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Old February 13, 2011   #46
JackE
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Okay - That's basically what were doing, except we make a wrap on the post instead of just going around it. I recall looking at that method before we made the jump from cages, and basically went that route, except we discovered that it was better to wrap each posts to stay taut. Your link mentions a problem with tightness.

Here's the history of the original system, which used a figure 8 around each plant and no wraps on the posts. It damaged the plants if pulled tight. From U of VA: (emphasis mine)

This system was first reported in Bulletin 710, University of Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, Tomato Production on the Sandy Soils of South Florida, May 1966. Now this system is universally popular with certain varieties for vine-ripe markets. Virginia growers have been string trellising since the early 1970's. Also, this management system has become very popular on the Eastern Shore and is being used there annually on several thousand acres of tomatoes.
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Old February 16, 2011   #47
DKelly
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carolina gold is very much crack proof and it is an excellent producer! I should know... we get more than 100" of rain a year per average.
romas fare well also.
hope this helps.
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Old February 23, 2011   #48
Ozark Organic
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The most crack resistant varieties I grow for market are Rose de Berne, Japanese Black Trifele, Abraham Lincoln, San Marzano, Roma, Nyagous, Homestead, and Garden Peach. The big fruited ones mostly all crack, but Giant Belgium is better than Brandywine and Candy Stripe is better than Pineapple. Hope this helps.
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Old February 23, 2011   #49
JackE
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We have a lot less cracking with Solar Fire than any other variety we plant -- I've never heard of any of those varieties except Homestead and Roma.
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Old February 23, 2011   #50
laspasturas
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I just wanted to add something about EMT. We bought it in 10 ft. lengths for $2 ea. last year from HD and cut it down to 7 feet to stake our 60 or so indeterminates. We drove each about 1 ft. into the ground, leaving 6 ft. for staking. They were perfectly sturdy (even with Oklahoma winds) for individual staking with minimal pruning and we only had a few "leaners" at the end of the season. I don't think that they would be sturdy enough to weave two plants, but, depending on the price of t-posts, it might still be cheaper to use EMT between every plant. It seems like more work because you have more stakes to put in, but we were able to pull them all out by hand in about 30 minutes at the end of the season (2 of us). You definitely couldn't do that with t-posts. We used those for weaving our peas and they were a bear to get out of the ground.

Obviously, this wasn't for a large operation, so there may be other concerns that I know NOTHING about! The only thing I can think of off the top of my head to worry about with the EMT is not having notches for holding up the weaving twine like you do with t-posts. You could end up with some slippage.
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Old November 22, 2011   #51
gourmetgardener
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Granadero, Arbason, Imperial 643, Geronimo, Pitenza.

Given enough rain, all tomatoes will crack, unless you act fast and raise the electrical conductivity of your soil - Potassium Chloride or Potassium Phosphate.
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