All strung up to grow

You can adapt ideas from the professionals says Peter

- Peter Seabrook

THERE are a number of plant cultivating methods developed in commercial horticulture, that have over flowed usefully into gardens. Straw bale gardening was first developed at the Lee Valley Research Station in the 1960s, developing rootstocks and grafting greenhouse crops to combat soil-borne diseases are good examples.

When it comes to supporting greenhouse crops of cucumbers, melons, tomatoes and sweet peas in my polytunnel, I follow commerce and use strings. Go into the huge commercial greenhouses soon after planting tender fruits and vegetables and all you can see is gleaming white strings.