Florida Weave, for determinates only?

TomatoDon · February 12, 2020

Practically everything I grow is an indeterminate variety, and they get quite big. Typically, they grow up and out the top of a 5 foot concrete reinforcing wire cage, and then start draping back down the outside of the cage.

I've tried the Florida Weave system a few times, and it has never worked for me. If anything, it is more time consuming than just putting up my cages. And it certainly has never properly supported the tomatoes. I've had deer run into the twine and take down several tomatoes in one big swoop, which never happens with cages. (My cages are 24" in diameter and 5' tall.)

Also, I don't know how I could possibly support all this size and sheer weight by just weaving some sea-grass string or baling twine with posts every 2 plants apart. Besides, if you are going to all that trouble, you might as well just cage them.

Is the Florida Weave only used effectively on smaller determinates? Or do people use it successfully on taller, bigger indeterminates? I know it's practically mandatory for large commercial farms where tomatoes are counted by the acres, but I still can't find a reliable or successful way to use it on my big indeterminate tomatoes.

I'd like to get the opinions of those here who regularly use the Florida Weave and if any of you find it suitable for indeterminates, or better than cages.

Thank you.
Don

Goodloe · February 12, 2020

I use the same cages, they are about the best way to support my Big Beef plants...I only have 9 cages, though! Yours is a much bigger operation over there in Yalobusha County, yes? I'm gonna try to road trip over to visit you later in the spring!

b54red · February 12, 2020

It never worked for me once the tomatoes got large and loaded and I never had to deal with deer either. I tried it twice and it was a messy disaster but I could see it working on smaller plants field grown in less fertile soil. I went from stakes, to Florida weave, to large cages , to cages and then to terraces before finally trying lean and lower. Once I restricted my plants to a single stem it was so much easier to maintain. At first I thought all the pruning would be a problem but with a bit of practical experience I found it to be so much less work than trying to maintain plants in cages or on trellises. The biggest drawback is the longer prep work required in setting up the racks and strings to support the plants. If that is done before any tomatoes are put in the ground it is much less trouble and things go smoothly from there. With only one stem you naturally get fewer tomatoes early on but the plants tend to have far less disease issues due to the better air flow and sunlight.

Bill

zendog · February 12, 2020

I tried the weave one year and found it a mess. Maybe if I was more aggressive with pruning and only allowed 2 or 3 stems per plant and put a stake between each plant instead of every 2 plants it would have been better, but I think I let too many stems grow. The closest I got it to working for me was with a row of dwarfs tomato project plants. I expect that is similar to how it would work for determinates. But even with them, I prefer regular tomato cages just to keep them further away from each other to reduce disease transmission and increase airflow between plants. Now if I had acres of the dwarfs or nice disease-resistant determinates growing, the weave would be appealing just for the efficiency.

I'm with Bill on the value of single stem for ease of management and less disease due to better airflow and just keeping most of the plant up away from the ground. The other thing single stem has given me is will power. Without the absolutist approach to pruning everything but the main stem I would always see a few suckers that got away from me starting to set some flowers and I'd let "just that one" grow... quickly one was one too many. I've seen people using those big cages and I think that works pretty good as well, although vigorous plants do grow out the top and down.

TomatoDon · February 12, 2020

Thanks for the replies. I could never get the Florida weave to work on the bigger plants and I wanted to be sure it wasn't something I was doing wrong. I've watched all those videos about it and usually they show how to start it on small, young plants, but I've never found a video of it working on large plants. Big Beef, and especially Goliath get to be quite large, with a lot of weight, and I can't see how that string could possible hold up all that weight.
Thanks again.
Don

Tormato · February 12, 2020

I tried it once and was very successful with it.

Five foot wide rows about 20 feet long, double rows of 8 plants spaced about 2 1/2 feet apart down the row, 16 plants total. The four corner posts were "immovably" stout. Inner posts (spaced about 5 feet apart) were less immovable, though they still could bear the weight. I had a few thousand feet of approximately 3/16" polypropylene(?) cord to work with. At about 2 1/2 feet and 5 feet (top of the posts) I tautly ran the cord around the perimeter of the row attached to the four corner posts. After that, it was then weaving where it was needed.

Some day I'd like to hire a welder to build something much better.

February 12, 2020	#1
TomatoDon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MS Posts: 1,521	Florida Weave, for determinates only? Practically everything I grow is an indeterminate variety, and they get quite big. Typically, they grow up and out the top of a 5 foot concrete reinforcing wire cage, and then start draping back down the outside of the cage. I've tried the Florida Weave system a few times, and it has never worked for me. If anything, it is more time consuming than just putting up my cages. And it certainly has never properly supported the tomatoes. I've had deer run into the twine and take down several tomatoes in one big swoop, which never happens with cages. (My cages are 24" in diameter and 5' tall.) Also, I don't know how I could possibly support all this size and sheer weight by just weaving some sea-grass string or baling twine with posts every 2 plants apart. Besides, if you are going to all that trouble, you might as well just cage them. Is the Florida Weave only used effectively on smaller determinates? Or do people use it successfully on taller, bigger indeterminates? I know it's practically mandatory for large commercial farms where tomatoes are counted by the acres, but I still can't find a reliable or successful way to use it on my big indeterminate tomatoes. I'd like to get the opinions of those here who regularly use the Florida Weave and if any of you find it suitable for indeterminates, or better than cages. Thank you. Don __________________ Zone 7B, N. MS

February 12, 2020	#2
Goodloe Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Steens, MS 8a Posts: 410	I use the same cages, they are about the best way to support my Big Beef plants...I only have 9 cages, though! Yours is a much bigger operation over there in Yalobusha County, yes? I'm gonna try to road trip over to visit you later in the spring! __________________ ~Jon~ Downheah, Mississippi

February 12, 2020	#5
TomatoDon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MS Posts: 1,521	Thanks for the replies. I could never get the Florida weave to work on the bigger plants and I wanted to be sure it wasn't something I was doing wrong. I've watched all those videos about it and usually they show how to start it on small, young plants, but I've never found a video of it working on large plants. Big Beef, and especially Goliath get to be quite large, with a lot of weight, and I can't see how that string could possible hold up all that weight. Thanks again. Don __________________ Zone 7B, N. MS

February 12, 2020	#3
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	It never worked for me once the tomatoes got large and loaded and I never had to deal with deer either. I tried it twice and it was a messy disaster but I could see it working on smaller plants field grown in less fertile soil. I went from stakes, to Florida weave, to large cages , to cages and then to terraces before finally trying lean and lower. Once I restricted my plants to a single stem it was so much easier to maintain. At first I thought all the pruning would be a problem but with a bit of practical experience I found it to be so much less work than trying to maintain plants in cages or on trellises. The biggest drawback is the longer prep work required in setting up the racks and strings to support the plants. If that is done before any tomatoes are put in the ground it is much less trouble and things go smoothly from there. With only one stem you naturally get fewer tomatoes early on but the plants tend to have far less disease issues due to the better air flow and sunlight. Bill

February 12, 2020	#4
zendog Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: VA-7a Posts: 121	I tried the weave one year and found it a mess. Maybe if I was more aggressive with pruning and only allowed 2 or 3 stems per plant and put a stake between each plant instead of every 2 plants it would have been better, but I think I let too many stems grow. The closest I got it to working for me was with a row of dwarfs tomato project plants. I expect that is similar to how it would work for determinates. But even with them, I prefer regular tomato cages just to keep them further away from each other to reduce disease transmission and increase airflow between plants. Now if I had acres of the dwarfs or nice disease-resistant determinates growing, the weave would be appealing just for the efficiency. I'm with Bill on the value of single stem for ease of management and less disease due to better airflow and just keeping most of the plant up away from the ground. The other thing single stem has given me is will power. Without the absolutist approach to pruning everything but the main stem I would always see a few suckers that got away from me starting to set some flowers and I'd let "just that one" grow... quickly one was one too many. I've seen people using those big cages and I think that works pretty good as well, although vigorous plants do grow out the top and down.

February 12, 2020	#6
Tormato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MA Posts: 4,959	I tried it once and was very successful with it. Five foot wide rows about 20 feet long, double rows of 8 plants spaced about 2 1/2 feet apart down the row, 16 plants total. The four corner posts were "immovably" stout. Inner posts (spaced about 5 feet apart) were less immovable, though they still could bear the weight. I had a few thousand feet of approximately 3/16" polypropylene(?) cord to work with. At about 2 1/2 feet and 5 feet (top of the posts) I tautly ran the cord around the perimeter of the row attached to the four corner posts. After that, it was then weaving where it was needed. Some day I'd like to hire a welder to build something much better.