What did you do in the garden today?

[WthrLady]

After watching the garden dry out in the double digit winds over the weekend, for the last two days I have been watching the beginnings of the next global flood...pondering building an ark or starting tomatoes...

You an me BOTH!
~Eastern Nebraska~

 

[WthrLady]

That's how I've done mine for 8 years. As for how high.....mine got to 7 feet last year and it was a horrible producing plant (here). It's an indeterm. plant, so it will keep growing until the frost.

I bought some cheap metal tomato cages last year for my Bradley tomatoes. They were worthless. Not doing that again.... I saw on a gardening channel where someone used T-posts and wire to create their own trellis for a row of tomatoes. That's what I'm going to try.... I planted at least 3 yellow Brandywine tomatoes. How tall do they get? Lol.... This is my first year with Brandywine

 

[oldhen2345]

Please don't plant bee attracting flowers right around a mailbox. Yes it looks pretty, but it can be a problem for the mailmen or yourself.

The bees can get angry when the mailman get close to open the mailbox and will sting. One of the mailmen in our town is allergic to bee stings and ended up at the emergency room one summer when she got stung 3 times at a single mailbox. The town sent out letters asking residents to remove the flowers from around their mailbox. If you didn't, the mailman had the right to refuse to deliver your mail.

Oh Goodness. I didn’t think of that- will reconsider. Thanks

 

[BReeder!]

That's how I've done mine for 8 years. As for how high.....mine got to 7 feet last year and it was a horrible producing plant (here). It's an indeterm. plant, so it will keep growing until the frost.

7 ft. That's good to know. I have brandywines started here too. I'm planning on going 6ft with my tomato supports. I was considering the string method, but cattle panel would be nice... I would have to opt for the cheep concrete mesh instead of cattle panels though because they wanted a lot of money for panels when I checked last year. The cost is actually why I considered the string method. Now I'm not sure which way I'll go. I a month to figure it out though.

Btw, my tomatoes are growing really well. Most are on there second or third set of true leaves. They should fill out the 6" pots I have them all in nicely over the next 4 weeks, but not get root bound too much I hope.

 

[WthrLady]

Odd. We didn't have a price jump here on them. They were $24.00 for a 16 foot x 4 foot panel and still are. I use a 6.5 foot steel post on each end, 2.5ft into the ground and wired to the fence.

String method doesn't work here due to the constant high winds.

 

[Birdsonghill]

This is why I gave up on cages and just put up one long piece of cattle panel per row and tie to that. Then I can prune and SEE inside all the plants. I tie them up so they are grown to the panels almost like a grapevine.

I use cages made from concrete reinf. wire. They are heavy gauge and last up to 25 plus years. The openings are large enough for you to pick through, even two pound tomatoes. I use cattle panels for trellising often, I like your idea for the tomatoes, as well. I grow cucumbers, peas and other crops on the panels.

 

[BReeder!]

Odd. We didn't have a price jump here on them. They were $24.00 for a 16 foot x 4 foot panel and still are. I use a 6.5 foot steel post on each end, 2.5ft into the ground and wired to the fence.

String method doesn't work here due to the constant high winds.

Well, $24 each is about the price I seen last year. I find that cost prohibitive for my needs though. I need 4x 12ft panels. I could get 3x 16' (since that's how they come) and cut 4' off each to Frankenstein a fourth one. That's still $72+tax just in panels.
I just checked Homedepot.com and see that the remesh sheets are 7' and cost $7.50 each. I would need 8 of those, so round to $60+tax.
A spool of twine costs just a few dollars... although it is the most labor intensive approach.

 

[Sally PB]

I do need to reinforce my cages with some strong stakes to hold up the tomato plants. I'd do the cattle panel thing, but yeah, the cost.

 

[WthrLady]

I do need to reinforce my cages with some strong stakes to hold up the tomato plants. I'd do the cattle panel thing, but yeah, the cost.

I guess so many of us out here (or neighbors) have panels laying around from past projects, we just move them from one project to the next.
There's an idea, facebook marketplace or craigslist.

 

[Birdsonghill]

BTW , my Suddeth strain Brandywines got 12 feet tall last year, and my Comstocks got 9 feet tall. They grew out of the top of my 5 ft. tall cages and then grew to the ground and a few more feet. I grafted it to a Submarine root stock and got few tomatoes but lots of plant, The grafted Comstock bore lots of fruit. Ungrafted Brandywine grew about 7 ft. tall and had a normal amount of fruit, as did my Cherokee purple and other tomatoes, grafted and ungrafted. A grafted Tommy Toe tomato grew to 9 ft. and bore till frost (5 plus months, early july till in november) and made tons of the small tomatoes. 40 years ago I grew an Italian tomato plant over 30 feet long. It grew over the cage down and I trained it down the row where it continued to the end of the garden twenty five feet away, with tomatoes all along the vine till frost. Most indeterminate tomatoes grow to between 5 and 7 feet tall for me, but it is not unusual to see one a bit taller. I feed only organic, fish ,seaweed, compost. I started this years tomatoes a few days ago and most of them are up, 6 varieties this year, so far.