Tomato plants all tied up

[Chris Graham]

Outside, already ???   :o   ooh scary !

;D

Yeh and they seem to be doing really well.

[Chris Graham]

[MrsKP]

i've got a load more harbingers, san marzano (?) and tumbling tom red still to pot up.  i've  feeling they'll all be outside, if i can find enough black buckets !!!

i'm worrying about the wind more than the cold tbh.  we are in a bit of a wind tunnel and when it blows, it blows ! 

[Chris Graham]

i've got a load more harbingers, san marzano (?) and tumbling tom red still to pot up.  i've  feeling they'll all be outside, if i can find enough black buckets !!!

i'm worrying about the wind more than the cold tbh.  we are in a bit of a wind tunnel and when it blows, it blows ! 

Same my way, the wind has been really bad. I had to move a lot of pots to a sheltered area.

BTW best place for black buckets is Sainsburys (altho the one in Edinburgh dont give them away). Always a nice lot in the Stirling branch.

I could do with a few more....got around 5 more tomato plants to plant up and out. My garden is going to be full of them!

[antipodes]

Can anyone explain how you tie up the tomato plants? I have planted mine next to stakes but as they are still small, I haven't tied them yet. Where on the stem do I tie? And what should I use? I am sometimes afraid of hurting the stem and I don't really know how tightly to tie it.
Any advice?

[MrsKP]

am still to hit morrisons again although i've heard they've discontinued the offer sacre blue de blanc !  although i have got some sainsbury's points to use up. if i'm feeling brave at the weekend, I might hit Braehead !   :o

Antipodes.  I wouldn't worry if they're too small to "usefully" tie.  i think the support is for when the trusses and fruit form just to save the plant from keeling over sideways under the weight of all the gorgus toms you'll be getting.  mind you, i can only speak from some Gartenperles and Totems in pots last year, but even though Totem is a bush, I still need to right up elaborate contraptions of strings round the fruit bearing bits, otherwise they'd hit the floor.

I've only tied once so far and that's more or less to keep the plants close to the stakes.  I'm using garden twine (the green stuff so i can't see it  :P) and just find a suitable gap between leaves, with a bit of slack.  As they grow, I'll reassess.

Hope the experts will agree with me otherwise I'll be reassessing a bit earlier than planned.

;D

[greyhound]

Strips cut from old stockings and tights are good, as they have plenty of "give" in them and won't cut into the stems as they grow.  Just tie them loosely to the support so they stay reasonably straight.

[antipodes]

Stockings! I wouldn't have thought of that! That is a brilliant idea! Stretchy so they don't damage the plants. Well I guess I will wait till the plants are a bit bigger to tie them then.