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Garden Gate:  Out of Control Tomato Plants  |
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doglady
True Blue Farmgirl
435 Posts
Tina
Howard
Ohio
USA
435 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 15 2006 : 4:56:57 PM
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Hi Everyone:
We have had so much rain here in the last several weeks that I was not able to get my tomato plants in the tomato baskets. They are way too big now and are spreading out on the ground. They really got away from me. Should I try to put something under them so the tomatos won't rot. Any ideas would help. They are going everywhere.
Thanks,
Doglady
The dogs own the house but the people pay the mortgage!
www.kennelcreations.com |
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therusticcottage
True Blue Farmgirl
4439 Posts
Kay
Vancouver
WA
USA
4439 Posts |
Posted - Jul 15 2006 : 8:25:24 PM
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Tina -- maybe try making some teepees from sticks or bamboo and tieing up the vines with twine.
I choose faith not fear.
Lotion bars, linen water & more in my online shop! http://therusticcottage.etsy.com
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Rosemary
True Blue Farmgirl
1825 Posts
Virginia
USA
1825 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2006 : 12:57:35 AM
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You can try making little "slings" for the heaviest-laden tomato stems. Use cheap unbleached muslin or cheesecloth, and tie them to strategically placed wooden stakes with cotton or hemp string, or just thin strips cut from muslin. (Tying up stems directly can break them.) You can also put pads of black-and-white newspaper on the ground under the trailing stems -- not too close to the roots, though, or you'll smother the plants. Another trick is to turn over flower pots and position them around as "lifters."
As a last resort, if your plants are really prolific, they might benefit from pruning. Select stems that have the fewest tomatos or flowers. Or you could push longer stems into the earth, secure them with wire "pins" made from old coat hangers, and in short time, you'll have cobby new (but mature) plants, which you can then cut from the parents, pruning them back a bit aqt the same time. You can get a long season out of plants that way, especially if you make some kind of covering to protect the plants from colder weather as the season ends. Well tubing arched over and stuck down into plumbing pipes makes a great frame over which you can stretch reusable plastic sheeting to make a sort of greenhouse for season extension. The same set-up can get you started setting out plants earlier next year.
Another cool idea for next year: make two 4-5 foot high "A" frames out of 2x2s or rebar. Stretch a length of the same material between them (maybe 6 feet at the most) at the top and once along each side and lash together to make a sort of pup tent over which you can toss your greenhouse plastic sheeting -- which will have to be secured to the "A" frames and also held down on the sides with rocks or coat-hanger pins. This won't win any beauty contests, but after the weather warms up enough to get rid of the plastic sheeting, you have a good sturdy frame to which your plants can be tied as needed. You can get additional support by just running another piece of 2x2 or rebar across the pup tent rather than lengthwise. It will rest on the lengthwise pieces with minimal lashing and will provide a sort of 3-D support system for your plants, with everything easy to get at from outside the frame.
Good luck! |
Edited by - Rosemary on Jul 16 2006 01:15:44 AM |
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Audrey D Abbott
Farmgirl in Training
34 Posts
Audrey
Williamsport
IN
USA
34 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2006 : 05:12:19 AM
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| My parents and grandparents never used cages or supports. They let the vines sprawl. They always had bumper crops for eating, canning and giving away. Sometimes, my Mom and Dad would put the grass clippings from the mower under the plants so that the tomatoes weren't laying directly on the ground. You might try that. If the vines are very big and you try manipulating them, you may end up breaking more than you'd be saving. |
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LadyCrystal
True Blue Farmgirl
593 Posts
Alicia
Rhode Island
USA
593 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2006 : 07:04:38 AM
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What if you put straw underneath like we do with pumpkins, when we grow them.That would keep them off the ground.
Alicia
http://fromcitytocountrygirl.blogspot.com/
follow your dreams |
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LJRphoto
True Blue Farmgirl
760 Posts
Laura
Hickory Corners
MI
USA
760 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2006 : 09:45:07 AM
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Commercial growers also don't use cages. The vines just sprawl.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority." -E. B. White
http://www.betweenthecities.com/blog/ljr/
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sleepless reader
True Blue Farmgirl
1022 Posts
CA
USA
1022 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2006 : 9:09:13 PM
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Mine are sprawling all over the place. We've put straw beneath to keep the fruit off the damp ground.
Sharon
Life is messy. Wear your apron! |
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Rosemary
True Blue Farmgirl
1825 Posts
Virginia
USA
1825 Posts |
Posted - Jul 17 2006 : 2:01:10 PM
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| Girls, I'm going to sprawl more. That's my new mission in life! |
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doglady
True Blue Farmgirl
435 Posts
Tina
Howard
Ohio
USA
435 Posts |
Posted - Jul 18 2006 : 09:24:09 AM
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Wow! Everyone has really great ideas to get this under control. I think I'll try several of them and then I will know what worked best for next year. You would think these tomato plants are growing more like weeds than tomatos. There should be plently to share for sure. Thanks so much for your help.
Doglady
The dogs own the house but the people pay the mortgage!
www.kennelcreations.com |
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Garden Gate: Out of Control Tomato Plants |
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Out of Control Tomato Plants
