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velcro ties...
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Posted by
fireduck 10a (
My Page) on
Sun, Jul 14, 13 at 10:23
| I just ordered some Velcro garden ties for my tomatoes. I think this might simplify fastening my maters to the stakes/wire. Anybody using these??? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: velcro ties...
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| Tried them last year but they weren't strong enough - just pulled open from weight of vines/fruit. I used baling twine instead. |
RE: velcro ties...
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| I use my old green T-shirts. I rip the about 1/2 inch wide strips. They are much better than any ties and won't injure plants, and the are cheap. For weaving I use soft ropes. |
RE: velcro ties...
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| Many much less expensive ways to do it that work better. They get wet and lose their ability to stay connected and as mentioned, fruit weight is a problem for them. Dave |
RE: velcro ties...
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| Hmmm, I have used them for years with good success. Had to tear them apart to remove the vines at the end of the season. Make sure to overlap very generously. I buy the roles of it at Home Depot. I overlap the velcro 3 or 4 inches, longer if it it is a long piece with a lot of weight on it. Then press it together well along its entire overlapped length. I have even removed and replaced it in a different spot with good success. But you definitely can't be stingy with it. The more weight on it, the greater the overlap has to be. So remember when you are cutting and placing it that those tomatoes will be a lot heavier when they to be full sized and the vine heavier as it grows. I think because you have to allow a generous amt of overlap it works better for those with fewer plants. I only have less than 10 in the garden in a given year. If you have 50 or 100 indeterminate plants it is obviously more expensive and not sure I would want to foot the cost. |
RE: velcro ties...
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| I think all the above comments seem valid/fair. I used a similar product last month (it is narrow 8" Velcro for wrapping up electrical cords). Ironically, as S says...you need to press hard together and overlap generously. They were just a bit small and narrow. I do like my T shirt strips. As a kid in Kansas....it seemed to work well on grandpa's tomatoes. |
RE: velcro ties...
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| I use green fleece material I got in a bundle at a tag sale. I cut it into strips. It has some stretch, drys quickly and holds melons on a trellis. Pretty cheap to buy it in fabric stores as well. |
RE: velcro ties...
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Just to add my material for making ties to the list. NYLONS / PANTY HOSE.......
Cut them into strips of desired length and thicknesses and just double knot them after making the loop. No matter how big or small you need to be, they will maintain their elasticity and will not injure the plants. Last quite a while as well. Elliot |
This post was edited by michelliot on Tue, Jul 16, 13 at 13:14
RE: velcro ties...
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| Panty hose is good too but I don't have any ..hehe |
RE: velcro ties...
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| I have used the garden velcro ties the OP has mentioned, and they have really simplified supporting my tomatoes. The ones I have are soft on the plant side, and hold strongly if you overlap by 2 inches. Even my heavy Brandywines have not busted through the ties. To make my roll of garden velcro go further, I have placed a loop around a stem that needs support, then looped inexpensive twine around the velcro loop and fastened by bow tie around the stake. That makes it even easier to relocate the tie if I need to. |
RE: velcro ties...
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| I used to use the velcro ties for years but recently switched to green stretchy tape. So far no issues. |
RE: velcro ties...
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| I only use nylons for tying my tom plants up. Strong, and they dry out quickly. Cotton is not as good. |
RE: velcro ties...
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| Just an idea--as I was replacing a shower curtain, i realized the huge shower curtain rings (plastic) would be great for hooking around tomato stems...! Will use some on my fall tomatoes. PS-- you can buy 12 for $1 at the dollar stores!!! |
This post was edited by plantloverla on Tue, Jul 16, 13 at 13:10
RE: velcro ties...
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| Nylon Tie Wraps work wonders for me. It comes in different lengths, can be daisy chained to increase length and also be used to secure cages to containers. I use a lot of velco at the communication site I work at for securing fiber optic and Cat 5 cable. What I have found is the quality differs between the type we use and what you would buy in an garden center. Especially the type sold for clothing which is inferior to the electronic grade. |
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