Category : Plant Training

Training plants will help you get better quality yield

Have you considered training plants in your garden? There are many different types of plants to train and various ways to train them. You can train plants in your garden to inject some beautiful foliage or train some vegetables and fruit to enjoy with the family. 

Why should I train my plants?

Tutoring plants once you have the knack of how to do it will keep your plants low maintenance and easy to deal with. It will also provide you with a privacy screen. Tutoring plants on plastic netting will help you to create a beautiful landscape scene in your backyard. Training on trellis will help you to create a beautiful landscape scene in your backyard. You can train plants over a frame and create a pergola of shade to enjoy in summer. If you plant some climbers and build an arch frame from one side of a path to the other you then have a lovely floral entrance way.  If you’re a keen gardener you may have just went crazy growing all sorts of plants and have little space left. Perhaps you are living with someone else and cannot put up any permanent structures head upwards. Vertical growing is a modern technique that can help make use of small spaces or that awkward place in your garden you don’t know what to put there. Vertical growing helps you get the most out of your garden. You can turn your boring, over run garden into a scene of beautiful greenery.

Climbers or sprawlers?

A good place to start is with a vegetable or fruit that is naturally a climber or is easy trained to do so. Training plants that are good to use are climbing peas and beans, tomatoes melons, squashes and pumpkins. Climbers will produce tendrils that will cling onto a structure and slowly pull themselves up. Sprawlers like courgettes and tomatoes will need to be tied to the support structure at different times of its growing cycle. Training plants like the popular apple or the delightful cherry can be trained into shapes or vertical cordons and pretty much any type of shape you can create. Then there are cane fruits which grow quite tall like raspberries. With cane fruits you need to make sure you don’t allow them to flow around onto their neighboring plants. These plants are best tied down to posts individually.

Growing climbers

Suckers: These have little tendrils that have a stick like substance on them that can stick to anything and are hard to remove.

Twiners: These too have tendrils that twist around anything that is close by from wire to a pole to plants.

Clingers: These types do not need any support they grow large robust roots that stems are in contact with a vertical support structure.

Winders: They will coil their stems all around garden stakes or other support structure all in one direction.

Ramblers: They will use thorns to grab onto something to support them. These will need extra training and tying down.  

Trellising vegetables and fruits is a garden technique that keeps plants away from moist soil and makes creative use of a small vacant space. Plant training is all about using less ground space and tutoring the plants to grow how you want them to. You can fit more plants into a garden bed, pest control and an easier way to monitor and prune the plants. Accessing the plants is easy as there is no bending over or crouching down. There is no risk of injuring your eyes or hands by bending down into the bush trying to avoid all the vines sticking out. There is also no harvest waste from rot when the fruit or vegetables sit in the moist soil. You won’t miss out of any hidden ripe fruit that may be hidden from all the uncontrollable growth.

There are so many benefits to training plants

Trellising is fantastic for growing plants but it’s important to remember to place trellises on the north side of the garden so you don’t end up shading other plants.

Also take note to dig your anchors in deep to avoid falling over in the harsh wind conditions and the extra added weight when the fruit and veggies develop.

Best suited for plant training are:

• Tomatoes will continue to produce fruit until the frost
• With cucumbers you need to find a non-bush type. As bush types don’t need any support
• Pole beans and melons these have large produce but with the added support of a hammock for the melons they can be trellised
• Pumpkins only grow non-bush and miniature types like a corn. They are suitable for plastic netting

Do I need to prune?

You will need to prune to help control the size your plant grows to.  If you don’t prune, the plant will continue to grow over spaces. You may rather control it not and if let go it will crowd your other plants. Plants like cucumbers need to be pruned to help in aid of them growing upwards. Pruning will improve the amount of sunlight the plants get as well as improving the air circulation around the plants this will help prevent diseases. When training plants pruning will help you get better quality yield. Cut off the growth that is not useful so the plants energy can be focused on the fruit. When your plants are not pruned they get overgrown and fruit can end up being hidden and will rot when left sitting on the soil. 

It may also be beneficial when training plants to provide some protection against weeds. Weed fabric is non-fraying and is used commonly in backyard gardens and in business landscaping. Weed fabric provides protection from the weeds overtaking your garden and gives you more time to spend enjoying your garden rather than wasting time and energy pulling out weeds.

What is Plant training net? Advantages and Uses

Plant training is an administration training done to control the direction, size, and form of plant growth. It can be referred to as the protection and care given to plants so they can grow effectively.

The aim of any Gardner is to enhance their crop results while hoping that they could decrease the total production expenditures for the cycle, and plants’ training is definitely the perfect help to accomplish both goals, and a good planting training net can help improves yield and reduces costs.

Why must we train plants?

• Enhance the quality and size of plants
• Improves how a plant appears
• Plants become easier to manage and observe with respect to the model and    side of the plant
• Create a structure for the plants that enables the right amount of sunlight for the leaves
• Helps to shelter plants from destruction.

How to train plants

There are diverse methods used to train plants, some of which include:

• Stopping: Pinching or stopping is the cutting off of the terminal shoot at the top of the stem. This allows the side buds grow stronger. You can train cucumbers, basil, and tomatoes using this method.

• Support with staking: Staking helps plants to grow straight and also give safety to the wind. Make sure the tie is firm so as to avoid rubbing.

• Thinning: Thinning is the cutting off of some fruit, so as to make sure that the remaining are bigger and of higher quality. This is done to give the plants enough space to grow, receive more water, sunlight and nutrients. This can be done using a tool called thinning shears.
• Pruning: Pruning is the cutting off of some areas in a plant and this is done to increase fruiting or flowering and to make the plant quicker to harvest.

Disbudding: Disbudding the cutting off of side flower buds from a plant. This is conducted on chrysanthemums and carnations to help in the development of long stem. It also gives energy to the remaining plants.

Why Plant Training Net? 

Plant nets such as long bean netting are mainly used to back up and support the plants and since supporting plants remain essential on farmland. There are many different systems used to support and grow plants.

Advantages of supporting plants

• Assist them to grow in the space they are needed
• To help hold leaves up in other to increase the level of photosynthesis going on
• To allow even ripening of fruit for instance tomatoes
• Allows insects and bees to pollinate the flowers
• To increase the form of plants so as to make plants easier to manage and look good
• Prevent fruits or flowers from lying on the ground.
• Hail Protection: Protect them from wind and hail storm.

How to protect your plants from Summer hail?

Hail protection is done to protect plants from small hail that can crush or tear delicate plant leaves, which may leave a damage that can be hard for plants to recover from. Here are some things to protect your plants from hail:

• Place buckets, pots, large garbage cans or baskets over plants to protect them from hail. Make sure you weigh them down with heavy objects
• Cover plants which are growing along a building or fence with a wood, fiberglass cardboard, or any flat material. Lean it up against building or fence to supply protection. 
• Add more soil around the root of plants to ensure make them upright which and prevent washing away of soil.
• Put some stakes in the soil and make sure it is above on top the highest plant. Cover the full area using a plastic sheet or large tarp. Make sure the corners are covered with heavy objects.

Make sure to take away the coverings after the storm passes to avoid heating the plants or soil.

Before you start using Plant Training Net, here are some things you should put into consideration:

• Make sure you know the need for the plants on your farm. If you have many climbers, then you certainly must select supports that are strong enough for the vines of your climbers. If you are planning to have a climber on your farm, then opting for waterproof netting such as long bean netting may be a great idea.

• If you wish to give your farm an aesthetic lift. Then, you should go for a net that will act a decorative support for the plant.

The important things to take into account are the way awesome your plants are going to be, and exactly how huge you will get them during harvest.

Other Uses of the training net

Training net also helps to increase vertical farm yields even in little spaces by supporting plants and protecting tender vines. It can be used as a defensive measure against rodents, insects, and ground-rot (because it won’t allow the plant to touch the ground).

In vertical farming, plant net makes sure the plants grow upward. It also increases sun exposure, air circulation, and pollination.

Advantages of Plant training net

Plant Netting allows plant specialists to have extra sufficient ground space by making plants to produce vertically. Since it is created with nylon, it strengthens well in an array of climate. Plant net is usually suspended to hang vertically from the roof edge, just like a drape. Alternatively, it can be stretched between two upright metal or wood stakes in the ground, bordering a vertical divider. 

To improve crop yields, the use of plant training net is a great way. Its wide openings make harvesting easier. Plant net increases yield by allowing more air exposure and sunlight while decreasing pest damage and ground rot. Net your farm and plants for big profits, improved quality, faster harvest and higher yields.

            Plant training to produce higher yields, reduce the incidence of disease and make caring and harvesting the plants easier

Plant training is a technique used by agriculturalists to produce certain results. Often the purpose is for bigger and better yields, but plant training is not limited to this aspect. It involves the physical manipulation of the plant for a purpose. The plant training technique is directly related to that certain purpose. Plants can be propped up, the buds can be pinched, the stems can be twisted or tied to change the shape of the plant, sections of the plant can be cut or pruned, and the plants can be thinned or spread apart. In industrial or in larger garden applications two other training techniques maximize the production of the plant. Horticulture netting can support plants off the ground or a scrog net can be used.

What it is Not?

It does not involve genetically modifying the plant. It has nothing to do with types of fertilizers or improving environmental conditions for the plants such as adding grow lights.

Common Examples of Plant Training Techniques

Look in almost any backyard garden and you can see the tomato cages cradling this very common plant. The support serves many purposes. It holds the leaves up to the light while supporting the delicate stems. But most importantly, it keeps the fruit up off the ground where it may otherwise rot. Often cucumber buds are pinched so that the plant grows bushier, thereby producing more buds and ultimately more fruit.

In the flower garden, the trellis provides support for the climbing flowering plants such as the clematis. The gardener ties or twists the stem around sections of the trellis for a pleasing result.

Pruning of the hedge has several results. It allows the pruner to achieve the desired shape while it promotes the growth of more stems so that the hedge is now thicker. Sometimes pruning is done in order that the fruit can be accessed easier. Routinely apple orchards prune their trees to assist in the harvesting of the fruit.

The tiny seeds of many vegetables such as beans are started in a bed with each plant close to its neighbor. But as the plants expand, it is prudent to spread them apart or thin them so that they have the proper space in which to grow.

Industrial Applications

Scrog nets and horticulture netting are often used in industrial or larger garden situations. A scrog net is a grid of stiff open weaved wire that is placed just above the young plant. As the plant grows, it pokes through this grid work. From that point, the worker or care taker is able to tie the stem so the plant will grow horizontally. As the plant matures, from the one stem now more branches will develop. And with the more branches, the one plant produces more flowers, fruit and seeds. Note that the production of the buds from the screen level results in a similar height for all of the buds.

If you are growing plants using an artificial light source, the additional benefit is that all of the buds receive the same amount of light. Thus more control of environmental conditions is achieved. This scrog net is easy to build, doesn’t require any special skills from the workers and needs only a minimum of tools. It also has the benefit of a very open hexagonal weave which provides aeration for the plants thus reducing the likelihood of mold production. Serrano pepper, roma & cherry tomato and tamarillo plants produce fruit very well with this method.

Horticulture netting has many pluses as well. It too has an open weave but it is made of polypropylene and is hung vertically. One of the biggest advantages over tying the stem is that with the net since the fruit or flowers just lean on the net for support, the growth of the delicate stem is not constricted at all. Squash, pumpkin, watermelon, and cucumber benefit from using the netting. In addition, the fruit is up off the ground which means less rot and easy harvesting.

Bonsai

A very specialized group of plant training techniques is involved in producing the beautiful and artistic bonsai. Branches are pruned to enhance the plant’s appearance. Stems are held in place by a wire structure to achieve a variety of fantastic shapes. Later the wire is removed, once the bonsai has been trained to remain in that shape. Often it takes years to achieve the desired results.

Cannabis

A renewed interest in plant training techniques has taken place in the cannabis industry. An Internet search of the term results in several top articles about growing these plants. Specifically, the plant can be trained to produce more buds in several ways. One very easy way is to tie the stem of the very young plant so that it grows almost horizontally. From this one stem many more branches grow.  In appearance the plant resembles more of a cannabis bush, however when left alone, the plant will produce only one stem per plant. With the addition of a scrog net, the stem can be secured in several places thus allowing the growers to control the height of all the buds, making the use of grow lights more effective for every plant. Pinching the top bud to produce more stems and buds is common as well.

Scientific evidence supports the use of plant training. Studies around the world show that plant training methods produce higher yields while reducing the incidence of disease and as an added bonus often make caring for the plants and harvesting the plants easier for the workers. In industrial applications, the use of scrog nets and horticulture netting is utilized with great results. Since plants are used in a myriad of ways, people have developed many other training methods to enhance their growth.