In order for the tomatoes to give a full crop, they need a garter. It is recommended to some varieties, others without it simply can neither grow nor bear fruit. From the article you will learn what types of garters exist for greenhouse and soil tomatoes, what are their features.
Why tie up tomatoes?
Experienced gardeners who have been growing tomatoes for several years know that a garter is an important event, on which the quantity and quality of the crop directly depends. The garter is especially important for medium-sized and tall varieties - several kilograms of fruit grow on their bushes, under the weight of which the bushes break and die.
Why do you need to tie up tomatoes:
- unloading the stem and branches - part of the weight of the fruit is transferred to the supports;
- protection of fruits from slugs;
- protection against diseases that are transmitted to plants through close contact with the ground;
- prevention of damage to fruits due to fungal attack;
- more sun penetrates to the fruits, they ripen faster;
- convenient to pick ripening fruits.
Tomato garter rules
There are several ways to tie tomatoes, differing in the materials and devices used. The event in any way is held according to the same rules.
Garter rules for tomato bushes:
- The timing of the event must be respected. It is necessary to choose the moment in time to avoid overloading the bushes.
- Supports or frames are installed in moist soil. This prevents cracking of the soil, which can damage the fine roots.
- The garter is carried out in stages: first, the central stem is tied, and as soon as the fruits begin to form, the fruiting branches are tied up.
- A separate rule for tall varieties is that they must be tied up within 4-6 days after transplanting seedlings into the ground.
- Low-growing varieties are tied up after the appearance of the first ovaries.
- The garter is free, it should not overtighten the stem.
- The loop with which the bush is attached to the support is made in the form of the number 8.
- Tall bushes are fastened first under the lower brush, and as they grow, they make several more fasteners.
- Low-growing bushes are mounted in the middle of the stem.
- Garter materials are used once, at the end of the season they are collected and disposed of.
- Before the garter bushes stepson. Stepsons are lateral shoots growing in the axils of the leaves. They reduce the intensity of fruiting, therefore, are subject to removal (pinching).
- When tying up bushes, it is necessary to leave free space between them and supports in the hope of further growth.
- The number of garters depends on the variety and can be 2 to 4 times.
Materials and fixtures
When tying tomatoes, it is important not only to follow the process technology, but also to choose the right materials with which the bushes will be supported in the air.
Tips for choosing garter material:
- It is forbidden to use wire, thin twine and fishing line as a garter. All this bites into the stems of the bushes, damaging and deforming them. We need materials 4-5 cm wide.
- It is forbidden to use last year's garter. Pathogens of various diseases can remain on it, which need not be transmitted to new plants.
- Natural fabrics cannot be used. They tend to rot, insects, fungi, bacteria grow in them.
- The best option is a synthetic material having a low stiffness coefficient:
- nylon cord;
- twine;
- wide and thick rope;
- old nylon stockings.
- To support the bush, you can use clips (clothespins). With their help, they support the entire stem and branches separately. Clothespins are made of wood and plastic. They can be used to attach the stem to a rope that hangs down from the ceiling of the greenhouse. Plus - clothespins can be easily rearranged by changing the level of fastening.
Before use, the garter material must be disinfected - washed and boiled.
Along with the garter materials, you will need supporting devices to which the bushes are tied to plastic and metal structures. It can be:
- stakes;
- grids;
- wireframes.
Timing
Garter begins when 8-10 true leaves appear, and the stem in its lower part reaches a diameter of 1 cm. The timing of tying depends on the maturity of the varieties.
The timing of the first garter depending on the group of early maturity:
- early - 35-40 days after landing in the ground;
- medium - for 50-60 days;
- later - on 70-80 days.
The number of subsequent garters will depend on how big the bush is, how quickly and rapidly it will grow. If the bush is short and compact, one garter may be enough, and some varieties do without it at all.
Methods for tying tomatoes in a greenhouse
Tomatoes are a thermophilic and moody culture. Today, even in the southern regions, they prefer to grow it under film shelters. In order to use the area more rationally, gardeners plant tall varieties in greenhouses that produce about 5 times more fruits - 10-12 kg from a bush.
Bushes of tall varieties of tomatoes, reaching a height of 2 m, cannot grow up without support. There are many methods for tying tomatoes in a greenhouse, the final choice depends on the number of bushes and the preferences of the gardener.
With support on the ceiling / wall
To tie the bushes in this way, it is necessary to install rigid jumpers in the greenhouse, to which the ropes are attached. Support structures can be built from metal pipes, channel or angle. Each row should have its own linear support, which is attached to the metal jumpers, fixed at different ends of the greenhouse.
Such a garter method is convenient both in narrow greenhouses, where bushes separated by a passage grow in two rows, and in large greenhouse structures, where multi-row planting is implemented (4-6 rows or more).
You can tie a bush to a support in different ways. Consider a garter of tomatoes to a support mounted on the ceiling:
- One end of the rope is tied to a support in such a way that it can be pulled up or down.
- The other end is fixed just above the base of the stem.
- If the tension on the rope changes, it is corrected by untiing and re-tying the upper end.
- When the bushes have several branches, each is tied up individually.
Other options for fastening to linear supports are performed according to the above principle:
- First, they attach the rope to the stem, and then lift it up and fix it on a linear support.
- The lower end of the rope is put in the hole so that the roots braid it.
- The upper end first lies on the ground, and then it is raised and fixed on a support or immediately tied - so that it does not interfere with caring for the bushes.
With pegs
This is the most popular method of tying tomatoes, which consists in tying each bush to an individual peg. It cannot be called rational, but it is the simplest and does not require large expenses.
The length of the support depends on the height of the bushes and should be 30-50 cm higher.
Garter order:
- Supports are installed before planting seedlings in the greenhouse. They are positioned so that 10-15 cm remain to the bushes.
- The stalk is tied to the stakes with the help of the garter twisted by the “eight”. Stems and branches are not pulled, but wound, tied to a support without tension.
- As the bush grows, the garter is repeated.
With an individual garter of tall tomatoes, you will need supports with a height of 2.5-3 m.
On horizontal and vertical trellises
The trellis method is used over large areas with tall tomatoes. The advantage of the method is the ability to tie up a large number of tomatoes with minimal cost. Moreover, materials and devices - everything except ropes - can be reused.
How to make horizontal trellis:
- Install two metal supports at the edges of the greenhouse. Dig them into the ground about 0.5 m.
- Pull twine or wire horizontally between the supports in 30 cm increments. The bottom row should run 25 cm from the ground.
- If the distances between the support stakes are large, you can add intermediate ones. Twine / wire should wrap stakes on both sides.
- Fix the bushes on horizontally stretched supports with clips or simply passing between adjacent horizontal wires.
- With the growth of bushes, tie additional horizontal supports to the stakes.
Vertical trellis used in the cultivation of tall tomatoes. How to make vertical trellis:
- Install two high metal supports along the edges of the bed.
- Tie a metal wire to the tops of the supports.
- Stick stakes near each bush.
- Tie one end of the rope to the wire, fix the other on an individual peg. Tie each bush to your vertical supports.
On the grid
In order not to bother with arranging trellises, not to tie tens or hundreds of wires to metal supports, gardeners use a special material - a trellis net. It is sold in rolls of 100 m. The width of the net is 1.7 m.
The structure is installed in minutes:
- Place metal supports on the edges of the beds.
- Pull the mesh between the supports.
- To make the structure more durable and rigid, wire is pulled through the upper edge of the mesh and fixed to the tops of the supports.
- You can skip the bushes without tying them up, but pass their tops through large cells. The net and bushes are transformed into a single rigid structure that can support any weight of the fruit.
On gratings (cells)
This method is not particularly popular with gardeners. It requires a lot of costs, since for each bush a separate wire frame is organized - a "cage". In addition, the collection of fruits becomes more difficult, because many of them end up inside the lattice frame.
How the frame garter is formed:
- A wire frame with large cells is placed around the bush. The tomato is in the "cage".
- The lower part of the frame is dug (or rather, pressed) into the soil, so that the structure has a strong fixation.
- The bush surrounded by a lattice does not bend and does not fall. Shoots do not need to be tied. The frame is a self-sufficient supporting structure.
Design advantages are mobility and reusability.
With caps
Like the previous method, the cap method requires a lot of money and effort. In mass cultivation, it is not used. This option may be suitable for gardeners who grow tall tomatoes in small quantities.
The design looks like a cap. How to do it:
- Insert three supports around the bush - for example, plastic stakes or tubes.
- Connect the upper ends of the supports - you get the base of the "cap".
- Braid the resulting frame with ropes or wire. The distance between adjacent rows of horizontal elements is 30-40 cm.
"Caps" are installed at the stage of planting seedlings. The distance between adjacent structures is 1 m. Several bushes can be planted at once near one frame.
The growth of the branches should be controlled so that they do not grow inside the frame, otherwise it will be difficult to collect the fruits.
Tying tomatoes in the open field
In the open field, large growers and many ordinary gardeners are trying to grow varieties of tomatoes that can grow without a garter. They are also called superdeterminant or restricted growth varieties. The minus of such tomatoes is small yields.
Features of the outdoor garter:
- In vegetable gardens, you can use the same tying methods as in greenhouses.
- If there are few bushes, it is advisable to use hoods or wire frames. For hundreds of bushes, such methods are not suitable, you have to equip trellises.
- The requirements for trellis structures in open ground are stricter than in greenhouses. In addition to the weight of the bushes, they have to withstand gusty winds, rain and other natural disasters.
- Trellis are installed for one year, since tomatoes are not recommended to be grown in one place. Because of this, few gardeners use the trellis garter method. There are, however, mobile versions, but their construction requires certain knowledge, skills and costs.
- Plastic garter nets are not suitable. Tall bushes tear it, but low bushes do not need it. The annual installation of the chain-link is even more difficult than the arrangement of trellises.
- For gardeners who grow tomatoes in the open field, the most popular way is to tie on individual stakes.
Mistakes when tying tomatoes
Many gardeners, without delving into the particular agricultural techniques of tomatoes, make mistakes when they are garter. As a result, the bushes suffer, the yield falls, the taste of the fruit worsens.
Typical mistakes when tying tomatoes:
- Tie bushes with the wrong material... Too hard materials cause damage to the stem and shoots. Plants begin to wither and eventually die.
- Use last year's garters nor do they disinfect them. As a result, young plants can be affected by pathogens.
- Tie ropes lower than necessary, do not change the garter as the bushes grow... When growing tall varieties, a single garter can not do without it, during the growing season it has to be repeated several times.
- Install supports that do not correspond to the characteristics of the variety... So, for example, it makes no sense to tie a tall tomato to a low support, and vice versa.
- Tape the stems and branches with tape / duct tape... Such material secures the branches only with tight wrapping. But then the stem and shoots are deprived of the opportunity to grow in thickness. As a result, the nutrition of plants deteriorates, their yield decreases.
The garter, for all its simplicity, can significantly affect the tomato harvest. When choosing a tomato garter method, take into account the peculiarities of the variety, the method of growing, the financial aspect and other circumstances.
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Russia. City Novosibirsk
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