Vertical gardening

[hunter63]

As long as we are discussing gardening I thought I would pass along a couple of my attempts at getting more from limited space.

The use of trellis has come in handy, I use them for climbing beans, cukes, and dipper gourds. I do use them for dippers in came, and DW paints them fro gifts.

One of my ideas was published in Mother Earth News: Got paid for it!

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organ...ato-Cages.aspx

If you look at the photo gallery, has a pic or two of my garden.

[Rick]

Well how cool is that? Congratulations!!!!

I use fiberglass fence posts for my tomatoes. I have 4' plastic coated fencing in the garden for pole beans and cucumbers. I have a trellis for some of the larger climbing plants. I let a few of my winter squash vines trail up the fencing but the fruits had a tendency to split. Otherwise, they were fine.

[nell67]

I use cattle panels for trellis' in my garden,beats the heck out of tomato cages,and they are plenty sturdy enough to handle cukes,melons,pumkins,squash and the like,and much easier to hoe around them.

[canid]

very nice. i have a few tomato cages, but the problem i have with them is actually that they aren't large enough to keep healthy plants spread out enough. those seem like they would solve both problems.

[hunter63]

I had the same problem, too small, and were a female dog to store.

As it happened my early version was stacked under the eve of the garage, and lo and behold there was a step ladder right there, so................

[crashdive123]

Cool idea. Here's the framing that I use (and no - it does not look like this at this time of the year).

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

[hunter63]

Very cool, those are tomatoes right?
Hve you tried the up side down tomatoes yet?

[crashdive123]

They were. I have not used the upside down tomato thingie. A few of my customers did and I didn't think the results were all that great. OK if you're limited in space I suppose, but that's why I like container gardening.

[Rick]

I tried it one or two years. Don't remember for sure. I know it didn't work all that well. For one thing, you have to make certain the container isn't in the sun or it will heat up and kill the roots. Not being in the sun is tough on the tomato plant. Being in the sun they go through a LOT of water. I suppose if you shaded the container it might work better. I never tried that. The plant doesn't seem to care whether it grows up or down.

[Beo]

Crash I thought that first pic was your hot tub sales, dang was gonna order one.
Sadly I'm not much into gardening, I don't even know why because I like to garden and grow things. My pops is big into it though.
Hmmm maybe I need a garden.
Ohhh a beer garden

[canid]

definitely go with the beer garden.

[2dumb2kwit]

Very cool, those are tomatoes right?

The way he had those containers tied down, I thought I had finally figured out where jumping beans are grown.

[LowKey]

I use 2" sapling maple poles for the pole beans. Gotta thin those maple suckers out every few years. One pole per hill, buried about 2 feet deep. I use an inverted V of two pieces of 48" x 96" concrete mesh for cucumbers. Chicken wire is threaded on stakes for peas just to keep them off the ground. The acorn squash is the only vining thing that just sort of wanders off into the grass but that's ok.

I laugh every time I see those red metal U-shaped 'tomato stakes' that Gardener's Supply has. They are simple concrete mesh cushions and don't cost no $40 for two. LOL. I've been using em for 40 years for my maters and never once thought to patent them. Geesh. Of course, mine aren't pretty powder coated...

Looks like I'm gonna have to build a fence this year though. We seem to be overrun with rabbits. We must have lost our pair of harrier hawks. And I noticed deer tracks down by the seep. They've never come out in the open like that. But haven't seen a coyote in ages either.

[Mertell]

I am with Nell: Cattle panel is hard to beat. It is 1/4" galvanized wire welded in approx. 6" squares. It comes in 4 foot high by 16 foot long panels. What I like best is that in fall, you can clean up the garden by ripping off the vines without wrecking your structures.

There is also pig panel, which is the same, but only 3 feet tall, and has smaller openings near ground level, to keep little piglets inside.

We use the cow panel for cukes, and taller things, and the pig panel for the peas.

I use a small bolt cutter to make any needed cuts: in fact I cut the panels in half INSIDE the Farm and Fleet before I even bring them home. ( Too hard to haul 16 footers: I cut to 8 footers.)

-Mert

[your_comforting_company]

I've seen tomato baskets grown on the porch to keep the pot and roots shaded. tomatoes are "supposed" to grow better suspended like that, but I can't tell any difference in yield or quality. I do it the old fashioned way.. put em in the ground, put up stobs and strings and water every morning.

Of course, the tomato blight gets me about 2 tomatoes out of about 12 plants every year... I think I will not grow maters this coming year.

[gryffynklm]

Hunter, congrats on the article. I like the collapsable frames thanks for posting. After last years near disaster, I'm setting up tomatoes and such in tubs like Crash has his and place them around our drive way. It extends behind a gate so its not on the street. Any way no tree shade there.

I composted over ten pounds of tomatoes last year. They were much worse then store bought. Even the green tomatoes fried were bad. I did put up some great tomato sauce from the cherry tomatoes.

My conclusion was that we had Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus, too much rain not enough sun, not as hot last summer. The yield was amazing but I couldn't do any thing with the tomatoes larger then grape. Roma, beefsteak, big boy, and a few others. I planted a lot and in variety to see what did best in my garden. Experiment partial failure.

[hunter63]

We had a problem with wilt here, as well.

Got a fair crop from the garden early, but the wilt really took off.
The cherry tomatoes were in containers, and did get hit later, but much later.
Different part of the yard.
Pulled up the damaged plants and tomatoes, bagged them and hauled to the land fill, so as to not put them in the compost.

Only gonna try a couple of plants here this year.
I like the hanging plants as a kinda a "whoa, that's cool",kind of thing, but I use 5 gal buckets, more media.

By mixing garden soil/compost, peat moss, with packing peanuts it keeps the buckets lighter.
The bucket has a 3 " hole in the bottom, covered w/cardboard, to keep media in.

I fill the bucket with my media, put the cover on tight, turn upside down, plant a small verity of tomato, cherry, plumb, cracker jack etc.
When they get going good, I tip back right side up, take off cover, and hang by the bucket handle.

I use impatiens(flowers) planted on the top of the bucket to serve as a watering indicator. When needing water, they wilt, but will perk right back up when watered with out harm.
So I just watch the flowers, but they do take a lot of water.

It does provide decoration in different parts of the yard that's edible, leaving more room in the regular garden.

Crash, I'm liking the containers, make it easy to keep weeded, mix soil for different plants and generally keep thing neater.
Example carrots do well in sandy soil, ours is clay, so a mixture is important.
I have a couple of container with lettuce, started indoors, then carried out for salads.

As far as fencing panels go, real good idea, but then again a PITA to store for ME
Hense the folding stands.
All this garden stuff kinda breaks up the cold and snow I looking at right now.

[nell67]

Hunter,I store the panels alongside the outside of an outbuilding,on wall mounted hangers,no problems there,the posts stored inside the building.

[cowgirlup]

Great idea! I will have to make a few of those since my pea trellis is almost shot!

We have had 2 wet cold summers here and the tomatos got the wilt.
I read that once it is in the soil you shouldn't plant tomatos in the garden for 2 years.

I will be looking for alternate planting spaces and may use the garden fabric on the ground around the few tomatos I may still try to put in the garden.
The bacteria is in the soil and splashes up onto the leaves when it rains or you water. That is how is starts and spreads from there.

I was all set to can lots of tomatos the past two years and barely got any to eat.

[Rick]

I use impatiens(flowers) planted on the top of the bucket to serve as a watering indicator. When needing water, they wilt

That is an excellent idea! thanks!