Trial and error had resulted in a discovery I thought I would share with you. When I made my tomato trellises, I used 20 gauge wire hung vertically for the tomatoes to climb. I was thinking wire would be stronger than twine.
It is stronger but it is also less forgiving than twine. I've noticed areas where the wire is cutting into the vines.
I started with one plant and removed the wire and replaced it with twine to see how it would work. Giving the twine a little extra slack allowed the vines to be gently twisted around it. The twine moves with the plant and easily conforms to the shape of the vine. On the other hand, the wire digs into the plant in some areas causing damage, so twine works better.
I made this realization after making wire trellises for all 12 of my tomatoes. It was a time-consuming process to switch the wire out and install twine supports instead, but the job is done!
Each twisting tomato stem has one string to climb, and they are spaced about 8 inches apart along the top. I have been really consistent about pruning out all of the suckers, so there is good air circulation.
Next time I will use twine from the start.
You live, you learn.
No comments:
Post a Comment