Tomatoes and cattle panels
cdgtxs
15 years ago
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anney
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agocdgtxs
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Wire Fencing/Cattle Panels in cary/Durham NC
Comments (6)i'd try calling up agrisupply. not sure if there's one out your way, but there's one in garner. also try southern states. for beans i often will construct a trellis of 3 bamboo poles teepee style, which you could put probably 6 plants around. if you watch for abandoned homesites with boo and then look up the tax records and contact the owner you can probably get permission to harvest some. then you just run twine in a spiral up the boo and the beans grab onto it. also, there is a nylon netting product sold that has about 4-6" holes in it and is very durable. i have it on 2 permanent trellises and it's been going for several years. i got mine through pinetree gardens, but i think i've seen it at logan's. you'd have to fasten it to something, but it's much easier on the hands than wire. you can build with the boo and attach it to that or to anything, really. only downside is it tangles easily when you're installing or taking it down. it gets mildewed after a season, so it isn't glaring white after a bit (a good thing)....See MoreTomatoes Tomatoes Tomatoes
Comments (21)Hi everyone... I am late checking in today...busy day in the garden, (again). Tis the season! I've been reading through the posts here, absorbing as much info as I can, and in one sitting, that's a lot to take in. Sooo much good advice, and I must say, it's really helpful. Dawn, backing up a bit, I had to laugh about that neighbor of yours, she reminded me of that British woman who played the part of the overbearing wife with the hen pecked husband in the comedy show on OETA, "Keeping up Appearances". I'll bet anything when that lady's husband told her what Dawn said about the tomatoes, she went and ripped them out either in embarressment or anger/or both. Well, I did check out the tomatoe forum, and found a few good tips. One of the problems with that forum, you already gave me a head's up on. For a less experienced gardener, (as self here)one would have to discern what was good advice, and what was not. Still, it was interesting browsing and looking at some of the pics. One of the ideas you gave me was that I have double windows on the front of my house, which faces west. I have just made a rustic trellis and lashed it together. I think it looks pretty cool. This is replacing the one that just wore out after several years. Anyways, I usually grow Purple Hyacinth vines on that trellis, to block that sun and shade those windows,.... and I have some started this year as well. I thought since the Black Cherry tomatoes grow so "viney" and tall, I might plant one or two right in the middle, bordered on each side by the Hyacinth vines. I would never have the space to winter store a bunch of tomatoe cages for as many tomatoes as I'm growing this year, so I generally use fence trellis's for good or bad, they seem to work okay for me. And yes, I like the idea of letting the vines "flop" over. It used to bother me when they'd start doing that, but now I'll just let em do their thing and not worry about it. About cutworm protection. My dad used to put a 16 penny nail just at the edge of each newly planted tomatoe. It must have worked for him. I don't know if other folks do that or not. Jay, your gardening techniques seem really well adapted to your climate out there. It must get pretty challenging at times. There are times when I wish for "few trees", since as I've said before on this forum, my neighbors humongous tree's have roots that sneak over in my garden area because they know there is water and food over here. If I didn't have good sandy loam I'd be done for. I ran into some of those feeder roots today when I was out there digging holes for the fall tomatoes I'll soon be planting. I put extra homemade compost in each hole to at least make sure they get a good start. No "sprawling" for my tomatoes. For several reasons, space, rot,.......and snakes. Ill be growing Old Time Tennesse and Evan's Sweet muskmelons and Blacktail Mountain watermelons on some cattle panels that I have. I have to grow vertically wherever I can, to save space, and I think it looks neater, and keeps you from having to bend over so much. It might discourage pests, I don't know. I have found that snakes like to hang out, (literally) on any kind of vines tho. Weather or not, your still pretty blessed up and over there. I grew some beautiful tomatoes in Wyoming, but we only had three months time to do it in. There is no such thing as spring and fall gardening in Wyoming. I've known it to have an 8 ft snowfall in May, and early snow in August. Sure feels good to be back in Okie again :) All in all, what we are able to grow without being spoon fed genetically modified stuff on the market, makes all the labor intensive work and challenges well worth the effort we put into our gardens. It really does have to be a labor of love, and one has to love doing it. And we do. Shekanahh...See MoreIndeterminate Tomato Trellises
Comments (16)Sorry that I'm late to the game, but I use a drop-line technique using a 8' 1"x1" horizontal post support be two "A" frames on either end. Then from the horizontal post, I drop lines down every 18" (purchase clothes hanging type synthetic cord which has good weather resistance from Home Depot). The bottom of each line is tied loosely to the base of the plant and the tomatoes are manually wound up the line every week or so. This allows me to get a lot of varieties in a small space with a lot of good circulation (which helps to abate fungus/mildew). The link below will provide you with a pic I drew of my drop-line technique. Like many I started with the store bought tomato cages and after seeing them topple over more than once decided to try out different support systems. The drop-line technique works well for your heavy thick beefsteak indeterminants. For the cherry indeterminants, rather than hanging line, your could attach some garden netting to the horizontal bar. You can keep extending your support by adding a new horizontal bar and an additional A frame (I usually make 16' supports with an A frame on either side and in the middle. In terms of cost, for the wood you're looking at about $15-$20 and 100' of line would be another $6-10. Basically you'd have a good 16' of support for around $30 which can be used each season (I leave my framing up and only remove my lines during the winter time). With drop-line techniques it's important to prune as this technique primarily supports the main trunk and nothing else (I typically get rid of the suckers and grow only 3 to 4 stems per plant).. You can support additional stems by purchasing some garden twine or tomato clips. smithmal Here is a link that might be useful: This post was edited by smithmal on Fri, Jan 17, 14 at 15:06...See MoreWho uses hog/cattle panels for Tomato Trellis? Need some advice
Comments (8)So you used the flat concrete wire grids (about 10 gauge if it's the kind I just saw at Home Depot) but you didn't find it worth it? What were the hassles or drawbacks you had working with this method? I've been drawn to this method (using even huskier and galvanized livestock panels) because it appears quite strong and would offer support higher than almost all cages on the market. It also looks like they'd lay down and store pretty much flat. I'd be using this method for 2 or 3 rows of 10 plants each. Last year was a hassle with constant restating, tieing, getting there too late and finding broken branches, then finding cages collapsed under the weight....See Moreanney
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