Posts Tagged: trellis
Privacy Hedges.
By Susanne von Rosenberg, UC Master Gardener of Napa County Plants are a terrific way to...
CA Invasive Plant Council (California Invasive Plant Council) https://www.cal-ipc.org/
Tomato Growing Tips
Tomatoes are a mainstay in most summer gardens. Delicious in warm-weather salads, they are also...
How Big Does a Potato Vine Grow?
Help for the Home Gardener from the
Contra Costa Master Gardeners' Help Desk
I've recently purchased a potato vine. As I was planting it, I noticed that the bottom of the trunk looked strange. I think I'm seeing exposed roots and if so, what should I do about it? I'm planting the potato vine to trellis along a 20-foot fence line. See photo. at right. This was my first attempt at a vining plant, and I'm not sure about planting it in a pot. How should I trellis the vine? Maybe I should buy a second vine to span the distance. Thank you.
Advice from CCMG Help Desk:
Exposed Roots: Typically, it‘s recommended to plant nursery plants at the same level they were in the nursery pot, so as not to bury the crown (where the roots meet the trunk). However, your particular specimen seems to be a bit unusual. If it came from the nursery like this, it seems that it was planted too shallow in the nursery pot, with some roots exposed. At this point, we might suggest that you add mulch (good quality compost is great for this purpose) to your container to cover some of these exposed roots, but not above the crooked base which appears to be the crown. Whenever using mulch, it should not be placed too close to the base or trunk of plants and trees, as this can lead to crown rot or other diseases.
Training the Potato Vine to the Trellis: The Sunset Western Garden book indicates that this variety of potato vine can quickly grow up to 30 feet. However, in a container, this vine may not grow to that length. Vines with twining habits will wind their stems around a support by twisting or spiraling new growth as it elongates. Using ties to train your vine along your trellis is a good idea. You will want to bend young growth while it is still green and supple and wrap ties around both the trellis and stems. Once the stems have wound around the trellis, remove the ties or move them further down the trellis. Additionally, the potato vine can be cut back heavily at any time of year to remove unwanted top growth and promote vigorous new growth. To achieve your desired effect, regular attendance to this training will be necessary.
It is difficult to determine the distance of your trellised fence from the picture, but it might be a good idea to add another vine to cover this area more quickly. Or, you might move your container to the middle of the trellis area and train the vine to grow in both directions.
Growng Plants in Containers: Consistent watering of container plants is necessary, especially in the summer months. Most container-grown plants still need moisture in the winter, though not as much.
Your container plants will also need the addition of some fertilizer over time as the nutrients initially available in the potting soil are depleted or washed out of the pot. Applying a general purpose or controlled-release fertilizer can be used as recommended on the manufacturer's label.
With some attention to the training and care of the vine, you should have a very impressive trellis. If Master Gardeners can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Editor's Note: The CCMG Help Desk is available year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays, we're open every week, Monday through Thursday from 9:00 am to Noon at 75 Santa Barbara Road, 2d Floor, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523. (map) We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 646-6586, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, and we are on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/. "Ask a Master Gardener" help tables are also present at many Farmers Markets as well as at the CCMG's "Our Garden" programs (map). See the CCMG web page for details/locations.
/span>/span>Raisin Production Overhead Trellis Report
According to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS),California raisin type grapes using the overhead trellis management system totaled 19,543 acres (bearing and non-bearing) during 2011. This amounted to 9.8 percent of the total raisin type grape acreage. Varieties ‘Fiesta’ and ‘DOVine’ had the highest percentage of acreage using the overhead trellis system, at 52.2 percent and 41.2 percent, respectively. However, ‘DOVine’ at 609 acres is being grafted over to by growers other varieties including ‘Fiesta’. ‘Selma Pete’ has increased in acreage to 3,872 with approximately 33.1 percent of the plantings trained on an overhead trellis system. The remaining acreage is primarily trained to the open gable trellis system, which is less costly and allows growers to use most of their existing equipment. Approximately 31.5 percent of the total raisin type acreage planted since 2004 has been managed using the overhead trellis system according to the USDA NASS.
The full USDA NASS 2011 California Raisin Grape Overhead Trellis Report can be found here.
Top Tomato Trellis System
Every year, I try to keep my tomatoes up off of the ground by installing a trellis system in advance of the tomatoes needing to be trellised. My usual system is the "post and twine" system in which 2 inch posts are pounded into the ground using a stake pounder at 10 foot intervals and then wrapping/weaving the twine around the poles at 10 inch vertical intervals. It works pretty well and I am not unhappy with it. However, the downside is that the cotton jute that I prefer to use because it is compostable stretches, sags and becomes brittle as you go through the summer. The plastic twine that most "growers" use works better but it has to be disposed of in the landfill since it isn't recyclable or compostable. This year, as an alternative to trellising, I planted a compact determinate variety of tomato from Johnny's selected seed called BHN-444. I chose it partly to being determinate and partly because it was resistant to Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus, which devastated my crop last year. It is producing beautiful, large red globe like tomatoes with excellent flavor. (Okay, maybe not as good as some of the heirloom varieties but at least I have a crop!)But back to trellising....one of the best sites I have seen that identifies to pros and cons and relative costs to a variety of trellising system is one done by the Santa Clara County Master Gardeners. They have tried a number of trellising systems over the years at their demonstration garden. Their reviews will help you better select a trellising system that works for you. For details go to: http://www.mastergardeners.org/picks/tomato_staking.html
Share your tomato trellising stories by sharing us your comments on this blog. And Special Thanks to the Santa Clara County Master Gardeners for their great work!!!