Geneva, New York
May 14, 2001
by Stephen Reiners
Associate Professor, Horticultural Sciences, NYS Agricultural Experiment
Station, Geneva, NY
Increasingly, more and more tomato growers are using the
Florida weave, short stake, or trellis system (all names for the same
technique) to grow their crops. This production system keeps plants
growing upright and off the ground and most growers who have tried it are
convinced the fruit quality is better (bigger fruit, less rots, easier to
pick). Researchers in New Jersey demonstrated that fruit grown this way
have fewer storage rots, likely from better fungicide coverage as well as
foliage and fruit that dry more quickly after rains or heavy dew. It's
really a pretty simple technique once you get the hang of it. Here's some
helpful suggestions.
First, use determinate or semi-determinate varieties. Indeterminate types
can be used but require longer and thicker stakes and much greater
pruning. The guidelines given here are for determinate and semi-determinate types.
Space the plants 18 to 24 inches in the row on 5 to 6 foot centers. Prune
the plants so that you establish a balance between fruit and vine growth.
Prune all the suckers off up to the one immediately below the first flower
cluster. Try to remove them when the suckers are between 2 and 4 inches
in length. Prune before the first stringing and only when the plants are dry
to avoid spreading bacterial diseases. You may have to go back and prune
a second time. DO NOT remove the sucker below the first flower cluster or
any above the cluster. Doing so will result in severe stunting. Some
varieties may do better with leaving the two suckers below the first
flower cluster. Do some experimenting on your farm. Remember, it's better to
leave too many suckers than to remove too many.
Once you have done the pruning, you are ready to set up the trellis.
Place a stake at every other plant, spaced evenly between the two plants. Use a
sturdy stake, at least one inch square, 4 to 4.5. Stakes can be reused
but make sure that you sanitize them before reusing using a Clorox wash.
Drive the stake into the soil about 12 inches. For small plantings, make a
stake
driving tool. Get a 2 foot length of galvanized pipe, wide enough to fit
around a stake. Screw on a cap on one end. Put the pipe over a stake,
lift it up and let it fall. For larger acreage, use a power-driven stake
driving tool.
The plants will need to be "strung" for the first time when they are about
8-10 inches tall. Make sure you get to them before they flop over. For
stringing, use lightweight, thin, plastic twine, available in 3-4 pound
boxes (30 pounds per acre are required). To make tying convenient, a
homemade stringing tool can be made. The tool will work as an extension
of your arm which limits the amount of bending you will need to do. Take an
old broom handle or a shortened tomato stake, about 2 feet long, and drill
two holes one inch from each end. The holes must be wide enough to allow
the string to be fed through. Attach the box of string to your belt and
thread the twine through both holes. Tie the end of the string to the
first stake, about 10 inches above ground level. You are now ready to
weave.
Use the stringing tool to pass string along the near side of the first
tomato plant and the far side of the second. As you get to the second
stake wrap the string tightly around the stake and continue down the row
in the same fashion. When you reach the last stake in the row, work your way
back down the row in a similar fashion. Between each stake the twine
should be in the shape of a figure eight so that each plant is held firmly
in place. When you get back to where you began, tie the string on the
first stake and you are done, at least for the next couple of weeks.
Repeat the procedure as the plants grow, placing strings about every 10
inches. You do not need to make the figure eight around each plant for
the other strings. Simply run the string down one side of the plants and up
the other side when you return. That will leave you with about 4 to 5
strings and a row of very sturdy tomato plants.
Some advice, however, to get the most out of the system. Make sure the
two end stakes are anchored securely. They are under the most pressure and if
they start leaning, the twine gets loose and the vines could fall over.
Also, don't prune, stake, or string the plants when they are wet because
that is a sure way to infect plants with bacterial diseases.
Linda McCandless
Director
Communications Services
NYS Agricultural Experiment Station
Jordan Hall
360 North Street
Geneva, NY 14456-0462
Office: 315-787-2417
Fax: 315-787-2276
E-mail: llm3@cornell.edu
http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/
Cornell University news release
N3518
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