Sunday, February 21, 2010

Tomato plants get new trellis

 
Six tomato plants, 
growing in two rows.
Coconut husks used as edgings, clearly visible. 
The husks coming to second year now. 

  
Trellis
to support the soft stem and branches as they grow taller.
The black things are oil palm fiber as  additional mulch.

Gardening tips regularly mention about putting down stakes early before the roots start to spread far. So, early staking will reduce damage to the tender tomato roots. We did just that. Just for a change we used white electrical conduits.  A little bit out of place, with our current organic gardening drive. Bamboo stakes would suit just nice. Surprisingly the white conduit really add color to our little vegetable garden. It doesn't cost a penny, because it is another of my regular salvage from a friend's construction site....

This particular post is the update of our tomato plants. On the first of February, they were just planted on the vegetable bed at the start of a new gardening season.
Two weeks later they were really getting acclimatised in the new environment and were doing really fine
and now growing even bigger with a new trellis as well. I used bamboo  stakes previously, and I thought using other material for trellis would be refreshing.

The plants keep growing, adding more leaves and the leaves are getting bigger and longer. The stems are getting thicker at the base, probably anticipating wind soon. All six are doing fine. The 7th ended up in a container. 

The weather is getting very hot now...,  little clouds and no rain. I wonder if my tomato plants will be able to withstand the increasing heat. By the look of it, they will brave through.

Cheers.... Have a great weekend!

~bangchik
Putrajaya, Malaysia

18 comments:

  1. Dear Bangchik, To my eye this all looks very professional and I am sure that the plants will not only survive but thrive. How very inventive to use the conduit pipes as stakes.

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  2. Your baby tomatoes look healthy! The trellis are nicely installed and are looking so neat! :) Kudos for a job well done, my friend!

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  3. What a great tip for gardeners to keep in mind. I imagine many inadvertently damage roots when placing trellis stakes after growth has begun.

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  4. That soil looks a amazing too.

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  5. I love the anticipation of tasty tomatoes! :)

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  6. Bangchik, your tomato babies are doing well growing up nicely. Cheers to you! :)

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  7. They look like they are growing proudly.

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  8. I envy your warm weather. I can't wait until ours arrives. I like the conduit pipes. Recycling is always good. Even for garden stakes.

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  9. Edith Hope ... It is an attempt to try new ways, otherwise gardening in this plot will be very routine and boring.. right?

    Tes ... I agree the stakes look neat and almost precise to the last centimeter... haha.. I purposely don't show the top part of of the stakes..., they are laughable indeed. I will show that fun part later.

    Noelle ... The urge to put trellis early is just not there. Passersby may just laugh looking at stakes near baby plants.. unless they too are keen gardeners.

    Michelle ... The soil is not really black. What you see is the compost material from oil palm fiber... Good as mulch and decompose slowly.

    Kyna ... Huh.., the anticipation is like a strong magnet. So strong that both of us will peep through the window every now and then, to check on the progress.

    Autumn Belle ... Belle, tomato plants are ok at that stage from my previous experience. Problems may come later: wilting, pests etc..

    Ocean Girl ... Someone should take photograph of the two proud gardeners with the proud tomato plants, side by side, with the widest grin!!.. haha.

    teresa ... It was warm weeks ago, now is getting hotter. I hope the plants will stand the extra heat. Spring will return in your place soon and will wake up plants that has been sleeping for months.

    Happy Gardening
    ~bangchik
    Putrajaya, Malaysia.

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  10. Your young plants will quickly grow are provide you with many ruby red tomatoes. Ours are all producing well at this time.

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  11. Your soil looks very rich. I love growing tomatoes and I hope yours do well. It will be another few weeks before I sow my seeds.

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  12. GLENNIS ... I hope they will grow and produce many fruits.

    EASYGARDENER ... Spring will come with exciting promises to you on the other continent.

    ~bangchik

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  13. Nice job Bangchik! I like to see how you used the coconut husk, palm fibre and the conduit as trellis rather than just getting those nice ones from home centres. Btw, many leaves and flowers have already suffered sunburn in my garden! Both heat and sun are unbearable...

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  14. I think if you're salvaging something, that counts as organic gardening. It's reusing something that would otherwise be thrown into the trash. And that's good! Thanks for the reminder to stake my tomatoes. I didn't do that year and I sure had a big MESS.

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  15. I love growing vegetables in containers - its the only way I can do it here in the garden. Do you have snails Bangchik? I had to put vaseline around my containers to stop them getting in amongst the vegetables. You'll be busy keeping them well watered. Are you putting watering gel into the compost mix?

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  16. It's great you are reusing the conduits as stakes. Your plants look wonderfully healthy.

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  17. I like the look of your tomato plants. Ours have just germinated. What do you mean by, "The husks coming to second year now."?

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  18. Stephanie ~ sorry to hear about plants suffering from heat burn in your place.. To really explain about using husks, palm fibre, and conduits, i have to dedicate a few posts just for that.. I will bear that in mind Steph.

    Jeanne ~ good that we can share things through blogging. Don't forget to do staking this season Jeanne!

    leavesnbloom ~ I dont use both vaseline and gel. There are snails around, very much under control for the moment.

    Melanie ~ Anything straight and strong can be used as stakes. Conduits just suit well, look very clinical and neat. Javelins sounds great too if you have them.

    Kim and Victoria ~ We started using coconut husks as vegetable edging last year, now the usage is well into second year. That's what I mean.

    Have fun, and play dirt and wind!

    ~ bangchik
    Putrajaya, Malaysia

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