How to String Up Tomatoes in the Garden
Published by Hanna | Filed Under: How To
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Just call me Hang ‘Em High Hanna.This past weekend, I took my own advice (along with the advice of some other people) and set up a string support for my beloved tomatoes. And since I like to be on the bleeding edge of technology that everyone else is already doing, I put this how-to in video format.
Enjoy!
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Hanna
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May 16th, 2007
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September 24th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
[...] year I grew about half of my tomatoes up strings and now that the season is just about over, I have had several people ask me how the system worked [...]
December 22nd, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Wow, call me old fashioned but I still use the wire cages…It’s a great idea tho, thanks for the video I showed it to my family and we might actually try this ‘new’ method next year. Last summer we ended up with huge plants that went way over the cages and this system would definitly eliminate that problem. My only concern is that large plants would be so heavy they might snap the string, or having such a ridgid structure tied around the plants in a wind storm could cause them to break off at the base where the knot is tied.
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February 18th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
[...] Hannah from This Garden Is Illegal is using this method this year. In May, she posted a very nice (and entertaining) video about building the structure. You can find it HERE. [...]
March 24th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Hannah, that was the funniest thing I’ve watched in yrs! Thanks for the laugh! And thanks for a great idea!
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March 25th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
[...] lots of tomato plants growing up it!
I am using the ’string’ method as described here. Last year I used cages and the plants outgrew them about halfway through the season so I am [...]
May 27th, 2008 at 8:00 am
[...] those are live electric wires next to the tree (don’t try this at home unless you have a half crazy spousal unit and a quarter crazy father-in-law). Yes, that is my planted vegetable garden that the crown falls [...]
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Thanks. Now to inspire the spousal unit to do his part.
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July 4th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
[...] is a less extreme form of the stringing technique that Hanna at This Garden is Illegal demonstrated here in her blog. There may very well be some fruits lurking in that mass of foliage already, but these [...]
July 11th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Awesome video – finally some great information I could really use. I’ll be sure to consider this method next year. Thanks for the laughs…
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March 7th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Hanna, I am reading this many months later as a result of a tweet posted by Zanthan Gardens. I just want to say you did an excellent job of narration and pacing, as well as making it funny. Your spousal unit is a good sport, and I’m glad to know we’re not the only DIYers in flagrant violation of OSHA regs.
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June 8th, 2009 at 9:41 am
I used this method this year and am loving the results!
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May 24th, 2010 at 8:47 am
I have been string tomatoes for about 30 years and my system has evolved as follows:
1. Use 7 ft (above ground) 2 inch galvanized pipes with a 36 inch “T” welded or threaded to the top in order to make 2 rows. The posts are 3 feet deep and set in concrete. My T posts are set 60 feet apart.
2. Use high tensile wire with turnbuckles to keep the wires taut.
3. Make 12 to 18 inch hills below the wires as a planting bed.
4.Use a plant spacing of 30 to 36 inches
5. Immediately after planting the plants insert 16 inch ground anchors made of high tensile wire (with loop on top for tying the string). The ground anchor prevents strangling the plant as it grows.
6. Rather than training the plant around the string, I use string clips spaced about 1 foot apart to support the plant.
7. I prefer to remove ALL suckers and end up with one large trunk with the tomatoes hanging off in tags.
8. I have a large live oak tree in my yard which sheds its leaves in March (zone
and completely cover the bed with leaves. The leaves prevent soil packing, keeps down the grass and makes mulch for the future. Before adding the leaves I lay down a soaker hose for watering when needed.
9. Every fall and winter I pile and burn my leaves and pine straw on the bed to replenish the trace minerals consumed. every growing season.
This sounds work intensive but everything can be done in the late winter before it gets too hot.
I have narrowed my varieties down to Early girls (1st stage) and Better Boys (2nd stage)
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John Atwood Reply:
June 3rd, 2010 at 3:52 pm
I submitted this email on May 24 and wanted to make a few additions: My first planting is always Early Girls because they are a 50 to 55 day tomato variety. Since I started burning my fall winter leaves on the tomato bed, I have experienced no end-rot and use only a very small amount of fertilizer. I also take several foot long suckers and root them in water for 2 weeks prior to planting to keep my tomato crop going well into the fall (first frost).
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June 3rd, 2010 at 2:59 pm
Great post, very entertaining! Im trying this method for the first time this year.
Happy Growing!
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July 7th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Hey there! I’m trying out your method here in Georgia (zone 7) with some Better boy tomatoes. So far, so good! Although now, the tomatoes have begun reaching the top of the support structure that I’ve built for them.
From what I understand, topping tomatoes (or any plant for that case) will cause the plant to sprout all over the place, but since I’ve necessarily been training them up one main beam, I don’t know if this is such a wise idea.
So what do I do at this point? Do I go ahead and top them? Or do I just let them grow and grow and grow??
Aaaand, here’s some pictures: http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/3942341/2/Garden%20Photos/7-7-10?h=40c53a
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July 9th, 2010 at 8:11 am
I just let them grow up and over. I do find that they grow much taller with this method than in cages.
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Brent Reply:
July 9th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Alright I’ll give that a shot, thanks Hanna!
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