Stringing Up Tomatoes: A Review of the Technique
Published by Hanna | Filed Under: In the Garden
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This 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 for me.
Does it say enough that I will be building the stringing frames over all of m beds next year?
I really can not say enough about them. The method worked great and I can see all sorts of possibilities that start with the tomatoes and run right through peas and beans and right smack dab into squash and cucumbers. I have never had such large plants. One of the tomato plants grew to the top of the line (close to 8′) and then kept growing . I believe the tomato vine reached close to height of 13′ tall if it could stand at attention. While it looked as though it was in need of viagra after it hit the top of the line, there is no denying that the tomatoes liked this kind of support.
One thing that I do need to add is that a single string per tomato is not enough. I ended up adding at least two more strings per tomato once the tomatoes got growing.
The other thing I am really looking forward to is the easy fall cleanup. Snip, pull, done. Quick and easy as a vasectomy.
It makes for a great addition to my small vegetable garden. Give me a little more room for planting, less trouble for storing which means I can be just a little lazier than usual this fall.
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Hanna
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September 24th, 2007
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September 24th, 2007 at 9:00 pm
hanna - thanks for taking the time to tell us about this tomato staking method. I have been thinking of how I’ll do my tomatoes next year and this really seals the deal for me. I ended up using 2 different kinds of metal store bought tomato supports this year and even the two of them together was not nearly good enough. I’d love to see a picture of how you placed your strings if you ever have the time to post one…
September 24th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
disregard the request for a picture. i was able to get the video to work…
September 24th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
Sounds like you had some very lusty plants this year, what with the references to viagra and vasectomies! I had a banner year for tomatoes, but used the old rusty cages out of sheer habit and a stubborn desire not to buy anything new. However, your string system is mighty tempting.
I did do some artistic structures for my climbing beans and peas, made out of last year’s stems from my fig shrubs that never give me ripe figs, but always lots of strong branches.
September 25th, 2007 at 9:29 am
I use string for pumpkins/melons, peas, beans and cucumbers. I’ll have to try it with tomatoes next year.
September 26th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
How do you do this with other plants like melons and pumpkins? Also, what did it look like later in the season?
September 26th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
I had a really great picture on my blog of my pie pumpkins hanging but I closed the blog so the photos aren’t there anymore. Basically I made a frame with 1×2’s (basically a open box). I had it around my 6×3 square foot bed. then I put in some nails and made a grid with the string. Planted the pumpkins on the outisde 12 squares and let them grow. They went up the strings and all over the frames. The pumpkins were the small sugar pie pumpkins and the mini jack be littles. They were small enough that I didn’t need to support them with panty hose.
I don’t think it would work for bigger pumpkins but, small ones and small melons work fine.
September 28th, 2007 at 11:34 am
LOVED your site! I am an avid gardener myself and have tried the string technique… works great, but yes, you have to watch the direction of all them little shoots. Thanks for such a delightful read -you’ve really put your heart into this site, and it shines.
September 29th, 2007 at 9:08 am
I use cages and place bamboo stakes in the ground at the same angle as the cages. I then tie string around them at several levels making the cages taller. This works fine for ‘Roma’, ‘Sweet 1000’s’, or ‘Big Boy’. These are what I grow in my limited space.
September 30th, 2007 at 1:23 am
Ohhh I like this idea. This will be a good thing next year when we try to grow more tomatoes
To jen with the cucumbers, do the cucumbers actually grow up the line or does the weight make the whole vine collapse down the twine? We’d love to grow them, just don’t want them all over the ground as they grow.
October 1st, 2007 at 7:29 am
Hi – this is an invitation to join the Garden Bloggers Retro carnival. I don’t know if you’ve ever come across the concept of a Blog carnival – if not I’ve explained it in detail on my site today (Oct 1). But basically the idea is to revive an old post which you think is worth rereading, or which you think new readers might enjoy. Send me the link to the post, and in November I’ll publish a series of posts describing and linking to all the posts people have nominated.
I hope you’ll join in and we have a fun carnival!
Sue
October 2nd, 2007 at 10:06 am
Hey there, nice informative vid about stringin maters. I do my pole beans using that method. However, I used cages for my tomatoes for the first time this year. I’m not talkin about those little flimsy ones you buy at Wally World either. I’m talkin about heavy duty construction grade wire cages that will last a lifetime. I made mine from a leftover roll of concrete reinforcement wire fencing.
^ Hey Sue ^ that’s a good idee. ;~)
October 3rd, 2007 at 7:30 am
Not sure how Mr. Hanna would feel about the vasectomy allusion, since I fondly recall the video showing him pounding stakes into the ground with the blunt end of an ax. Youch!!
If you plan to do this again next year, maybe you should but him a sledge for Christmas.
Happy garden clean-up! Which reminds me, I have to move my lavender before it gets turned under because SOMEONE doesn’t pay attention when he’s using garden machinery. Ahem. Speaking of vasectomies.
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:54 pm
LOVE your blog! I am too in the NE Ohio area and have a small yard. Would love to watch the video again on stringing tomatoes (and getting the hubby to do the hard work
), but can’t get it to work. Is it available anywhere else? Thanks
October 10th, 2007 at 10:04 am
This is a cool idea … I think I’ll try it next year. My tomato vines flopped all over and didn’t like the bamboo trellis things which were supposed to work.
October 18th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
I loved the how-to video! As the plants grew I imagine that the stems stayed nice and taut and well-supported, but how did you keep the branches full of tomatoes from drooping or snapping off? Do you happen to have a picture of the tomatoes later in the season?
I’m hopeful about trying this method next year–I just spent a couple hours cleaning up the garden and wrangling with tomato cages, and I think I need a tetanus shot now. Your strung-up tomatoes look much less likely to scratch the hell out of my forearms.