For lettuce and other crops up to 2 ft tall my friends at the farm don't use any supports. Row cover is laid over the bed and all the edges are buried in the soil as well as anchored with rocks. Burying the edges is the way to use it for pest control - caterpillars and also flea beetles, rust fly on carrot and parsnip etc. The plants just push up the row cover as they grow.
You have to take the cover off for weeding or thinning, and then put it back in place with buried edges. But this works really well for pest control and gives a great head start on the season. I think there is improved germination too for direct seeded crops, because of the moisture retention under cover.
For squash they use some short lengths of black plastic pipe as low hoops, with the ends dug into the soil. The hoops are not even joined to one another so they do flop down a bit. But they are enough to give the squash the head space that they need to push their way up without breakage. Again the edges are buried under. When it's time to pollinate the squash they remove the cover but leave the hoops for easy cover in case of a frost.
This wouldn't work for tomatoes, I reckon, because even Cole's determinates will need some support. And I think tomatoes would also benefit from extra head space and less contact between the cover and the leaves.
|