room and could only put out a couple of dozen plants I would still be using that system.

SmartAlex · May 12, 2011

That horizontal fence panel is pretty clever.

I thought of putting a post at each end of my raised beds and sandwiching my plants between two cattle or hog panels.

Tworivers1 · May 12, 2011

Thanks everyone. B54red described exactly what I was planning to do with cross beams every 4' to help hold the wire up. I just wasn't sure if I could get by with 2 levels or if I needed 3. It really doesn't matter since I couldn't find a roll of field fence less than 330' (I do have two beds) so with 3 levels I'll need 150" of fence.

Last year I ran a cattle panel down the middle of the bed and staggered the tomatos 2' apart on both sides and by the end of the year I had a jungle in the middle of the bed and spent a lot of time tying up branches.

My thinking on doing it horizontally is I can use all of the bed instead of just the middle foot. I'm going to try and keep on top of things and keep all the plants pruned to two or three stems. That's the plan anyway.

I'm originally from Kansas so I do know what wind can be like but here in St Louis the only time the wind really blows is when a front comes through.

Old Rooster · May 14, 2011

Something you might try is what I do , no matter if I am using fence or cages . I take an old T shirt and tear it in 1" strips and use these strips to tie up my tomato plants. If they are in a cage I tie on one side make a circle around the plant and tie off on the opposite side. That keeps my plants supported and growing up the center of my cage. When growing on a fence I just make a loose loop around the plant & fence and tie in about 2" loop that supports but does not bind the plant.

May 11, 2011	#1
Tworivers1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Ballwin/St Louis, MO Posts: 35	Another staking question I'm going to try something different this year on staking my tomatoes and wanted to get some opinions on spacing. I have a 24' x 4' raised bed and I am going to put t posts every 8' on both sides and then attach a 24' length of field fence horizontally and then just thread the plants through the 6" openings as they grow. My question is how many tiers of fence do you think I would need and how high should I position them on the t posts. I am growing all indeterminates except for Danko. Thanks for any suggestions. Mark

May 11, 2011	#2
frankkj Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: Louisiana Posts: 90	I tried this years ago. I have since gotten away from this type of gardening because of my health. However, since you asked, I'll gladly share my opnion. Start the wire 12-18" above bed height. I would Allow at least 7-8' total height for my area. The tiers do not have to match-up perfectly and can have an 6-12" gap between them. Good luck! Stay on to of the "weaving" and plan to tie a lot of vines! Frank __________________ Old and Wise? Or maybe just getting old?

May 12, 2011	#6
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	I think the original poster had something like this in mind: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XiMirPKZQS...omato+cage.JPG __________________ -- alias

May 11, 2011	#3
ireilly Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2010 Location: Dallas Posts: 344	I think you'll need some form of diagonal bracing to resist side loading from the wind or it may cantilever like a deck of playing cards being shuffled. But it's an ingenious idea.

May 11, 2011	#4
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I did this years ago and it worked great. I used 3/4 inch conduit with cross pieces about every 4 ft for support and held everything together with wire ties. The trick was making sure to keep feeding some of the new plant stems up to the next level and prune them some or you will get a huge tangle of vines. The biggest problem I had was trying to get all the vines off of the fencing when I went to take it down. I used 3 levels starting about 2 ft off the ground followed by one about 4 ft high and a final one a little over 5 ft high. Much higher and you can't reach across to pick the fruit and prune the vines. Make sure you mulch very well under it because weeding is a pain if you don't. Good luck with it.

May 11, 2011	#5
TZ-OH6 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Mid-Ohio Posts: 848	I have the same thing but run a peice of 10" conduit pipe through the top of the fence and use wooden posts bound to the T-posts for added height. The pipe is hung on nails in the wooden post and then wired on. The top of the fence is about 6 - 6.5 ft and I use short stakes-sticks from the bottom of the wire to the ground to train the stems up to the wires. This one is a little low but you can see the sticks at the bottom. I had to put the plants back a bit behind the trellis so the sticks are tilted. The garden fence in front is for deer. http://www.flickr.com/photos/5125150...57624247441049

May 12, 2011	#8
SmartAlex Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Western NY Posts: 38	That horizontal fence panel is pretty clever. I thought of putting a post at each end of my raised beds and sandwiching my plants between two cattle or hog panels.

May 14, 2011	#10
Old Rooster Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Stone Mtn. Ga. Posts: 1	Something you might try is what I do , no matter if I am using fence or cages . I take an old T shirt and tear it in 1" strips and use these strips to tie up my tomato plants. If they are in a cage I tie on one side make a circle around the plant and tie off on the opposite side. That keeps my plants supported and growing up the center of my cage. When growing on a fence I just make a loose loop around the plant & fence and tie in about 2" loop that supports but does not bind the plant.