Good morning! I agree, I’ll occasionally use something like neem or bt when I really have to deal with an issue, but I mostly try to prevent issues by covering crops etc rather than having to spray. I’ve heard that those clips are great for trellising tomatoes - I think I’ll look into getting some when my current tape stash runs out!
I've tried all of the support methods for tomatoes over the years I think. I now use the string trellis/lower and lean method for indeterminates, and square tomato cages for the cherries, determinates, semi-determinates, and dwarf indeterminates. The cages take a lot less maintenance but I guess that's mainly because I don't prune those plants much. This is my first year with dwarf indeterminates, so we will see how that works out. I prune my indeterminates to a double- or triple-stem, so I run each stem up a separate string or sometimes they can share a string. I get better yield this way than with single-stem. I find that with a relatively short season, I don't want to prune off all of that potential fruit especially early in the year. As the season winds down, I start to terminate some of the stems so I don't wind up with a lot of immature tomatoes when the frost hits. I don't usually have much pest pressure on tomatoes. Blight and spotted leaf disease are my main issues to control here.
I have heard great things about the lower and lean method - maybe some season I’ll give it a try! I agree, my tomatoes are much more bothered by disease than by pests.
Your tomatoes are looking great Great tips on how to take care of them I have been growing mine on cattle panel trellises in previous years but I am trying the lower and lean method this year
That first tie on a tomato plant you showed is not good, because the branch will prevent it from growing up. My tip is to use a strait stick with a zip tie.
I just ordered some neat little clips meant for trailing vegetables, I'm excited to try them this year!
100% agree on no spray as much as possible. My husband will occasionally use neem but I don't even like that.
Good morning! I agree, I’ll occasionally use something like neem or bt when I really have to deal with an issue, but I mostly try to prevent issues by covering crops etc rather than having to spray. I’ve heard that those clips are great for trellising tomatoes - I think I’ll look into getting some when my current tape stash runs out!
Good morning Jennifer!
I've tried all of the support methods for tomatoes over the years I think. I now use the string trellis/lower and lean method for indeterminates, and square tomato cages for the cherries, determinates, semi-determinates, and dwarf indeterminates. The cages take a lot less maintenance but I guess that's mainly because I don't prune those plants much. This is my first year with dwarf indeterminates, so we will see how that works out. I prune my indeterminates to a double- or triple-stem, so I run each stem up a separate string or sometimes they can share a string. I get better yield this way than with single-stem. I find that with a relatively short season, I don't want to prune off all of that potential fruit especially early in the year. As the season winds down, I start to terminate some of the stems so I don't wind up with a lot of immature tomatoes when the frost hits. I don't usually have much pest pressure on tomatoes. Blight and spotted leaf disease are my main issues to control here.
I have heard great things about the lower and lean method - maybe some season I’ll give it a try! I agree, my tomatoes are much more bothered by disease than by pests.
Your tomatoes are looking great
Great tips on how to take care of them
I have been growing mine on cattle panel trellises in previous years but I am trying the lower and lean method this year
Thank you! I look forward to seeing how the lower and lean method works for you - I haven’t tried that one before!
That first tie on a tomato plant you showed is not good, because the branch will prevent it from growing up. My tip is to use a strait stick with a zip tie.