Rick's Tomato Trellises

[digitS']

Rick's Tomato Trellises

Here they are completely set up before planting so we can see what Rick will have later:

He took the top 2 panels off and covered the bed with plastic:

Here, his plants have been set out:

Summertime, after Rick has replaced the top 2 panels:

Rick's mature plants will soon begin to bear fruit:

I'd like to say that I have tried this but all I did was save the pictures. I've tried a few things:
- A horizontal trellis like Rick's but using 1 x 2's and twine.
- Cages made out of livestock fencing.
- Stakes.
- Sprawl.

My own trellises were inadequate for the weight of mature plants & fruit. With over 60 tomato plants in recent years, I don't want to go back to trying to find a winter home for cages. Stakes worked just about the best for me - all in a row with twine connecting the tops. Sprawl, however, has what it has come down to.

I wanted to share how Rick grows his tomatoes .

Steve

 

[obsessed]

So then you sprawl your 60+ tomato plants?....

 

[digitS']

I do, O.

Mostly, I get away with it without many problems. My soil is so rocky that by the times the plants begin to drop down because of weight, the sprinklers have washed away the surface soil so that there is a "pebble mulch." I am also not much restrained by a lack of space.

It certainly isn't perfect.

Steve

 

[lesa]

That is the nicest, neatest set up I have ever seen, Steve! I'm glad "Rick" didn't see my garden last year!! Going to show that to Dh today! We've really got to get a plan. Sprawl is not going to work for us, this year!

 

[digitS']

Rick doesn't have the advantage of gardening in gravel.

If you want to see that villain Rick . . .

That is the top of his head on the other side of his tomato plants in the last picture. He is about one-half way down the path.

S'

 

[thistlebloom]

I really, really, like that setup! So tidy! I have been planting my tomatoes in 25 gallon tree containers, because I rotate my potato beds every year and I don't have enough beds to rotate through with tomatoes also. I think I can adapt that idea to my containers , since I also end up with a messy sprawl and hidden fruit underneath it all
. I 'specially like the plastic row cover on the first level, that would help with the short season.

Rick doesn't have the advantage of gardening in gravel.

It's an under appreciated advantage Steve...

 

[hangin'witthepeeps]

Okay Steve,

I want to try "Ricks" Method this year. I have on hand a 4' x 16' cow panel. So how many tomatoes could I plant in there? 2 rows of 5? Or would it be better to cut the cow panel in half and separate the 2 rows for more space? Have a 2' x 16' panel with five tomatoes plants and go over 2 feet and plant the next 2'x16' panel with five tomatoes?

ETA:
Or would it be better to buy a roll of fence and build cages. Down here in GA we have to keep them off the ground, or they will die/get a disease/ turn yellow/ grow funny looking nodules/ get blossom end rot, etc.... the list could go on and on with what I've seen in the past. I also plan on mulching and using drip irrigation this year.

 

[vfem]

You now what... the local farm 'Porters' has pick your own strawberries, followed by tomatoes & pumpkins.

This is their tomato set up. I see it every year, they keep doing it, and with all those years of experience from them... I have NO doubt this must be a wonderful way to go about it.

Currently, I plant my tomatoes spuratically (sp?), all over the garden. My cages are still good, so I'm going to have to continue that way. I really do have the english garden started here, so you'll find tomatoes in the front garden, one or 2 on the side garden, a few in the raised beds, and some over with my deck garden.

Uniformity just doesn't work here! lol

 

[hangin'witthepeeps]

My family always caged them, in rows spaced wayyyyyyy apart. I just don't have the room for it. I wanted 10 plants of a certain kind for canning. They are my favorite tomato canned. I like all the juice and acid that they have. They do well here and I'm afraid to mention they are a hybrid. BUT I do put in heirlooms all over the place like vfem for fresh eating. I wanted to save my cages for them and do this for the hybrids as opposed to making more cages to store in the winter.

 

[digitS']

Okay Steve,

I want to try "Ricks" Method this year. I have on hand a 4' x 16' cow panel. So how many tomatoes could I plant in there? 2 rows of 5? Or would it be better to cut the cow panel in half and separate the 2 rows for more space? Have a 2' x 16' panel with five tomatoes plants and go over 2 feet and plant the next 2'x16' panel with five tomatoes?

ETA:
Or would it be better to buy a roll of fence and build cages. Down here in GA we have to keep them off the ground, or they will die/get a disease/ turn yellow/ grow funny looking nodules/ get blossom end rot, etc.... the list could go on and on with what I've seen in the past. I also plan on mulching and using drip irrigation this year.

The Tylenol and afternoon coffee have finally kicked in, Hangin'. It doesn't mean clarity of thought, however . . .

I think that a 4' by 16' bed is perfect for 10 plants of most varieties. But, if you want a 2 tier set-up like Rick uses - you will need another cattle panel.

Cutting 1 panel in half for a 4' by 8' bed with 2 rows, doesn't look like it would do it. If you went with 3 rows, it may be too dense for sunlight, air movement and to reach in for harvesting. I think that 6 plants in 2 rows for that bed would just about be tops.

You might be better off cutting the panel length-wise and covering a 2' by 16' single row with 2 tiers but I'm afraid that there in Georgia, plants set at only about 16" would grow too tall for just 2 tiers. Maybe if you had 8' posts and used some baling twine around the top . . .

Probably better to just buy 1 more panel if you really want to have Rick's set-up.

Steve