From page 30
VEGETABLES
you should rotate the crops
tomatoes in a line, plant
that you plant each season.
them about 60 cm apart.
This is done to prevent cropWait till they are about 30
specific pests and diseases
cm high. Place a stake
from building up and carrying
between every two or three
over from one season to the
plants, and pound at least 30 next in the soil. If you move
cm into the ground, depend- the crop, the problem has no
ing on how much wind your host on which to live.
garden gets in the summer.
Ideally, rotate a vegetable or
Tie baling string to the end
vegetable family so it grows
stake, wind it around the
in a particular spot only one
plants to the next stake and
year out of three. Vegetables
then back again to the first
that are members of the
stake, creating a figure of
same botanical family are
eight pattern. As your tomato
plants grow taller, weave
additional lines of twine
about every 20 cms up the
stakes. Carefully tuck in any
stray branches.
This method is also known as
the “Florida weave”, but it is
not a hairstyle from the West
Rand!
Then there is the T-post
trellis, where you string your
tomato plants vertically, from
a top bar attached to two
stakes. Using found items
such as downed tree limbs,
this method is a good one for
smallholders who don't want
to spend a lot of money on
materials.
Whatever method you use,
susceptible to
the same
problems, so try
to follow
members of one
family with
members of a
different family.
The tomato is in
the same family
as brinjals,
peppers and
potatoes. So
next season
To page 32
T-post trellis
Florida weave
Close-up of string in Florida Weave
31
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