Support Options for Cherry Toms.

[lapk78]

Originally Posted by FarmerShawn

I use Hortonova trellis outside, hanging strings in the hoophouse. But I think if I had the 4X4 beds you describe, I'd build square cages from cattle panels.

Don't cattle panels have a pretty small grid size? Are they open enough to allow hands to easily enter for pruning or harvesting?

[imp]

Maybe you will be lucky and have some currants that behave better, I don't off hand recall the varieties I grew, just the colors, both red and a deep yellow . I do recall one would shatter, so would spread an old sheet under and around the plant stems and shake the bejesus out of it and get loads of the tiny cherries that way. They were very tasty.


Don't worry too much, everything is a learning curve and each garden is different, even year to year. That is part of the fun of it.

[FarmerShawn]

Originally Posted by lapk78

Don't cattle panels have a pretty small grid size? Are they open enough to allow hands to easily enter for pruning or harvesting?

I've never used them (too expensive at my scale), so I can't say for sure. But I sure have seen lots of suggestions for their use. Maybe they come in different scales?

[lapk78]

Is there any problem with using materials that will rust? I think I may have a solution...

[lapk78]

I think I may have settled on a solution:

I'm thinking about buying 6 of these 3.5'x7' remesh sheets per bed. Essentially turning the whole bed into 4 sub-cages that are 7 feet tall.

I'll have 4 going around the perimeter, and 2 crossing in the center. So there will be a square 3.5'x3.5', with a "+" inside, dividing the bed into four quadrants.

I'll either support these with t-posts or something similar, depending on what they have at Lowe's or Home Depot.

These are what I'm going to be buying. I'll end up buying 12 of them at roughly $10 a piece. Plus however much the t-posts cost. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Steel-Remes...-ft/1001121408 .

These will rust (will that cause a problem?), but should last years, right? Also, I will be able to disassemble them at the end of the growing season and store them flat (as opposed to round cages).

Does anybody have any input, suggestions, concerns, questions? This will cost me likely just over $200. Seems pricy, but I think it should last for multiple years.

[LK2016]

Farmer Shawn's suggestion sounds excellent. One of the other gardeners at the community plot I've used in the past did this, and it seemed to work very well.

If you can make your own from the concrete reinforcement wire, you can make whatever custom size you like. I do a variety of things to support tomatoes, including in the past just letting them sprawl (not recommended!). You can do the cones, inverted cones, reinforcing stakes route too.

But I found the best thing for me is to cage 'em.

I went with Burpee's Pro Series Cages and XL Pro Series Cages, and extenders. These are square foldable cages that are 14" and 18" square, respectively, with stakes on the bottom to easily seat them very sturdily in the ground. They are Expensive! But I've accumulated a bunch of them over the years, and use any gift cards I'm lucky enough to receive to buy them. Other companies make similar cages too.

The skinnier ones (Pro vs XL Pro) are fine for cherries, and with the Extenders they are 7' tall, and I just let the vines drape over. The bigger ones are great for big indeterminates. I totally love them - just put your plants in and set these over them, and you're good. You can easily reach in to prune, pick, spray, whatever. Worth their weight in gold.

You could put a 2nd Extender on if you want to go to 10' but I would worry about tipping at that point. Sungolds and Black Cherries still trail back down and onto the ground when they get going. Of course, Super Sweet 100 is a monster and uncontainable by anything a mere mortal can construct - I have used the big cages and then stakes all around the plant and string and ... I didn't even try growing it the last 2 years b/c my plants get about 6' wide and just keep growing up too. It's too much!

One year I had a triple line of plants, about 3' apart, and I didn't get the Extenders on in time, but the cages are so sturdy that the vines just all started stretching out over their neighbors' cages and I ended up with a tomato jungle, or rainforest canopy, and actually everything did fine.

[LK2016]

Originally Posted by lapk78

These will rust (will that cause a problem?), but should last years, right? Also, I will be able to disassemble them at the end of the growing season and store them flat (as opposed to round cages).

Does anybody have any input, suggestions, concerns, questions? This will cost me likely just over $200. Seems pricy, but I think it should last for multiple years.

I've looked at those many times, and just couldn't accept the amount of rust. It sounds doable, but for $200 you could get a bunch of the cages I described just above here, and they have the coating (like the coated rebar posts at Home Depot or Lowes) that protects them from rust. I've used them for 4-5 years now in NJ, leaving them outside all winter, and NO RUST so I expect they will last a lot longer than the rusty stuff.

[lapk78]

Originally Posted by FarmerShawn

I use Hortonova trellis outside, hanging strings in the hoophouse. But I think if I had the 4X4 beds you describe, I'd build square cages from cattle panels.

I do like the square cage idea using cattle panels. The fact that they're galvanized makes the price increase a bit more justified. Nearly $28 per panel. But considering they are 16 ft x 4 ft, I could cut them in half to make two 8'x4' panels. If I were to divide the bed into 4 quadrants 8' tall, that would require 3 cattle panels per bed... So 6 in total = $168 (plus I guess 8 t-posts)... Hmm...

How important is the non-rusting galvanized property of these in your opinion? I ask because others have suggested using concrete reinforcement wire. But I believe that would also rust. I also can't go with that idea because it would come rolled up and I would only be able to make cylindrical cages. I would be needing to store these (in my 2-car garage) after the growing season has finished, and they would not lay flat. But square cages could be disassembled and stored flat.

[lapk78]

Originally Posted by LK2016

I've looked at those many times, and just couldn't accept the amount of rust. It sounds doable, but for $200 you could get a bunch of the cages I described just above here, and they have the coating (like the coated rebar posts at Home Depot or Lowes) that protects them from rust. I've used them for 4-5 years now in NJ, leaving them outside all winter, and NO RUST so I expect they will last a lot longer than the rusty stuff.

Those definite are pricy... and I'd be needing 8 of them plus the extensions, so I'm think that's our of my reach.

See my most recent reply to Farmer Shawn and tell me what you think.

[imp]

I have something similar to this one at the link. Can't remember the company right now, but ordered from them direct, some where up in Wisconsin, I think, maybe the company was Glamos Wire? But mine also fold up for storage which is a great help.


https://www.amazon.com/MTB-Galvanize...6FDF27ZM1Q8HDA


Edit:


here is the company, Minnesota.
https://glamoswire.com/lawn-garden/p...pports/#square

[lapk78]

Originally Posted by imp

I have something similar to this one at the link. Can't remember the company right now, but ordered from them direct, some where up in Wisconsin, I think, maybe the company was Glamos Wire? But mine also fold up for storage which is a great help.


https://www.amazon.com/MTB-Galvanize...6FDF27ZM1Q8HDA

While those do seem nice, I question their effectiveness for large indeterminate tomatoes. It seems that a 12in square would get choked out very quickly with a few stems from a cherry tomato plant.

[imp]

The ones I have from Glamos directly do just fine even for my big indeterminate tomatoes .

[zeuspaul]

I would be concerned about access. I do something similar with my rows. I run two rows of t posts about two feet apart. I tried wider but that's too much. I tried closer and didn't like it. I tried a wire mesh similar to what you show and it is too restrictive.

I use rigid laterals 1 foot vertically spaced. Then I place a few supports resting on the outside laterals as necessary. This is similar to what FarmerShawn recommended but the laterals are rigid instead of string.

I use 3/4 inch galvanized electrical conduit fastened with twisted wire for the laterals. My spans are about 8 feet. I lay a piece of wood across for the in-betweens.

For a 3.5 foot span a piece of 4 foot lath would work.

I am not concerned about galvanized. I don't see a problem with rust as long as the metal has some thickness to it. Plastic ties would work for fastening to the t posts if they were only exposed to the sun for one season. I have a permanent setup.

Originally Posted by lapk78

I think I may have settled on a solution:

I'm thinking about buying 6 of these 3.5'x7' remesh sheets per bed. Essentially turning the whole bed into 4 sub-cages that are 7 feet tall.

I'll have 4 going around the perimeter, and 2 crossing in the center. So there will be a square 3.5'x3.5', with a "+" inside, dividing the bed into four quadrants.

I'll either support these with t-posts or something similar, depending on what they have at Lowe's or Home Depot.

These are what I'm going to be buying. I'll end up buying 12 of them at roughly $10 a piece. Plus however much the t-posts cost. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Steel-Remes...-ft/1001121408 .

These will rust (will that cause a problem?), but should last years, right? Also, I will be able to disassemble them at the end of the growing season and store them flat (as opposed to round cages).

Does anybody have any input, suggestions, concerns, questions? This will cost me likely just over $200. Seems pricy, but I think it should last for multiple years.

[lapk78]

Instead of t-posts, what do you guys think of using rebar? I do plan on taking down the cages at the end of the grouse season, so being able to remove the vertical supports would also be a plus. And I have a feeling removing t-post would be a difficult endeavor.

[imp]

I've used rebar before, not a problem. Removing posts use an old school type bumper jack makes it easy with a twist of chain or rope around the T post, just jack it up.