Everything You Need to Know About Tomato Clips

What is tomato clips?

Tomato clips, also known as body clips, tomato trellis clips and garden clips, are greenhouse accessories which are widely used in commercial greenhouses and gardens in order to fix plants to netting, plant supports, plant ladders and twine trellises speedily and easily.

Usage of tomato clips optimizes work routines and efficiency, while securing a strong hold to plant and twine trellises, without any damage to plants. These clips are made from two materials: polypropylene homopolymer plastic and biodegradable plastic, which means less plastic waste after utilization. Body clips with different diameter sizes are available from 17 mm (0.6 inch) to 27mm (0.1 inch). In horticulture industry, 23 mm (0.9 inch) and 25mm (0.098 inch) large in diameter clips are being used.

In which plants can tomato clips be used?

Even though this type of clips is usually called tomato clips, growers can benefit from garden clips in many plants such as cucumbers, peppers, melons, beans, flowers (especially in roses) and other vine crops.

in which plants tomato clips can be used

Why do greenhouse growers need to use tomato clips?

The main advantages of tomato trellis clips are listed below:

1. Promote better air circulation and minimize disease risks. Air circulation is improved by using tomato trellis clips which have ventilated design. With improved air circulation, risk of fungal diseases, which caused from less moisture and air flow, such as Botrytis fungus, is minimized.

2. One clip can be used in many plants throughout multiple growing seasons. Because of quick-release feature of plant clips, it is easy to move and reuse them. When plants grow bigger, tomato clips can be easily taken from expanded plant and moved to new plants or stems with the least effort and harm to plant stems.

3. Trellis clips can be used throughout multiple growing seasons in a year. It is not applicable to all kinds of tomato clips, but clips with UV stabilizer, which Harvesso supplies, have longer life. UV stabilizer protects clips from the long-term damages of UV light and this feature allows to use body clips for more than one growing season in a year.

4. Optimize time and labor when comparing with other trellising methods. It is very practical to install tomato clips, because of easy-to-close feature. With only one hand about 1500 clips can be installed in an hour and it is obvious that it saves time and labor in greenhouses.

5. Maximize greenhouse growing space. Tomato clips are perfect tools for growing vertically. They are fastened to twine trellises in greenhouses, which enable vertical growing. With growing vertically, plants cover less area while growers harvest more yields. Vertical growing makes leaves and fruits reachable for pruning and harvesting. Plants can be checked, maintained and adjusted for pruning, pollination and harvesting easily and rapidly thanks to easy-to-open and non-slippery features of tomato clips.

How do greenhouse growers use tomato clips?

As stated above, it is very easy to install tomato clips, but there are some points that should be taken into consideration. First of all, clips should be placed in right parts of plants. Tomato clips can be put in plant stem, just below the leaf, but before the FlexTruss or arch cluster support. The place below the leaf are usually called Y junction, so the most effective place for tomato clips installation is Y junctions. Tomato trellising clips can be used in other parts of plant as well, depending on situation.

In order to install, tomato clips are simply snapped to netting, twine trellis or plant ladders and supports, and softly close around stems of plant. Average 10-20 clips are used per plant while long-term growth. In short-term growth, growers use 5-10 clips for each plant. To put approximately 20 cm (7.87 inch) between clips is recommended.