Tomato bondage

[marlingardener]

This morning I spent a happy hour attaching our tomatoes to the trellises. Thank heavens for old tee shirts! I cut them into strips and use the soft, 1" wide strips to keep our tomatoes upright. I have no qualms about tying tomatoes--it keeps them off the ground and from underfoot. Tromping on tomato vines is much more cruel than tying them up to a trellis!
(disclaimer: we have only 41 tomato plants. It took an hour because Timi the cat was "helping.")

 

[alp]

41! Amazing.

Shame we don't have the heat. I might put mine into the plastic green house. Night time here can be very cold here! Love the aroma of tomato plants. Would love to see your pics.

 

[TomatoTango]

I try to repurpose stuff and use various ties on all of mine too. I got 32 growing right now but haven’t really tied much as fruit set has just begun. What varieties do you have?

 

[marlingardener]

Tango, we have Celebrity, Roma, Sweet Million, Husky Red Cherry, Gold Pear, and another cherry I can't remember right now. We have so many cherry tomatoes because they are so popular and appreciated by the Meals on Wheels recipients. I stem, wash, and put them in pint bags for the drivers to deliver to those who can have them.
I must admit I love the Romas--prolific, long bearing even with our heat, and they make a wonderful sauce! Our plants are loaded with tomatoes from pea size up to "I'll be ripe in a week" size. If I don't tie now, the stems will be too brittle to lift and tie later.

 

[TomatoTango]

I’ve done Celebrity and Roma before. My only cherry this year is an OP sungold. Every year I grow maybe 2 and watch hundreds go bad on the vine. My others are mostly bicolored beefsteak or larger OP varieties. I won’t need to start tying for 2-3 more weeks yet.

 

[marlingardener]

Tango, why do your cherry tomatoes go bad on the vine--is it there are just too many to harvest and use, or that the vines get attacked by some disease?
If we have just too many cherry types to eat or give away, I sun dry them and use them later. Here Romas and golds have been halved, washed with vinegar, and are dripping out juice overnight before going onto the screen drier outside.

 

[TomatoTango]

Because my wife and kids demand cherry tomatoes and I get too busy to do anything about it. That’s why there’s only 1 or 2 plants. Last year I tried to play a funny on them and grew a variety with hard nipples on them that could actually cut you. They probably went bad strictly because of that, lol. Won’t grow those again.

The other varieties I’m canning or eating. Most of what I grow gets used but I only really get excited about exotic big ones, like these.