Is this a good way to support tomato truss

[tnkrer]

Last year I only grew cherry and roma tomato and all the trusses were strong enough for the fruit they carried. Today while inspecting the plants I noticed that several trusses on early girl are drooping. The fruit truss had given near the base



So I tied couple of those, one to the cage and one to the stem using jute twine. I did search and found this thread from last year -> Do you tie/support your tomato clusters, but the pictures in that thread didnt really tell me how they were supporting the truss. Will this allow the fruits to live and grow? The truss has not broken, but it must have been damaged.





The brandywine is getting much bigger tomatoes and multiples one one truss, but those trusses seem to hold. Is preventive support necessary?

[Ed of Somis]

T...it is tough to get a read on what you have...since the photos are sooo close up. I found that my nylon twine stretched (used as lateral supports between poles)...so I lost a branch because of the stretching issue. Does your twine cut into the plant...or is it soft enough?

[zipcode]

To get maximum efficiency tie the thread to the middle of the tomato truss, not towards the base.

[Rockporter]

I use sheet strings I made out of an old sheet. They dry out after the rain and support without cutting into the plants. Sheet strings are easy to tie and just cut off easily at the end of season. I cut them really long and tie up a branch then I have excess available for tying up the trusses later.

[Sun City Linda]

Originally Posted by Rockporter

I use sheet strings I made out of an old sheet. They dry out after the rain and support without cutting into the plants. Sheet strings are easy to tie and just cut off easily at the end of season. I cut them really long and tie up a branch then I have excess available for tying up the trusses later.

Me too. I use old sheets, fabric, t-shirts and other clothing cut or ripped into long pieces. works great and the price is right!

[Ed of Somis]

I am trying to get my terminology together....when we say "truss" what exactly are we tying up?

[Rockporter]

The part of the plant that is holding the tomato flowers and then the tomatoes get so big and heavy that it pulls the whole branch down with the tomato truss.

[madddawg]

I am no expert by I suggest tying a loose knot around any part of the plant. Yes the picture is a little to close up to see what you got going on and yes some cloth is much better then twine, holds more surface area and doesn't cut into the plant as much.

[Ed of Somis]

R...thankyou for that info. I am guessing the "truss" that holds the maters is pretty dense/strong, and can support that weight well. I am learning the fruit is what is the real weight....not the branches/leaves themselves.

[tnkrer]

Thanks all, It did seem like the twine was cutting into the truss, so I used velcro tape instead. Using old bedsheets is a good idea. I will do that next time. Also I tried to support at the middle of the fruit branch. (which I called truss all this while)

[amideutch]

Plastic Tie wraps work well especially if your growing your plants in a cage.

Ami

[NarnianGarden]

Old nylon pantyhose is an excellent way to use for support, of course not enviromentally friendly ... But handy and stretches like nothing else.

Just used some old nylon to tie the plant to the patio railing... may look funky, but otherwise the plant might take off with the wind.

[Labradors2]

Old nylons/tights/knee highs may not be environmentally friendly, but I used to use them and re-use them for more than one season! (Of course I didn't know about spreading disease back then, and just left them in the shed for the next summer. It would probably be best to bleach before re-using I guess). It's better than tossing them away!

Linda

[cythaenopsis]

Nice looking tomatoes!

I agree that tying off on the center part of the truss is probably the easiest. It avoids having to secure separate lines for each and every tomato.

If you've got loads of the twine, what you can do is cut up some plastic bags and create little wads of the material secured with tape. Then tape this onto the twine just under the truss where it is threaded; it'll provide sufficient padding so that the twine doesn't cut into the truss.

In my case I have this plastic lashing tape that I use to secure my plant to the support poles. It is flexible and soft, yet quite strong. I have one truss with 5 tomatoes on it and I'm probably going to use the tape to hold the truss up, once the weight becomes too much for it to manage.