Tomatoes and cucumbers are climbers, and they can get out of hand fast, with vines sprawled across pathways and tangled, leading to spoiled and diseased fruit. We’re, ahem, speaking from experience here.
But when vining crops are given priority status on a farm’s to-do list, they can be bountiful and valuable.
A confession: we’ve struggled with trellising and pruning tomatoes. When dozens of things on the farm need our attention all at once, and the tomatoes need TLC, there hasn’t been enough L&C to go around.
So why are we entering this season thinking things will turn out any different? Well, for one, boundless optimism is a personality requirement for gardeners. But, in all seriousness, we’re just more ready. As our farming experience and knowledge accumulate, we solve old problems and make time for new priorities.
One such priority is a whole new technique in the high tunnels. It’s called the “lean and lower” system. Jason strung steel cables across the top of the Big Tunnel and one of the Cat tunnels. We dangled a Tomahook with a cord over every tomato plant, and we’ll attach the vines with trellis clips. When the cucumbers are in the Big Tunnel, they’ll each have a hook, as well.
Videos demonstrating the lean and lower system have us chomping at the bit to try it. As the vine grows, you give it more cord, and slide the Tomahook down the steel cable, freeing the plant to grow taller. It’s an intense production system, urging plants to reach their potential. A tomato vine loaded with fruit is heavy, around 20 to 25 pounds, if not more. We have about 60 plants in the Big Tunnel, so that’s potentially more than 1,000 pounds of weight. (The Big Tunnel is strong, and Jason added supports to the Cat tunnels, so the heft shouldn’t be an issue.)
We’re excited about this system, and approaching it ready for the required labor and time. We’ll post regular photos and updates of our vine plants this season, and you can see how it goes right along with us.
These are the Tomahooks. They hang off steel cables that stretch across the high tunnels. We’ll clip the tomato and cucumber plants to the cords with trellis clips. (P.S. See those small, bright green plants at my feet? Those are celery in the Big Tunnel.)
Jason and Silas hang the Tomahooks on one of the steel cables in the Big Tunnel.
~ Stella
P.S. For the outdoor tomatoes, which we’ll plant around Memorial Day weekend, we’ll still use the Florida Weave. For the weave, you use T-Posts and twine. The twine cinches the plants up, and more strands can be added as the plant grows. Side (but extremely important) note: our outdoor tomatoes, and, well, everything outdoors, is now safe from marauding deer, thanks to a 7 1/2-foot fence.