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market-farming - Re: staking tomatoes

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  • From: "William McKay" <bmckay55 AT hotmail.com>
  • To: market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: staking tomatoes
  • Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2001 18:04:39


A couple of additions to this. If the tomatoes are very vigorous determinates, it might be a good idea to put a stake between every tomato rather than every other row. Unless you are organic, you can buy treated 4 foot stakes very cheaply (@ .25 in pallet quantity); if organic, you need to buy untreated stakes which are more expensive and will not last as long. Also, at the ends of each row, it is a good idea to drive in a metal stake (perhaps a four footer) in at an angle and start the tie from that. Instead of the pvc stick, you can use a round stick about two feet long with a couple of eyelets screwed into it, one at the end, the second about 10-12" up. Run your twine through those, tie the end of the twine to your metal stake, and begin to go at it.

You normally need at least three ties, sometimes four. I have seen this technique used with indeterminates, but I personally think it is a bit iffy. This also works very well with eggplants, keeping them upright and the fruit from contact with the ground. Peppers have already been mentioned.

Bill McKay in E. Massachusetts
http://members.nbci.com/seeds_from_italy/main.htm Importer and seller of Italian vegetable seeds from Franchi Sementi spa, Bergamo, Italy

You start by spacing tomato plants 18-24" appart in the row then put a steak
between every second plant, twine comes in 4 pound boxes that clip to your belt,
the pvc stick is a 12"-20" piece of 1/2" pvc pipe used as an extension of your
arm and as a tool to weave the twine around the stakes, the twine comes out of
the box thru your pvc pipe and is tied to the end row stake then you walk down
the row reeling out twine and looping it around each stake until you come to the
end of the row then walk up the other side doing the same until you get back to
the start, the plants stand suspended between the twine, you dont ever tie the
plants just the stakes and as the plants get taller you go around again up to
four times on determinate plants...
Sunny Meadow Farm
Bridgeton, NJ.


You start by spacing tomato plants 18-24" appart in the row then put a steak
between every second plant, twine comes in 4 pound boxes that clip to your belt,
the pvc stick is a 12"-20" piece of 1/2" pvc pipe used as an extension of your
arm and as a tool to weave the twine around the stakes, the twine comes out of
the box thru your pvc pipe and is tied to the end row stake then you walk down
the row reeling out twine and looping it around each stake until you come to the
end of the row then walk up the other side doing the same until you get back to
the start, the plants stand suspended between the twine, you dont ever tie the
plants just the stakes and as the plants get taller you go around again up to
four times on determinate plants...
Sunny Meadow Farm
Bridgeton, NJ.



You start by spacing tomato plants 18-24" appart in the row then put a steak
between every second plant, twine comes in 4 pound boxes that clip to your belt,
the pvc stick is a 12"-20" piece of 1/2" pvc pipe used as an extension of
your
arm and as a tool to weave the twine around the stakes, the twine comes out of
the box thru your pvc pipe and is tied to the end row stake then you walk down
the row reeling out twine and looping it around each stake until you come to the
end of the row then walk up the other side doing the same until you get back to
the start, the plants stand suspended between the twine, you dont ever tie the
plants just the stakes and as the plants get taller you go around again up to
four times on determinate plants...
Sunny Meadow Farm
Bridgeton, NJ.


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