Close Planting

[peppero]

I have about a half mile of the orange twine that I found on the side of the road. It was jumbled and as a result I have become very proficient at unraveling. I also have some very pretty blue stuff.

Sometimes rubbernecking can result in some good stuff.

Jon

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

Yeah, Bill has also recommende that orange baling twine. I went to our local feed and seed store and asked about it. But they dont have it.
I wonder is the twine at HD and Lowes, that isprovided for free for tying will work
!?

Go to a tractor store. Surely there are one or two in your area. They tend to carry the baling twine much more than feed stores. I have seen it in Tractor Supply before; but I usually get mine from one of the several tractor dealers in our area.

Make sure to get the 130 lb knot strength variety which is square bale twine not the 110. The clips work much better on it and the line is just easier to handle because it is a bit heavier and thicker. I have never had a clip slide down on it from the weight of the heavy tomato plants nor have I ever seen it stretch or break. It is also fairly sun resistant and takes years to break down which means you don't have to worry about it starting to break near the end of the season like with natural twine.

Bill

[bower]

I'm going to plant tight and prune hard most of my tomatoes this year for grow out reasons like Nan. It's an experiment until you find something that works...
Not normally a pruner but I have had so many years of more tomatoes than I can eat all year round (freezer full) I am not thinking of production at all this year per plant.

[Nan_PA_6b]

For my growout, I'll be letting the 38 plants live just long enough to see fruit size. Any small-fruited plants will be pulled before they're ripe. They'll be replaced by new seedlings that will just ripen at the end of the season. Those with larger fruit will be allowed to live to produce ripe fruit. I just need enough fruit to taste & collect seeds. Any that don't taste good will be taken out to alleviate crowding.

It lets me grow out more plants, and alleviates crowding during at least part of the season.

Nan

[taboule]

Originally Posted by Nan_PA_6b

For my growout, I'll be letting the 38 plants live just long enough to see fruit size. Any small-fruited plants will be pulled before they're ripe. They'll be replaced by new seedlings that will just ripen at the end of the season. Those with larger fruit will be allowed to live to produce ripe fruit. I just need enough fruit to taste & collect seeds. Any that don't taste good will be taken out to alleviate crowding.

It lets me grow out more plants, and alleviates crowding during at least part of the season.

Nan

Natural selection, with a little help from Nan

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by b54red

Go to a tractor store. Surely there are one or two in your area. They tend to carry the baling twine much more than feed stores. I have seen it in Tractor Supply before; but I usually get mine from one of the several tractor dealers in our area.

Make sure to get the 130 lb knot strength variety which is square bale twine not the 110. The clips work much better on it and the line is just easier to handle because it is a bit heavier and thicker. I have never had a clip slide down on it from the weight of the heavy tomato plants nor have I ever seen it stretch or break. It is also fairly sun resistant and takes years to break down which means you don't have to worry about it starting to break near the end of the season like with natural twine.

Bill

Thanks, Bill.
I will do that tomorrow. I checked Feed n Seed store but they do not carry it. Hope TSC DOES.7

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

Thanks, Bill.
I will do that tomorrow. I checked Feed n Seed store but they do not carry it. Hope TSC DOES.7

Do you have a tractor dealer near you? I haven't checked them all around here but the ones I have been in all had the twine in stock. It came in bundles of two for around 30 dollars for the pair. It is a lot of twine but I don't know if it comes any other way. When I bought it the first time I thought there is no way I'll ever use this much baling twine but over the years I eventually used both spools and am now working on my second pair of twine spools.

The first time I bought a pair of baling twine spools I mistakenly got the 90 lb. stuff and found it very hard to work with as it was so light and didn't handle very well. Although it might have worked okay I took it back and swapped it for the heavier 130 lb. twine which is much thicker and far easier to work with.

Bill

[Gardeneer]

Hi Bill.
There is a Tractor Supplies Company close to me
I went there 3 days ago. Sure enough they had the orange twine. BUT the package (two big dpools) was priced at $55. I asked for small quantity. They said NO.
Anyway. I found some orange twine from the pine straw at my neighbor,s. I did a comparison between that and the twine that Lowes prvide fir tying up loads. Guess what ? They were the same in thickness and the strands
Furthermore I did a burn test on them. They both burn the same way (curl up , don,t catch flame , no smoke ).
My conclusion is that they are chemically the same, the only difference is the color , orange vs white.
So the next time I am at Lowes, getting some lumber, stuff .. I will get some. Actually i have some from past, enough for 10 . All I need is enough for 20. .... 20 × 8ft = 160ft , max.