looks good to me. thats what mine looks like

d:
First of all feel comfortable here at GW. There are few idiots!and lots of genorous folks of varing degree of mastery.
As with myself I look at your garden and have dejavu kinda. I had a couple of years where I struggled with the weight of the plants and used close to the same method as you are attempting. Not to discourage you but I had trouble with the stakes eventually falling over and the plants sagging the twine.
I would be sure your stakes are driven so deep there is minimal deflection and plumb them by securing the tops by tying between them.This will let you tighten the "weave" as they get taller.
I eventually gave up the constant twine adjusting and went to a panel of any sort to train the tomatoes on. MUCH easier. Lattice panels would look nice there or if you could find stiff gauged wire panels with wide rectagular or square openings zip tied to three secured to the ground stakes at each end and one in the middle.
Hope as I was of some help as I am not really familiar with Florida weave.

Tom

How deep into the dirt are your stakes driven? As long as you don't get a big crosswind they should do fine. You'll just have to do some sting adjusting and some branch tucking as they grow.

Now, all you need is a good thick layer of mulch for those plants. ;)

Dave

It looks as though you aren't wrapping the string around the stakes. The friction that just one full wrap around will go a long way to help keep it in place rather than allowing the string to slide down the pole.

This is my first yr using fl. weave and I like it. At first, sag in the string bugged me and I adjusted it but as the plants are growing, I'm just twisting the string at each time that I guide a growing tip through and its working fine.

Since you don't have room for guy lines, if your plants get heavy enough, you may want to wire in one more stake, crosswise, from stake to stake and row to row, as a brace.

Have fun!

just a sugestion, i would run a piece wood or pvc from end stake to end stake at the top just keep it from collapsing on itself and later if you needed vertical string then you have a place to start.

Amen for lots of tomatoes, lots and lots! Looks good, but those stakes need to be driven in the ground far. Ever tried circular concrete wire cages staked? I never have a problem with those.

Damon

Well, maybe before the experts response (too late), let this noobie respond so maybe you 'll feel less intimidated.

The problem with Florida Weave is that there's only instructions on how to put up the poles and wires. But here's what I learn so far in my first year with Florida Weave.

1) Instructions don't tell you how many main stems you should have. I have 7 plants on two side of the fence using Florida Weave. Most of them have 4 stems. I see some people with 1 stems, but seem like more for staking and a waste space unless you plant them really close together, which they also don't tell you. Not only that, it doesn't provide coverage for sun scald. Some say after 3 feet, they don't prune anymore. Verdict ? I got a cherokee purple which I called my purple monster because it grew so fast, but now it's stuck at three feet, so no more pruning.

2) They don't tell you how many to prune ? Like I state earlier, I have 4 average. I have 5 on the sungold and 6 at least for the Brandywine Pink since "she" is so picky, less foliage/coverage and less fruit. At the beginning when the four branches were closer, within a foot, they cover the fruits well. But now they are 2-3 ft for 4 branches, they seem bare and this 105+ degree in northern california I fear is going to burn the leaves/fruit. I am sitting here as I write with a ice pack on my burned neck from trying to make sure the tomatoes don't burn from the heat the last few days.

3) They don't tell you which one to prune. Initially, I had some earlier suckers coming out at the bottom. I try to keep the bottom 1 foot clear for air and evaporation not to get to the leaves. Above that, I tried to wrestle some suckers to conform into the lines. I found this difficult as some suckers literally grow 90 degrees perpendicular to the lines. My solution is to selectively keep the suckers that are growing along with the lines. But then there's a second problem. Because they are growing along the line, it's hard to keep them in place unless you get the side branch to rest exactly on the line. My solution is when I run the first line from the first pole to the second one, etc..., I looped it around the last pole three times so that line stays taunt, then on the way back, I "tie" the line to the first line in between the stems, so they can't "move". In other words, I try to space out the stems as evenly as possible.

You here Dave (DigDirt) ? How's your Florida Weave coming along ?

3) When to tie the strings. I made the mistake of waiting until the stems get high enough, then put the string in. By then I had to wrestle with them. Since the string naturally give slack later on, I tie as tight as I can initially before they reach the string.

From left to right, dying Big zac, 3 stems, short cherokee purple with about 20 fruits :-), 6 stems, Brandywine Pink, 6 now, burned Bull's Heart, currently, but seems more is better for coverage, and sungold, 5 stems.

Left Caspian Pink currently with 4 stem with one forking becoming 5th, and Omar's Lebanese with 4 stems currently. They look nice at the bottom, but now as they get more room, they look naked.

Sungold branch was threatening to leave the weave/post. I tied a knot at the end to "train" it.

{{gwi:1361737}}

Johnny,

I would suggest not prunning your sungold. Its such a lovely tasting cherry tomato that you will be sorry you pruned it. I say let that one go. Just my 2 cents, good luck.

Damon

Johnny,

Wonderful!

Hi Dawiff,
IMHO if your plants stay smaller in Mass you would be okay. I am using Fl Weave in my zone the plant is getting huge with heavy fruit. I would tent stake the poles at the end and to the side where you can. My poles are 1 1/4" diameter driven in about 14" to 16". They do not need bracing, but I think yours might later on with the number of plants you are growing. I would be sure of it if you would heavily mulched your entire area to protect the tomatoes wide spreading root systems. The weave system is working for me. It gives great access to ripe tomatoes and ease of pruning. Aloha

Wow! Thanks so much for all the great feedback and advice, it is very encouraging. I'm glad it looks pretty much like what everyone else has experienced. I was a bit worried I wouldn't find many here who have tried this method or are trying it.

Windclimber, Thanks for the advice and the encouragement not to feel like such a noob. My first year, last year, it became such an unmanageable jungle with those flimsy circular cages from the garden center, I wanted to try something completely different. I did have a bit of trouble driving the stakes in with the mallet, I'm planning to have DH give them all a few really good whacks. I meant to make marks on them to see if they had been driven in at least 24 inches, but I forgot in the heat and excitement, plus I had an electrical contractor about to arrive any minute yesterday, and wanted to get the weave done. Next year I may try something differnet like the panels you suggested, if this doesn't work out. I look at the garden as one great big experiment. I'm going to try not to get too stressed out with the tomatoes (yeah, right, that'll happen!)

Digdirt, what kind of mulch would you suggest? I have a circle hoe, which has helped me with keeping the weeds down so far, but of course, they keep right on popping up. What kind of mulch do you use?

Dave1mn2, Thanks for suggesting that I wrap the string around each intermediate stake, I hadn't thought of that. I wanted to make sure I could pull the string nice and tight when I got to the end of the row. I've read, maybe here, that some people wrap the string around a little stick at various points and tighten the string like a tourniquet if it needs tightening. I might try that. Shoot, I never thought of using guy lines. I did read to drive those end stakes in at an angle, though, which I did.

Terrybull, I was thinking I might run another string high across the top, and then if I needed it, I could run a vertical string down to wind around the main stem, and secure it to the ground with ground staples. That's kind of combining two methods together, but if I need it to keep them upright, it might help. Or would wood be better? I was afraid wood would make the whole structure top-heavy.

Sprtsguy76, I will definitely have DH give all the stakes a real good pounding with the hammer. He has the upper body strength, plus he's taller than me, I had to stand on a little stepladder to reach the tops. I'm sure that sight gave the neighbors fits of laughter! Until last year, I grew only flowers, so they already think I am the crazy garden lady.

Johnny_tomato_seed, I was a bit lazy on the pruning last year (my first year growing tomatoes), and that's one reason I think they got so unmanageable. So far I have already taken off lots of the mangy old spotty and yellowing bottom leaves, and I'm trying to be good with taking off the suckers. Sorry about the sunburn on your neck, Ouch! I'm trying to keep the bottom one foot clear too, taking off all the leaves up to the first branch with blossoms, as they kind of die off.

I have quite a few Celebrity in there though, which their tags say are determinate, and they have actually tried sending up suckers from dirt level. Should I be leaving them alone to sucker? The rest are Hawaiian Pineapple, Cherokee Purple, and one Big Rainbow (which is still little and I don't think has a single flower on it yet, and has somehow ended up with two main stems). Oh, I have one Purple Cherry, which I don't plan to prune at all. I'm trying to keep it isolated from the others on the other side of that Herbs sign. Last year it snaked all over the place (but the tomatoes were sweet as candy).

Lehua13, I hadn't heard of tent staking the end stakes, if they start to sag or get drawn toward the center as the plants get heavy, I might try that.

What should I mulch with? Has anyone tried that red plastic mulch? Does it really increase production? My CSA, which will also be giving me tomatoes, has mulched all of theirs with plastic.

One guy that uses the Florida weave suggested to me to use tie-twists. Tie the strings together near the main stem with tie twists. This helps reinforce the strings and supports the main stem better.

Pete

I leave the first sucker after the first flower bloom and take about the rest. Also, top off the growth part of the tomato 30 days before your first frost, it helps to rippen them. There is a video that shows how to prune them and you can see some weaving as well in the background.

Here is a link that might be useful: How To Prune And Weave Support Tomatoes

Portlandhigh--great video! Looking forward to checking out the rest of the site. Really shows how they can quickly weave around the tomatoes and get whole rows done in no time.