Rather then buy 30 tomato cages this year I am trying out a new trellis system that I read about in one of Jacob Mittleider’s books. There wasn’t a photo so I’m figuring this out as I go.
I built frames from 1″ x 1″s using my husband’s brad gun and chop saw (Hello power tools, where have you been all my life?)
I tied a length of twine very loosely around the base of the plant’s main stem and then looped it around the main stem several times and tied it to the top of the trellis.
I’m anxious to see if the twine is strong enough to support a branch loaded with fruit (I’m hoping), or if the twine will simply cut into the plant as the weight and tension increase.
I do plan to do some major trimming of the north south branches to improve air flow between the plants and I’ll post on that in a later episode. For now I’m still tackling the irrigation system. The T-tape and poly tubing are all in place but I’m still working out some painful details on the manifold system.
One little detail I had failed to plan for – T tape runs under 10 psi and my other lines can handle 40 psi. Do I regulate the system at 10 to the detriment of all my shrubblers? Or do I regulate it to 20 or 30 and risk blowing my T-tape? Or do I just redesign all the zones that I’ve already connected?
Tune in next week as the irrigation saga unfolds. Or as I go completely insane watering the front, back and side yards by hand while my children whine that I love the garden more then I love them and that they have wet or poopy diapers and are hungry.
I have seen similar tomato trellissing systems and they seemed to work really well. Never used a set up like this personally but definitely have seen it in use in other high production veggie gardens. I will be interested in seeing how this works for you going forward – please provide updates!
I love your trellis photos. We’re doing square foot gardening this year for the first time and are currently using stakes, but are dreaming up ideas similar to the trellis idea. I’m looking forward to seeing how these work for you.
Hi Dana,
Your garden is impressive! I need to thin the tomatoes and then post more pictures of them. So far it’s working out just fine but I have a feeling I haven’t thinned them anywhere near as much as I need to. It’s supposed to rain finally on Wed so I’d better get to it to improve the air flow!