Broken trellis!

Not sure if I just bought a bad brand or what. I went out the other day and one of my trellis nets had broken nearly all the way across. I have the netting stretched on 1/2" conduit. It is still attached all the way around to the conduit. The only things on the trellis are 2 Cherokee purple, a baby pumpkin and a luffa gourd. The tomato plants are very full but not nearly as heavy as my large reds on another trellis and that trellis is fine! There aren't any pumpkins on the vine and the vine itself goes all the way up to the conduit and is supported by my fence which is a foot behind the bed-so that wasn't really weighing it down either, what the heck? Everything is fine I guess. I tied everything to the top of the conduit with long pieces of twine- it looks ridiculous but it should get me through til harvest.

So are there opinions of different brands being better than others? I think the brand I used was Burpee, I bought it at HD. I almost bought the Gardeners Supply one on the website when I couldn't find it anywhere but then saw it at HD.

I don't even bother buying the net style trellis stuff. I just put up my own, made of jute or sisal, both of which are strong and make it fine through a season.

I also made my own last year I used a decent nylon mason string

here is a picture of it on one of my hoops I also have it on my conduit

So sorry for your trellis netting troubles, Glendale-gardener! Did you use the "beautiful, soft, indestructible nylon netting" recommended by Mel in his book? I was thinking of trying it, so would like to know if this is what you've had trouble with! Anybody else with opinions of it?

So far I have liked the netting for melons and such, but not my tomatoes. I would rather string the tomatoes. I have never had a problem with the strength of the nets though.

Thanks, duhh! I would LOVE to be able to string my tomatoes, too! Neither hubby nor I are very good with handyman type things, but I just might have to try it if I can figure out how!

Anybody else with pros or cons of trellis netting?

Sherry- yes, that's what I'm using. Hopefully it just an inferior brand or something or just a bad batch. My other 2 trellis' with netting are still fine. I might try stringing them next year though, depending on how well the other 2 hold up. So far, they're doing fine though.

I also had a bad batch of Burpee netting. I have had it last two seasons in past years. It totally disintegrated and all my cucumbers fell. I am thinking of going to a hog panel next year.

Oh I'm not handy at all either! I used the trellis out of the book out of conduit, but instead of putting a net on it I tied a bunch of twine to it. Twine worked well for the peas. I had to replace some of the twine for the tomatoes that got crazy huge and heavy.

I love what camprn did to hold her goods up... :idea: Adding to hubby's-to-do-list :idea:

I haven't built mine yet so I have a few questions.

1) I get a lot of wind and am thinking of using a 6' piece of rebarb..3' in the ground and 3' for the conduit.

2) How high should it be?

3) Can I use the vinal netting you can purchase at Lowes?

Tha nks

Floyd

floyd1440 wrote:I haven't built mine yet so I have a few questions.

1) I get a lot of wind and am thinking of using a 6' piece of rebarb..3' in the ground and 3' for the conduit.

2) How high should it be?

3) Can I use the vinal netting you can purchase at Lowes?

Tha nks

Floyd

1. I am in South Dakota and so far the 2' rebar is working just fine to hold my trellises, but any additional length you want to add can only add stability. This picture is looking south - yesterday morning I found this stuck into my SFG from the south during a severe thunderstorm early that morning. My trellis didn't budge!





2. How high are you willing to reach and what are you going to plant? I am under 5' tall and my arms and hands go numb easily, so I made mine a maximum of 5' - no overhead reaching, but if you can comfortably reach over your head just add a foot or so to your height - unless you are comfortable using a ladder as well. (Hubby banned me from ladders, chairs, and stepstools because in the last 3 years I have broken one foot and 4 toes.....)



3. Are you talking about the snow fence type stuff or larger mesh? You want the spaces to be big enough that you can comfortably reach in and weave the vines and pick your veggies.



GG

I use the 18 gauge coated wire & eye hooks for my trellis. It's a little time consuming to install, but last forever & can hold a lot more weight.

I got a bad trellis last year. Thankfully all the rest I've purchased since then (Lowe's and HD) have been fine.

Thanks everyone. I guess I'll wait til late next winter to decide if I need to switch. If one of the others break, I'll definitely switch to a different strategy. I like the stringing idea and the wire trellis . Hopefully, the rest hold out-the first looks pretty ridiculous!

I bought netting at Lowe's last season. I stored one whole trellis on the garage wall but left the other one out during this entire brutal winter. Guess which one is just starting to break under 6' tomato vines!!??

trukrebew - It will be interesting to see how my trellises survive one of our winters as well. We do not have a heated garage (or any garage) so if I pull them off their rebar stakes they will be stored in an unheated shed. If I am lazy, they will be subject to snow, ice, and brutal winds. Maybe I will split them and do an experiment!



GG

My netting broke under the weight of the toms, too. I was heartsick when I saw all my toms on the ground. Many of them were just getting ready to turn red. And I'm not into fried green toms. I raced over to big box store and bought tomato staking kits and carefully propped them back up. Since then I noticed while flipping through Mel's book photos where they tied the netting onto the frames with long twist ties. I'll try that next year.

my source of the wire was ablackhorse.com.....I checked and it must have been taken off....but a number of other companies carry it.....even ordering from Walmart and I think you can pick it up at the store.....hope you will try it....good luck....Ruth

I followed the book when making my trellises last year, with the nylon netting and the rebar and conduit frame. I was feeling pretty lazy last autumn, and so I left the whole setup outside for the winter. Up here in western NY, we have some terrible winters! The snow was piled about three feet high over my garden at any given point through the winter.

Here it is July, almost August, and the trellis and netting are just fine! I had to extend the one trellis, though. I added an extra four feet to the top of my one trellis, because my sugar snap peas wouldn't stop growing up!

First I would like to thank everyone for the pictures as they help and give me ideas. Now I am torn between the plastic pipe, which will last forever, and the conduit. Both look very professional however and you put in a lot or work.

My question is on the mesh.

How big should the openning be? 3"x3", 4"x4'. from your experience.

Do you suggest nylon, steel, or plastic?

Floyd

Definately 4" (or larger) ..... it makes things a lot easier to work with/harvest. The larger openings also allow for better air flow & helps keep your trellis from becoming a sail in high winds.

I have some deer netting so maybe I can stretch that out and see how it looks, but have to build my trellis first and will wait till fall.

But is steel better than nylon?

Floyd