I haven't done that but today I wrapped a row of bush beans with a sort of Florida weave to get them off the ground. When the plants slumped over, the pods close to the ground were chewed by some sort of critter. These beans are for shellies and dry beans, so they aren't ready to pick. I want tp be sure I get my share. The good news is that I took 'before' and 'after' pictures. The bad news is that one of the pics is severely out of focus. That's right, it is the 'before' pic. Arggh! Jim

Definitely put spaces in your 200' rows. I tried it a few years ago, and now none of any of my rows are longer than 75 feet. When picking, you really need a resting/stopping spot. Not only for physically, but mentally. I make my "plots" less than 75 feet wide and then I put a "drive" area of about 15 feet, then another plot. That way we can bring a vehicle or wagon pulled by tractor/lawn or regular down the drive and pick up the baskets of produce. We have 4 adults that start picking, each in a different row. We have 2 children ages 4 & 7 that run boxes. We use 25# tomato boxes to pick into. Whoever is tired and to the end of row, goes and gets vehicle with wagon and picks up boxes of produce and drives around to next "break" in row, then starts picking again. This year the 7 yr old, might use his 4 wheeler with wagon for box running and produce pick up, haven't decided yet since it's not time to pick anything yet.

If I had a large field to do I'd make a tool. But I only have several 50ft rows. I just use my hands. The idea is to keep the string tight as you do it. I dont see how the tool in the Johnny's video would do a good job of pulling the line tight as it comes of the spool. Be sure to wear a glove if using your hand. The string will cut/burn your hand. In these pictures they do not appear to show that as you pull the string down the row you want to loop it around the stake and pull it tight, then move the next stake and do that again. Once at the end start back down the other side and do the same. This is when the tool comes in handy, pulling that string tight after you loop it around the stake. After a few weeks of adding strings, drive new stakes (light green) into the bases of existing stakes at the end of the rows which will help pull the strings tighter.

The plants will tend to rub and get some scarring from the twine. It's not something you should set out to do but the plant should normally heal. So a little rubbing damage could happen but it is usually not something to worry about - especially in smaller gardens. It is important to holding the plant up to keep the line taut. When using wooden stakes this is even more important and they tend to "give" and the twine loosen over time (see below for a "fix" to that problem). As far as twine, it's best not to use something too thin. I cannot really tell if this is the case from your picture. Thin line can enough to break a stem. But probably the most important thing is that it is strong enough to hold the weight and can weather well throughout the season. Cotton or jute can rot/dry out/UV damage before the season is over. If that happens the plants could fall over and you'll have a mess that is hard to fix. Wet mature plants loaded with fruit in a windy thunderstorm are very heavy and can snap in the right cross wind if the line is not strong enough (another reason to try to use metal post instead of PVC or wood). I use poly baling twine. It is thicker than what it appears you have used. One doesn't have to get the slightly more expensive UV stable kind. The regular kind will last through a season. Some hardware stores sell poly twine that is thinner than baling twine. It can break and if you have a lot of stringing to do it can tend to cut into your hands. Now how you have chosen to weave it is fine. I think you have tended to create more work for yourself than necessary. The highlighted area I think is unnecessary. I tried to draw out the 2 ways I know of that are most often used when stringing. Here is an extension photo showing the easier method of weaving Better drawn view from The Garden Betty's blog I use the method in the center of the first picture and directly above. I learned this back in the early 90's and always knew this as the "Florida Method" and the more figure 8 way as the "Missouri Method". I am from Missouri but learned all this back east. The joking thought in my head at the time was "some Ozark hillbilly had to complicate it". Now I see in garden and extension publications the terms reversed. I suspect some person reversed the terms and it became gospel among writers (things like this happen often in extension). Maybe I learned it wrong in North Carolina! There really isn't much difference. The figure 8 method keeps the two vines in between the stakes separate better but I think its a pain to do if one has lots of stringing. I find it easier to keep the line taut when stringing with the easier method. Here are maintenance suggestions for the staking process that may or may not need to be done. These suggestions are more important for wooden stakes. Since you are using T-posts most of this may not be necessary. If you drove the T-posts deep enough the string should stay tight. When stringing, pulling the higher level strings tight tends to pull back on the stakes and loosen lower strings (another reason for keeping taut and even tension as one weaves). So if you need to pull T-posts tighter, simply use some string/rope tied to the top of the posts at the end of the rows, pull tight and tie off to a short stake near the ground (like one would a tent post). One can or may need to add a taller wooden post to extend the height of a T-post for indeterminates in the manner show above in the maintenance picture for replacing a broken post. Since the T-post is what's in the ground one can just slip a wooden stake (furring strips work well) in between the strings without really needing to drive it in the ground (which could do some minor root damage). Then tie the wood stake and T-post together at the bottom and top for good support. Wait until a plant grows to that point to do so otherwise it can be somewhat difficult to weave the string earlier in the season if the row is long.