tomato clip wire

[wally mcgee]

Last year I purchased some nylon based twine from a well known seed/garden online store that was advertised for use with the clips.

I kept going out to my hoop house , mid summer, to find the twine had broken and the 7' plants on the ground. I think the sun was dry rotting it.

Anyway, this year I am just using plain old nylon twine bought at Ace hardware. So far so good, but not ideal.

Where, do you get the wire used for this purpose? And what kind is it?

[luigiwu]

I recently watch a youtube clip from LDSPrepper about stringing up tomatos. He recommend poly baler twine and had a link at the bottom of that video for it.

[cythaenopsis]

I bought some plastic lashing tape at Home Depot. I can't remember the exact name of it, but it's like a kind of tape without the adhesive. I bought a 150' reel of it and used it to secure my tomato stakes together. It was located on hang tag wires in the section with the metal and bamboo stakes.

The plastic is a soft yet strong material so you can use it to lash plants to stakes without any hard uncomfortable surfaces rubbing against them. The other thing is that the tape is flexible and you can untie it if need be to re-use or re-position (instead of snipping and adding more).

Here's a photo of it in use:



Not only is it helping to keep the stakes together but I've also been using it to lash the plant to the central stake at various points. Before I was using twist ties and they eventually dig into the stem flesh as it widens.

[wally mcgee]

Originally Posted by cythaenopsis

I bought some plastic lashing tape at Home Depot. I can't remember the exact name of it, but it's like a kind of tape without the adhesive. I bought a 150' reel of it and used it to secure my tomato stakes together. It was located on hang tag wires in the section with the metal and bamboo stakes.

The plastic is a soft yet strong material so you can use it to lash plants to stakes without any hard uncomfortable surfaces rubbing against them. The other thing is that the tape is flexible and you can untie it if need be to re-use or re-position (instead of snipping and adding more).

Here's a photo of it in use:



Not only is it helping to keep the stakes together but I've also been using it to lash the plant to the central stake at various points. Before I was using twist ties and they eventually dig into the stem flesh as it widens.

That looks like a really good idea. My wife would love the lash for her patio plants.

[cythaenopsis]

^ Yeah, it's great stuff and not too expensive either. I think the 150' reel was just under $4. They have them in a couple different widths as well.

[JamesL]

The green tape is great stuff. Used it more than once to wrap up broken branches and it also works well to support branches with heavy fruitset.

[Doug9345]

I second the baler twine recommendation. I have bales that have set on the ground for a year and the twine is still good. It's stong enough that two loops of it will hold a 40 lb bale together as it gets launched over a hay wagon. 9000' of it is around $30, so it's cheap.

[aclum]

Wally,

I'm not sure if I was looking at the right video or not, but I think what most people use for vertical trellising is some type of twine, rather than a wire.

I've used a couple of types of nylon twine for string trellising, both winding the twine around the stem for support as it grows and using the tomato clips from Johnny's. I've used Johnny's twine as well as DeWitt Poly Twine (with a tensile strength of 110#s). Both types have broken on me!! Right now, the DeWitt Poly Twine is starting to break when I try to wrap the twine around the stem or use the clips for support. It's becoming a bit AGGRAVATING!!!

I think about 6 of the stings (out of 58) have broken so far. The plants ARE pretty heavy and loaded with fruit, but nothing really out of the ordinary - esp. compared to photos of greenhouse tomatoes. I guess for the time being, I'll harvest more often, prune some more (hornworms are helping in this regard, unfortunately), and just add new twine as needed.

However, I'm obviously looking for a better twining material for next season. Most greenhouse growers seem to use some sort of baling twine, but I'm still sort of at a loss on what exactly I should get. I'm looking for something strong, but thin enough to use with the tomato trellising clips from Johnny's, and supple enough to wrap around the stem. Can anyone give me some brand name recommendations (a web page link for purchase would also be great).

Thanks!
Anne

[wally mcgee]

Originally Posted by aclum

Wally,

I'm not sure if I was looking at the right video or not, but I think what most people use for vertical trellising is some type of twine, rather than a wire.

I've used a couple of types of nylon twine for string trellising, both winding the twine around the stem for support as it grows and using the tomato clips from Johnny's. I've used Johnny's twine as well as DeWitt Poly Twine (with a tensile strength of 110#s). Both types have broken on me!! Right now, the DeWitt Poly Twine is starting to break when I try to wrap the twine around the stem or use the clips for support. It's becoming a bit AGGRAVATING!!!

I think about 6 of the stings (out of 58) have broken so far. The plants ARE pretty heavy and loaded with fruit, but nothing really out of the ordinary - esp. compared to photos of greenhouse tomatoes. I guess for the time being, I'll harvest more often, prune some more (hornworms are helping in this regard, unfortunately), and just add new twine as needed.

However, I'm obviously looking for a better twining material for next season. Most greenhouse growers seem to use some sort of baling twine, but I'm still sort of at a loss on what exactly I should get. I'm looking for something strong, but thin enough to use with the tomato trellising clips from Johnny's, and supple enough to wrap around the stem. Can anyone give me some brand name recommendations (a web page link for purchase would also be great).

Thanks!
Anne

I just bought this bailer twine tonight. I found it at a Family Center; used to be a Farm & Home. 9000' for $29. Notice the tomato clip I tried on the end. I think this is what I've been looking for.

Thanks to everyone for all your help

[aclum]

Hi Wally,

Thanks for posting that!

Anne

[Doug9345]

Tractor Supply lists it in their Atwater, Ca store for $34.
http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/stor...ne-130-lb-knot

Edited to add.

There are different brands and I'm sure some farms swear by certain brand and some swear at certain brands. I've never done enough baling to be able to compare them. Much of the likes and dislikes will have to do with how a certain brand works in a particular baler which has nothing to do with what you are using it for. It the past I've talked farmers out of partial rolls of the old sisal twine as it picked up moisture during the winter and wouldn't feed through the knotters right come spring.

[wally mcgee]

I have been replacing all the nylon string holding my tomatoes with the bailers twine. It works great with the tomato clips. The pic is a posted elsewhere but it shows the twine and the clip.