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Old March 28, 2016   #1
BackyardFarm
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Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Wisconsin, zone 4b
Posts: 360
Default Using a laundry clothes line to make a tomato trellis.

I would appreciate any thoughts or tips on this as this seems to be a project not yet undertaken according to google searches.

I was given a 8ft tall metal laundry clothes line. Two sturdy metal posts that are hollow (it's actually two pieces for each post that are slid -or rather pounded with a hammer or against the ground- together) and HEAVY. They each have five hooks attached securely. I saw them and thought "that's for my tomatoes!"

Now I have pounded in two four foot fence posts to hold them up (slid the posts over them) but since I hammered in about a foot, the fence posts seem too short to hold this is high winds. Perhaps some 7 or 8 foot tall fence posts? Rebar? I was told my best option was to cement them in with rebar in the center but I want to be able to take this down and move it each year for rotating the beds. So I am thinking I need to use fence posts or similar.

The plan is to run wire between each hook. I'm going to also add some wire to the end hooks and run them backwards to small fence posts or pieces of bent rebar to create some counter tension. I was thinking twine down from the wires to wrap my tomatoes single stem around.

The space the clothes line is covering is about 28ft long. They are 8ft tall. The beds are 4 ft wide. The cross bars with hooks cover those easily. Should I have a center post as well for support? I came up with this idea after looking at posts and books that describe greenhouse growing, I've never build something like this before...so I'm kinda winging it.

Oh and I think it will be easy to throw row cover/plastic over this in the spring or fall to protect from frost. Nice greenhouse effect hopefully? Last year we had that one heavy frost and then it was nice enough for over a MONTH if I only had rigged up something to keep them warm at night.

Alright. Thoughts? Am I doing this right?

Pictures will follow after I buy the two larger fence posts and get it back up.
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