Trellis support

brooksville · May 5, 2019

We have been using a trellis method to support our tomatoes for a few years now. We use 8ft t-post, 10 ft 3/4 inch electrical conduit, and thin wall pvc on top of the post. We tie string to the conduit and use tomato clips on the stems. Seems to work but the tomatoes still out grow the t-post. Do y’all have any variations that might work better?

jtjmartin · May 5, 2019

YES! You can use your same system but just lean and lower.

For example: start by moving the string in your first row to the right. The plants at the far right of the first row would be leaned toward the far right of the second row. All the plants on the second row lean to the left. As vines get longer, the leaves from the bottom can be removed. If you are not grafting, these stems on the ground can root.

My vines commonly grow well over 20 feet in a season. I loose a couple plants a year to dog, disease or other damage so I usually have multiple paths in. Sometimes I'll plant determinates or eggplant near the ends of my rows so they don't block the pathways as bad. The system works better with an even number of rows.

lean n lower.jpg

Scooty · May 5, 2019

Cattle panel.

zendog · May 5, 2019

I have limited space, so although I grow them single stem up a string, I don't have room to lean and lower. My trellis is about the height of yours and I just let them grow up and over then hang down on the other side. I often let the hanging over part bush out a bit so the put the energy into a few branches vs. just getting longer. I probably under fertilize, so if I fertilize more this may not work... in fact it is pretty crazy by the end of the year but I'm still getting tomatoes so not too worried.

But this year I'm going to maybe a "lower and loop" approach, where I lower them and wrap the excess stem length into a loop that I'll just hang on the trellis. I think the loops will need to be at least 18" in diameter depending on the flexibility of the stems, so I won't even try it until the are just over the top. I'm not sure there will be enough flexibility in the stems to make it work, but I'll try it on a few and see what happens.

jtjmartin · May 5, 2019

Zendog:

I've seen the looping online. Let us know if it works!

Jeff

Barb_FL · May 5, 2019

I remember AKMARK wrapping them at the bottom. The problem doing that outside is the stems are not that flexible; well mine aren't but I have a ton of wnd.

IIRC, I think he went with the lean and lower method too to save time.

Scooty · May 5, 2019

Overhang is another method. It's a variation of what you're doing now.

Penn State Cooperative Extension Research.

May 5, 2019	#2
jtjmartin Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2016 Location: Williamsburg VA Zone 7b Posts: 1,110	YES! You can use your same system but just lean and lower. For example: start by moving the string in your first row to the right. The plants at the far right of the first row would be leaned toward the far right of the second row. All the plants on the second row lean to the left. As vines get longer, the leaves from the bottom can be removed. If you are not grafting, these stems on the ground can root. My vines commonly grow well over 20 feet in a season. I loose a couple plants a year to dog, disease or other damage so I usually have multiple paths in. Sometimes I'll plant determinates or eggplant near the ends of my rows so they don't block the pathways as bad. The system works better with an even number of rows. lean n lower.jpg

May 5, 2019	#3
Scooty Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Chicago-land & SO-cal Posts: 583	Cattle panel.

May 5, 2019	#4
zendog Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: VA-7a Posts: 121	I have limited space, so although I grow them single stem up a string, I don't have room to lean and lower. My trellis is about the height of yours and I just let them grow up and over then hang down on the other side. I often let the hanging over part bush out a bit so the put the energy into a few branches vs. just getting longer. I probably under fertilize, so if I fertilize more this may not work... in fact it is pretty crazy by the end of the year but I'm still getting tomatoes so not too worried. But this year I'm going to maybe a "lower and loop" approach, where I lower them and wrap the excess stem length into a loop that I'll just hang on the trellis. I think the loops will need to be at least 18" in diameter depending on the flexibility of the stems, so I won't even try it until the are just over the top. I'm not sure there will be enough flexibility in the stems to make it work, but I'll try it on a few and see what happens.

May 5, 2019	#6
Barb_FL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Indialantic, Florida Posts: 2,000	I remember AKMARK wrapping them at the bottom. The problem doing that outside is the stems are not that flexible; well mine aren't but I have a ton of wnd. IIRC, I think he went with the lean and lower method too to save time.