Training GH tomatos

14 years ago

Its fun learning how to use the new GH..... The first disaster was mildew on the squash and cucumbers. A quick search of the forums told me i should use neem (thanks Dave) and it worked wonderfully.

I planted four tomato plants and they were growing like weeds. That did not seem like enough so started 5 more plants. The first four soon outgrew their five foot tall cages and passed the lights. Wanting to keep the next five at a more manageable hight, I started curling the stems along the ground in a circle inside the cage, cutting off the leaves each time I pulled the plants down.

The 5 new plants now are about two foot shorter than they would have been without the training. I'm not sure how much more I can twine them in a circle, but plan to keep on until there is a tomato near the bottom.

Today I tried pulling down the giant plants - and it worked. They are now a foot shorter and are below the lights. I'll try to pull down a bit each day and maybe can keep them under control a little longer. A few of the leaves were damaged with the lowering, but nothing serious. It does not look like I'll have tomatos ripe for Christmas dinner...... Looking forward to January tomatos.

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Comments (4)

oakhill (zone 9A, Calif.)
14 years ago
Congratulations on your success. Most commercial greenhouse tomatoes grow to about 30-50 feet of stem length before the logistics of winding becomes too much of a chore. In a smaller greenhouse,you may run out of space sooner.
another_buffalo
Original Author
14 years ago
Wow - its hard to imagine a tomato 50 feet tall. How long does a tomato have to grow to reach such a height? And how much of that has leaves/fruit on it? I'm imagining my GH a solid mass of tomato plants, with me crawling through trying to pick ripe fruit. Ripe tomatos would be worth it....
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oakhill (zone 9A, Calif.)
14 years ago
The old leaves are removed from all but the top 8 to 10 feet of the plant, which is trained up a string. The normal cropping cycle is about 9-10 months, but the plants can grow for years.

Here is a link that might be useful: greenhouse tomatoes
barrie2m_(6a, central PA)
14 years ago
While I'll agree with Cuestaroble that stringlines are the best use of the gh framework to support tomatoes, you seldom need to lower plants more than 10 feet in any year. I usually figure 10 extra feet oif wraped twine on the tomahooks for cherry types, 6 feet for all others.

I will say that in my experiences the stems never lower in a straight row as intended. Often other clips or tying methods are needed to keep rows open enough to pick.

Most importantly. you'll need to devote time to this task or plant growth will get out of hand and plants will break over from upper fruit weight. I often have spent 2 hours per week suckering & clipping 750 plants. Yep, it's worth it but I still will not go more than 9 months growing season(March thru Nov.). Winter growing causes a whole new set of tasks.