tomatoes on livestock panel trellis

[hangin'witthepeeps]

nachoqtpie

That is a bean tee pee in the center, but the t-post 2x4 tomato support is in the left of my picture.

8 tomato plants will do well in a 4x8 bed. Any more will just cut your plant production. There needs to be circulation and it's hard picking the tomatoes in a crowded bed.

 

[journey11]

Oh, that's neat, hangin'witthepeeps. With the screws in them, those suckers aren't going anywhere! The bamboo was good for cukes and beans, but tomatoes just get too heavy (to use bamboo as stakes.)

T-posts are nice because they set very sturdy in the ground. I was thinking of doing a single row...

T T
T b b b b b b b b b b T
T T
T b b b b b b b b b b T
T T

...something like that. Then weaving/tying the tomato vines to it as they grow. I've seen several place where people did something like yours, a grid usually, over square-foot gardens, then just let the tomatoes grow right up through them! I'm doing traditional garden rows with my tomatoes in the big garden...I'm going to try to restrict myself to maybe 30 tomato plants this year.

Even with the cattle panels though, you need something like a T-post to mount them to, to hold up their weight. T-posts aren't too expensive. I was able to get mine (for my chicken fencing) for under $4 each last year when TSC had them on sale. I'm sure, like everything else, they'll cost more this year.

I tell ya what though, one way or the other, I'm done with stakes. I'd end up spending at least $40 just on those, hubby complains the whole way through pounding them in the ground (and I can't do it myself very well) AND they don't last more than one or two seasons. If you have more than maybe a dozen tomato plants, stakes just aren't worth it! I like stuff I can use, year after year.

 

[wsmoak]

I didn't even like four tomato plants across one side of a 4x8 bed last year -- they got too big and there wasn't enough air flow. I wouldn't do more than four or five unless you are going to keep them trimmed to a reasonable size.

I tend to keep up with mine at the beginning, but then they get away from me.

No, such a setup is certainly not required, but tomatoes do need some kind of support or they'll sprawl and break. (Except for the well behaved bush types like Patio.)

I started tomatoes from seed this year, and had extremely good germination rates *and* they all lived, so with 35+ tomato plants I had to do *something*.

Just look around and see what you have. A whole row of mine are in wire cages that were left her by the previous owner. Another row of Jubilee are still naked, not even staked, because I haven't had time to deal with them past getting them out of the 9-pack they were outgrowing. I think they're going to get a section of old field fence rather than the fancy cattle panel.

Quite a lot of the garden is just going to have to fend for itself this year, I thought I was going to have more free time and then work got busy again!

-Wendy

 

[nachoqtpie]

Hmmm... so... with that many tomatoes, we might need to do 2 beds then?

We're still trying to fine tune our garden layout.

I might be seriously trying to put in too many tomato plants tho. *sigh* We all like tomatoes, and I want to be able to can and freeze some, as well as make some pasta sauce and whatnot. We want to try and supplement our grocery bill as well.

(Sorry that I hijacked your thread!)

 

[vfem]

Ah yes, tomatoes need great air circulation... with the humidity in the south they are prone to blight. So I give 12" or 18" between each tomato now. I also live by... MULCH MULCH MULCH!

I just use tomato cages now I made, and then stake those with bamboo I got from the side of the road. Bamboo tee-pees are GREAT for beans!

 

[nachoqtpie]

okay... so if I do them in a 4x8 bed and planted close to the edges I could possibly fit in 2 rows? Or should I not plant close to the edges? Do you think 2 beds would be too many? I'm sure that we will be giving some of the bounty away to neighbors and friends, but, at the same time, I don't want any to go to waste, yano?

 

[SweetMissDaisy]

I don't think two beds of tomatoes is too many ... I was only planning on doing 1 4x8 bed, and ended up changing things around during planting time so I could get 2 4x8 beds. And now I want MORE! I LOVE love LOVE homegrown tomatoes, and they're such a nice thing to give away if you get too many for yourself, and aren't canning. In addition, the scent from a tomato leaf is one of my favorite smells in the garden, so I would plant more of them just so I could touch them!

I have 7 tomato plants (was 8, one didn't make it through a storm) in 1 of my 4x8 beds, and 9 in the other 4x8 bed. I think the bed with 9 are planted too close though, because I also have 14-16 inches or so at one end dedicated to onions.

Now, I wish I'd planted them farther apart, like in the first bed. But the plants were so LITTLE when I planted them, and I think that's why I made the mistake of planting them too close. I got greedy with the last bit of prepared planting space I had!!

This is the bed w/ 9 plants, and at the end of the bed just off the bottom of the photo are the onions. These are heirloom plants, and I've never grown them before, so I don't really know how big they're going to get. I may have to keep them in check w/ trimming when they get larger.

In the bed w/ 7 tomatoes, and 1 zucchini (planted where the #8 tomato plant was snapped off in a storm), I like the spacing of the plants SO FAR ... but they're still young!!

 

[nachoqtpie]

So... I could feasibly do 4 on each side of my beds then? I don't want to crowd them too much and have a complete failure! LOL

I'm not even quite sure what KIND of tomatoes these are either! My daughter and hubs went to a health fair at her school and at one station they taught them about composting, and about raising veggies and they let the kids plant some seeds in a little dixie cup. We kept 15 of the ones that sprouted, but I don't know if 2 of those are going to make it. They don't seem able to support themselves and they're not very big. They keep growing tho, so I keep letting them grow! LOL

 

[thistlebloom]

Not to get off topic, but I noticed some of you mentioned the cost of t-posts and cattle panels.
You can find a lot of used t-posts on our Craigslist, but very rarely do you see the panels.

One alternative that is less expensive, at least here, is the concrete re-wire. You can buy it in panels that I think are 7 feet long, instead of buying a whole roll of it. Also a lot easier to get home than the panels.

You might also post a "wanted" ad on CL for the cattle panels, you never know what somebody may have laying around that they haven't thought of selling but would appreciate the cash from.

 

[ninnymary]

I agree with thistlebloom. This year I'm using the concrete reinforcement panels. I decide to leave them flat instead of making them into cages like some of you do. We framed them with steel pipe that is tied on with wire.

I am weaving the tomatoe plants in and out and also tying them. So far I am loving it! If they don't work out, I can easily remove the pipe and turn them into cages.

Mary