Tomato is one of the most popular types of vegetable plants grown in our country today. The tomato gained wide popularity due to its nutritional and dietary properties, a huge variety of species and varieties, high productivity in various climatic conditions. However, to get a good harvest, proper tomato care is necessary, which includes a garter to the pegs.
Growing methods of tomatoes
The tomato is grown in the open air and in greenhouse conditions in a horizontal and vertical position.
The vertical cultivation method allows:
- Planting a large number of plants in a relatively small sown area;
- Get a high-quality crop as a result of better illumination of plants along their entire height;
- Simplify the process of care (feeding, watering, pruning) and harvesting;
- Prevent damage to plants and fruits during processing;
The main types of garters
One of the many ways to get a high yield is to garter tomatoes. There are the following main ways to tie tomatoes:
- Peg method (using pegs);
- Frame method (using rope or wire frames);
- Tapestry (horizontal and vertical);
- Pyramidal (conical);
- Hook type (using hooks).
The pegging method is the most common method for growing tomatoes.
Purpose of garter tomato
The main reasons for which a tomato garter is carried out:
- There is a high risk of damage to tall plants under the weight of fruits that increase during ripening;
- The ability to apply fertilizers directly under the root of the bushes, without affecting the plants and fruits themselves, which prevents the occurrence of chemical burns and mechanical damage;
- The fruits are located above the ground level, which protects them from diseases and attacks of various pests;
- The procedure for caring for plants (pinching, mulching, pinching and spraying) is greatly simplified;
- The degree of protection of fruits and green mass from high humidity increases;
- The degree of illumination of plants increases for their full and timely development.
The tying of plants grown in open conditions, among other things, allows you to reliably protect the plants from damage during heavy rainfall and strong winds.
The most popular way to tie up tomatoes is to attach them to vertical posts - pegs. Supports can be made of various materials (wood, iron, metal-plastic, plastic), both factory-made and improvised elements.
The metal-plastic pegs have a metal core covered with a thin layer of plastic. The plastic pegs are made of extra strong plastic. Factory-made pegs in various sizes with pre-applied elements for plant garters are available from specialist stores.
The most widespread in terms of their price and availability are wooden pegs.
Making pegs with your own hands
You can make wooden supports for tomatoes with your own hands even without special preparation. For manufacturing, a pre-marked wooden board with a length of 2.0-2.5 m, a width of 10-15 cm and a thickness of 5-7 cm is marked in width and length for the required number of stakes.
You should not save on material by using pegs with a small section (up to 50x50 mm) due to the high probability of their damage under the weight of plants and the action of wind loads.
Then, using a hand or circular saw, the board is "dismissed" into bars of the selected section. The resulting stakes, if necessary, are polished with a plane or with the help of coarse sandpaper. For more convenient and easy penetration, the ends of the stakes are sharpened at an angle of 45 from one or more sides of the support.
Installation of supports
After preparing the required number of pegs, they begin to drive them into the ground. In order not to damage the roots of the tomato, the place where the support is driven should be 10-15 cm away from the main stem. If the ground is hard and compacted, hammer in with a heavy hammer or sledgehammer.... If the ground is loose, you only need to slightly press on the support to deepen it to a sufficient depth (up to 30 cm).
Garter tomatoes
The shrubs are tied with a rope made of strong and rot-resistant material. First, the rope is tied on a support, and then they grab the stem and tie it to the support for several knots. For a more reliable fastening, it is necessary to grab the stem and 2-3 adjacent large brushes together.
Under no circumstances should the rope be tightly tightened around the plant stem. The tension on the rope should be loose enough to allow the stem to thicken unhindered as it grows.
Unusual fastening methods
In addition to the above-mentioned usual ways of fastening tomatoes, there are original and, at the same time, practical options for garter tomatoes with the help of scrap materials. For instance:
Reverse taper vertical design
It is a structure of several hoops of various diameters, which are fixed on supports installed at an angle to each other. The hoops are evenly spaced along the entire height of the structure from bottom to top, starting from a hoop with a smaller diameter to a larger one. Such a cone-shaped design allows you to reliably protect the tomato bush from recurrent frosts.
Inclined lattice A-shaped structure
It is a spatial structure of elongated A-shaped grids attached at an angle to each other, made of small diameter tree trunks, wooden rods or stakes.
Sloped lattice V-shaped structure
It is a structure that in its essence resembles an "inverted" image of the previous structure. Consists of shortened and inclined in the opposite direction from each other V-shaped gratings.
Garter tomatoes is one of the most important and crucial stages in the process of growing tomatoes.
This procedure guarantees an increase in yield, an increase in the period of fruiting and a more efficient use of the sown area.