Supporting tomatillos

[TrixC]

Is anyone else growing tomatillos and if so how do you support them? They have quite fragile hollow stems which seem to collapse quite easily under the weight of the fruit. The natural habit is multi-branching, but I'm wondering if it would be better to remove side shoots and train them on a single cane like tomatoes.

[Alison]

I just shove random canes in and support / tie in as necessary, more to keep the fruit vaguely clean off the soil than anything else. Another lady on our site leaves them to sprawl. Have only cut hits off when they've broken and I think that you'd significantly reduce the crop if you tried to cordon.

[TrixC]

I just shove random canes in and support / tie in as necessary, more to keep the fruit vaguely clean off the soil than anything else. Another lady on our site leaves them to sprawl. Have only cut hits off when they've broken and I think that you'd significantly reduce the crop if you tried to cordon.

Random canes is what I do too, but by the end of the season it always looks like a bit of an eyesore, and I'm growing in containers on the patio. Lower yields might not be such a bad thing, the plants are astonishingly prolific and there's only so much salsa a person can make!

[Alison]

.........the plants are astonishingly prolific and there's only so much salsa a person can make!

I used a jar of sauce I made last autumn yesterday and still have a couple more left in the cupboard. Tend to use most of mine in chutneys and Mexican sauces for storing in jars and probably have some who,e ones still in the freezer!

[PyreneesPlot]

Mine are also on random canes and metal supports but following some rain (whooppeeee) two big stems broke off.
I make a yummy sour tomatillo curry - one of the few dishes that MrPP actually asks me to cook. I'll post the recipe as soon as I've perfected it as it is adapted from one for green tomatoes.

[Ovce domácí]

We use wooden stakes about 3 ft long. But the James Wong fella whose book is advertised here and Ive read in the magazine talks about letting them spread and root across the ground to increase yields although he also mentions the risk of catching a soil disease. Started eating them in pastas last week, lovely things. Will get a jarring machine soon for them and other toms.

[Tiny Allotment]

I wonder if you could grow them upside down through a hole in the bottom of a suspended bucket. or maybe grow them from a suspended bucket and let them trail over the edge

paul