Single stem and new support system

[Jaysan]

Socrates?I will have to check those out. Too late this year as I have my 4 Karmas planted but I could do a couple of each next year to see how they do.

I do expect my cage to easily handle anything Karma's throw at them though.

They are the best tasting and most consistent bell peppers I have grown but Socrates looks promising.

[b54red]

I felt the same way about Karma but nearly every time it got loaded up with peppers we would have a hard heavy rain or high winds or both and then I would be left with picking the immature peppers off the limbs that broke off and fell on the ground.

I went out early this morning and checked my plants and the support system did an amazing job in that really bad weather we had yesterday. I didn't find the first broken limb so I sprayed everything with Daconil. I noticed a few tiny tomatoes on a few plants so I guess the season is finally on.

Bill

[b54red]

Well it has been over a month since I started using this new system for supporting the tomatoes and so far I am really liking it. I now have a few plants over 4 ft tall and a good combination of single stem and multiple stem plants. Single stem plants are much easier to support with this system but I do have a good many with up to three stems. I am loving using the tomato clips as opposed to wrapping the twine around the vines. It is so much quicker but only time will tell if it is as strong once they load up with fruit. I am going to start taking pics of the various plants and filing them so I can compare them as they develop. I'm hoping this will give me a better record as to which plants can successfully grow and produce as single stem plants outside in the heat. That way next year when I start pruning I will have a better reference than just my spotty notes to determine how to prune a particular variety for the best results. I'll try to post some of those pics either in this thread or the one I started in the Photo forum as the season moves along.

Bill

[b54red]

A lot of my single stem plants are giving me fits because so many have very light foliage so I am being forced to allow a second stem on some of them in order for the fruit to have at least a little shade. I am doing that with varieties that I only have one of so I am assured of getting some decent fruit but the ones that are looking a little too sparse that I have a two stem version of I am leaving to see how they do.

Has anyone grown Couilles de Toureau? I have two grafts with it as the scion. It looks great as a single stem plant except for one problem it only has one or two blooms per cluster and they are about 18 inches apart. If every flower makes I will still only get a couple of tomatoes before the plant gets to the top of the rack. This is not a case of blooms dropping; they just never formed except in a very limited way. I am considering allowing a second stem to develop at least on one of them just to see if I can get a few more tomatoes off of the plants. I have never grown it so I don't know if it is worth the extra work of adding a second stem or not. Any advice on this variety would be appreciated.

Bill

[luigiwu]

Bill, what tensile strength baler twine are you using? This city girl has to try and find some..

[kath]

Originally Posted by b54red

Has anyone grown Couilles de Toureau? I have two grafts with it as the scion. It looks great as a single stem plant except for one problem it only has one or two blooms per cluster and they are about 18 inches apart. If every flower makes I will still only get a couple of tomatoes before the plant gets to the top of the rack. This is not a case of blooms dropping; they just never formed except in a very limited way. I am considering allowing a second stem to develop at least on one of them just to see if I can get a few more tomatoes off of the plants. I have never grown it so I don't know if it is worth the extra work of adding a second stem or not. Any advice on this variety would be appreciated.

Bill

I grew one plant in 2011 but don't have many notes on it. Mine was kept to at most 3 vines- probably 2, and staked like all the others. The foliage was dense but it didn't produce many tomatoes for me. It was a year of epic amounts of rain and this one was mealy and too mild for most of the short season we had so I never regrew it.

Wish I had some advice-

kath

[b54red]

Thanks Kath, it is one of the few plants in my single stem bed that is easily producing enough foliage to be kept to a single stem; but it produces so few flowers that if I allowed 10 stems I don't think it would make that many fruit.

On that note I have had to allow a second stem on three more plants due to the very light foliage cover they are producing. I am finding this even on varieties that did well as single stem plants a couple of years ago. I think it may have a lot to do with how late the plants got set out this year. This single stem bed was planted on the 25th of April and the one I did a few years ago was started in early March.

Besides CDT making a great single stem plant Akers West Virginia is also producing abundant foliage and fruiting well as a single stem plant. It is looking now like well over half the plants I planned to be single stems are now two stems. I can't complain because the fruit set is so far nice on these plants despite their late set out and the sudden heat wave. It is supposed to be a bit cooler the next few days so fruit set could get even better.

The two stems are very easy to tie up using the clips but I don't know what will happen when they reach the top of my rack and the plant needs to be lowered. I already have a couple of plants only a foot from the top of the rack in my multiple stem bed and the fruit on the lower part of the plant is still really small or just setting. I'm just hoping the fruit on the lower part of the plant is ripe enough to pick before I have to lower it down on top of the mulch.

Bill

[FlyingZ]

B54red, the first time you let the plants down is the trickiest!! Do remember to go in the same direction with all of them. I had some trouble last year when I went the opposite way with a few plants for some reason and it was a mess. Is there anyway you can put some shade cloth over your setup? That way you wouldn't need to fool with multiple stems.

Here is my setup .

[b54red]

Z I didn't have such sparse foliage tha last time I did single stem plants. I always stagger plantings and usually May through July plants tend to be spindlier and have less foliage. I guess the late planting and so much sunlight causes plants to be less sturdy and bushy.

I could put up a shade cloth but it would not eliminate the need for more stems because it will only provide a little over an hour of shade and it would really be in my way when trying to lower the plants. I have never put up shade cloth except when the temperatures are in the upper 90s and we have only had one or two days of that so I am going to wait and see. This summer seems to be cooler than normal at least so far and we may not have too many of those 100 degree days.

How tall are your supports? Mine are between 6 1/2 ft and 7 ft. I thought about building them taller but that would have meant buying a lot more conduit since I already have my verticals cut to this lenght. It would also mean a lot more time setting it up because a step stool or small ladder would be necessary for me to build it.

Bill

[RootLoops]

i love single stems! after i did 90+ tomatoes on trellis netting the single stems i did later on were a breeze, very easy to spot bugs, very easy to prune

[b54red]

I also love single stems and they seem to make nearly as many tomatoes with far less bother. Hopefully I will be able to get my plants out earlier next year and have more single stem plants. This year the weather just didn't cooperate. The tomatoes I am setting out from now til August for fall plants cannot be single stems because of the intense heat and the tendency of plants set out in this heat to grow more spindly until the cooler weather of fall sets in. I will try going with single stem on some of the denser foliage plants but I doubt even they will have enough foliage for single stem growth during mid and late summer; but nothing ventured nothing gained.

Bill

[beeman]

Originally Posted by b54red

I will try going with single stem on some of the denser foliage plants but I doubt even they will have enough foliage for single stem growth during mid and late summer; but nothing ventured nothing gained.Bill

I think you are worrying unduly about sun scald. I've grow single stem as long as I can remember, that's how my father taught me. In spite of what some think we do get summer days above to 100 mark and don't suffer with sun scald. Go for it.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by beeman

I think you are worrying unduly about sun scald. I've grow single stem as long as I can remember, that's how my father taught me. In spite of what some think we do get summer days above to 100 mark and don't suffer with sun scald. Go for it.

Beeman, as someone who has been seeing sun scald on tomatoes for nearly 40 years I can guarantee you I am not worrying unduly. It is not uncommon to see sun scald on some tomatoes even on bushy plants. I lose a good amount of fruit to it every year but would like to keep it to acceptable levels. Most of the bell peppers that end up getting thrown out are due to sun scald. It is a very real problem down here most years especially with some varieties.

Bill

[RootLoops]

Originally Posted by beeman

I think you are worrying unduly about sun scald. I've grow single stem as long as I can remember, that's how my father taught me. In spite of what some think we do get summer days above to 100 mark and don't suffer with sun scald. Go for it.

he's way closer to the equator than you though, i'm in a semi northern part of the south and it's a problem here especially in august or during any long dry spell from july or so on. i was able to keep all mine shaded last year so it wasn't a big problem. the sun down here is painful, after i've been out working in it a few hours i start to ache all over until i get cooled down again even though i drink water when i'm out. i imagine it's a lot worse the lower down you get

last year i got pretty good shade from a purple hull pea i planted with a tomato and trellised them on the same net then i just placed the pea leaves over the tomatoes wherever they were

[FlyingZ]

Originally Posted by b54red

How tall are your supports? Mine are between 6 1/2 ft and 7 ft. I thought about building them taller but that would have meant buying a lot more conduit since I already have my verticals cut to this lenght. It would also mean a lot more time setting it up because a step stool or small ladder would be necessary for me to build it.

Bill

Mine are about 6 and a half foot. They are 8 foot 4x4's sunk about 18 inches. I am using 1/8th galvanized cable for the support. The hangers I made by looking at some pics on the internet and then making my own from 9 gauge fence wire. I think 11 gauge would work also and be a whole lot easier to bend.