The End

[amberroses]

Wow, now I know where you get all those seeds! It looks very neat and tidy too.

[kath]

Thanks Neva, Freelancer, Amber- hoping we all enjoy a well-deserved rest and have a super successful tomato year in 2011.

[casino]

very nice Kath and your garden looks great.

[Buck7762]

Great Pictures Kath. I checked out the trellis system you mentioned, perfect.

Completely off topic, Love the cabinets.

TTYL,

Buck

[kath]

Originally Posted by Buck7762

Great Pictures Kath. I checked out the trellis system you mentioned, perfect.

Completely off topic, Love the cabinets.

TTYL,

Buck

Are you trying the trellis system, Buck?

Thanks, they're the work of Roger Wright, a local furniture/cabinet maker. It's a tiny kitchen, and he was very reasonable.

[Buck7762]

Kath,

Definitely going to do it. My 2011 garden plan is similar to what I saw in your pictures, and with the modifications he recommended, I think it will work out. Its a lot better than any of the ideas I've been thinking about.

As always, Thank You.

Buck

[kath]

Let us know how it works for you - pics would be nice!

[Buck7762]

You can count on it.

[b54red]

Kath very nice productive tomato patch. I'm with you on the GWR except for one mystery plant that came in my pepper seed last season.

You might want to try using a trellis of metal conduit. It is much sturdier than wire and easy to tie to. It is also very adaptable to whatever type of planting you decide to use. Biggest problem with it is it takes some time to put it together. I've tried just about every common support system and find it the easiest in the long run and it is so much easier to store for next years use.

[kath]

Originally Posted by b54red

You might want to try using a trellis of metal conduit. It is much sturdier than wire and easy to tie to. It is also very adaptable to whatever type of planting you decide to use. Biggest problem with it is it takes some time to put it together. I've tried just about every common support system and find it the easiest in the long run and it is so much easier to store for next years use.

Thanks for the suggestion; I've seen the thread(s) about it and think it would work well for me, but I keep thinking I'll try something more permanent when I can finally pare down the number of plants to a more reasonable one...you know, NEXT year! Since it looks like at least 100 plants next season, I'm probably just going to use the materials I already have and supplement with wooden stakes which we get for free.

[FILMNET]

I had a few 8' 4/4s wooden posts, we cut them to 4pieces -2/2s each very strong after cutting. Each plant was tied to 1 post which was 12" into the ground. the plant was tied up for 30 days, only 1 branch until maybe 30" high, i had Florida weave string also tied to the left post and right post every 12 inches.Total was 15 feet with 3 plants in the middle, all had a posts also, as the first flowers came ou,t the plants were maybe 4 ft high. I tied up the first fruits to the post with the string, then let the plant branches go to 2 or 3 to 5' or 6' these were tied only on the string, and then i let them go wider.
I had huge fruit on the bottoms late July, then in the middle late August, and last on the tops which were wide in September,then each plant was tied to each other near the top. I tied all plants to the Florida string which was strong because they were around each post. Worked great, all fruit had light, easy to see, when i had late fruit like Brandywines huge fruit very late 2-3 huge fruit i just put each branch over to the next plants to hold it .I did this for a square garden, left 1 side open towards the sun. so sun was in the center all day, put Herbs in pots on the ground , did not touch them, they grew out of there bottoms into the ground. I did cut alot of branches all year, if no flowers for fruit on a branch i cut it off.If you want to see pictures look at other post from me.

[franzb69]

good luck kath =D

[kath]

Thanks for the details, Filmnet; glad your system stayed upright. Remember you were concerned midseason about the weight of the fruit and the closeness between plants.
Overall, I was pleased with how the plants fared; the weak links with my setup were the end posts not being sturdy enough to support 40' rows containing up to ~ 20 plants, some of the wooden stakes were less than 2"X2"; I stopped pruning the plants to 1-3 vines mid-season.
I'm shooting for one more year of craziness as far as the # of different varieties and then cutting back to 50 or so plants with a more sturdy and permanent support system...hmmm, seems like that was supposed to happen this coming year.

Thanks for the good wishes, franzb69; hoping you have a wonderful garden season also.

[tam91]

I used the florida weave, I bought the strong T-posts for the end posts, but just used wood in the middle of the rows. Actually, I had old ferring (sp?) strips, and just put 2 in together, in a T pattern - they aren't that strong singly, but in the t-shape it worked. The end posts took most of the load, but the cost was cut considerably by using the cheap wood in the middle.

My garden's all cleaned up, was a while ago - but I STILL have a bowl of tomatoes on the counter. They're holding up really well, I am amazed. Another salad tonight...

[kath]

Originally Posted by tam91

I used the florida weave, I bought the strong T-posts for the end posts, but just used wood in the middle of the rows. Actually, I had old ferring (sp?) strips, and just put 2 in together, in a T pattern - they aren't that strong singly, but in the t-shape it worked. The end posts took most of the load, but the cost was cut considerably by using the cheap wood in the middle.

My garden's all cleaned up, was a while ago - but I STILL have a bowl of tomatoes on the counter. They're holding up really well, I am amazed. Another salad tonight...

Are your T-posts the permanent variety? I agree that the end posts are key in this kind of system. Did you prune at all or allow the plants to grow without limit? What did you use to wrap/support the plants?

Put the main part of my garden to bed this week and got the pea rows ready for seed. It is very nice to still have tomatoes to eat every day and I find I am enjoying immensely even the ones that I didn't care for during the height of the season when I could be choosey! The ones we're eating now had no blush on them when they were picked weeks ago, but the taste is still much better than store bought. It's interesting to see which ones are holding up and ripening better than others- something to consider when deciding which varieties will be planted again sometime in the future.