TomatoHenge

[owiebrain]

This is our take on dcarch's system, using stuff we had on hand. The only costs were the bags of Quikrete and the nylon cord.

I just posted the entire thing (with explanations) on my blog here: Presenting: TomatoHenge! I'll copy it over here to save both the click-wary and the click-weary the trouble:



The I-beam still needs to be trimmed to the same height and all of the metal parts still need painted but it is functionally done!



At the end of each row is a piece of I-beam, ripped in half lengthwise, with “mini” I-beam made from pieces of flat iron acting as braces.



On the backside (the flat portion) of each I-beam, 12″ pieces of rebar are welded at 12″ intervals. We only had enough to make five on each so that puts the top support height at 6″ for this year. There’s enough height left on the I-beam so that we can put another level on each should we choose to do so later.



2.4 mm braided nylon cord looped and hooked onto each side of the rebar on each level. It’s slightly stretchy but not too much so, so it acts as a soft suspension support for the plants as they grow up and through. (One end of the cord is looped on the hooks and the other end is left unlooped, to be tied & untied each season.)



Both the beam and brace on each end is cemented 3′ into the ground. Even the brace anchor is vertical, then the brace itself is welded on at a 45* (-ish) angle



A piece of bent steel is welded onto each end of the rebar to offer a smooth, non-abrading place for the nylon cord to attach. At the end of the season, this cord will be removed and stored for winter, then re-used the following spring.



As the plants grow, I will tie an occasional branch to the nylon cord with strips of old T-shirts. It’s quick & easy to do and helps to keep each plant within its given space, as well as distributing the weight between the different levels.



This year, as you all know, we’ve been horribly late with everything. The tomatoes have had a rough life, forced to live in cups for weeks and weeks after they should have been in the ground. Then they were left to sprawl in what was very soggy weather. To top it off, we had horrific winds that broke several branches & beat the snot out of the leaves — then the attack of the hornworms. Oy.

These poor things are much smaller than they should be. Over the past couple of days, I went through and cut off most of the remaining damaged parts and that makes the poor things look even more spindly — but it also clears the way for more airflow so they can hopefully focus on doing some growing & fruiting instead of having to fight off all of the bad things.

Since they had to live as sprawlers for so long, they’ve grown twisted & crooked, all sorts of ways. I started by tying up to the first level of cords, then waited a day for them to straighten back up towards the sun a bit. Then I tied to the second level and am giving them a day to straighten up… And so on. I’ll be out tying to the third level this afternoon and, from there on out, they’ll grow straighter. Next year, we’ll be able to get them in the ground on time (thanks to this all being in place already) and they’ll get to grow straight from the start.

[salix]

Holy Moly- a megaproject! Congratulations. Looks great, what a lot of work, it should stand you in good stead for the rest of your gardening years (maybe several generations of gardeners). If you paint all of the metal a wonderful striking colour (electric blue?), you would also have an art installation for the winter season!

[owiebrain]

I'm going to paint it with machine-hard white this summer/fall as a base. But -- next year, I want to get a bit artistic with it. I was thinking of making it Stonehenge gray and smudging darker colors for vague facial characteristics, thus the TomatoHenge title. But gray is so dreary, I'm reconsidering...

I figure those beam will be jutting out of the ground for a couple of centuries and future residents will come up with all sorts of explanations for what it once was. I should put some faux religious symbols on it.

[stormymater]

How FABULOUSO! OMG you've gotta be young right?

[owiebrain]

Thanks! We were really pleased with how it worked last year. Can't wait until it's packed with tomatoes again this year!

And, yep, we're pretty young -- in our 40s.

[stormymater]

oh to be 40 & semi-firm again...

[owiebrain]

"Semi" is a fairly accurate description at this point in our lives.

Originally Posted by owiebrain

I'm going to paint it with machine-hard white this summer/fall as a base. But -- next year, I want to get a bit artistic with it. I was thinking of making it Stonehenge gray and smudging darker colors for vague facial characteristics, thus the TomatoHenge title. But gray is so dreary, I'm reconsidering...

I figure those beam will be jutting out of the ground for a couple of centuries and future residents will come up with all sorts of explanations for what it once was. I should put some faux religious symbols on it.

Whatever you do, don't paint them crack-house blue or purple.

Very nice job. I'm a bit jealous.

[janezee]

And what's wrong with purple?

Originally Posted by janezee

And what's wrong with purple?

Heh, heh, heh, heh.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by WillysWoodPile

Whatever you do, don't paint them crack-house blue or purple.

Very nice job. I'm a bit jealous.

LMAO

Worth

[owiebrain]

Originally Posted by WillysWoodPile

Whatever you do, don't paint them crack-house blue or purple.

Is that the Earl Scheib Blue of the new millennium?

I need to get out to visit crackhouses more often. I had no clue that blue & purple were in fashion!