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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Staking tomatoes

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  • From: Lucy Goodman <goodows AT infinet.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Staking tomatoes
  • Date: Mon, 09 Feb 2004 07:24:51 -0500

I am in Ohio not Montana but I do early tomatoes and what I do is I use a hoophouse/High tunnel as Allan suggests. Set up the tunnel about 2 to 4 weeks before you want to set out your plants so the soils can warm up. put down black plastic and drip irrigation than after the soil is warm enough put in your transplants. If your nights are going below 32˚F use row cover on small #9 gauge wire hoops over the plants for extra protection. I also put 5 gallon buckets of water in the hoophouse as a heat sink.

The stakes have to go in before the plastic goes on the hoophouse unless your hoophouse is over 12' because normally there is not enough headroom to pound in the stakes. I use 7' fence stakes for support. Shorter stakes work well for determinant 'maters but for the heirloom indeterminants you need tall stakes.

The stakes do get in the way of using further protection for your tomatoes but row cover is pliable and I just work it around the stakes so it covers the plants. Once you get into tying the plants it gets much harder to use row cover for protection-the 7' widths are not wide enough to put over stakes and tomatoes and the metal stakes (especially older stakes with rust) tend to rip up row covers when you drape row covers over top. hopefully at this point for you it is getting warm enough that you won't need the extra protection. In Ohio by the time we start tying the early tomatoes the nigh temps rarely get below 40˚F so extra protection is not a big issue.


Lucy Goodman
Boulder Belt Organics
New Paris, OH
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http://www.boulderbelt.com
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