Route 22 Tomatoes: Caterpillar Tunnels

Over the years of growing tomatoes, here in Upstate NY; I noticed that the ones I grew under plastic vs. out in the field- did considerably better. I remain blight free- very healthy looking plants and fruit with high yields, but very limited space in my high tunnel for the amount of plants I like to grow.

Friends of mine from Wind Flower Farm in Easton NY had suggested I try constructing what they call Cat Tunnels/ short for Caterpillar tunnels. I guess they are called this because they kind of resemble a caterpillar once the plastic and rope is on?

So this year I am going to give them a try. They are very easy to construct and much more cost effective than buying large greenhouse and high tunnel structures. These Cat tunnels are temporary, and the plastic is taken off before winter sets in and the bents can be take down or left up.

Tomato plants do best with lots of sun, preferably the early morning sun to burn off the morning dew. Which brings me to my next point; tomatoes should not be watered from the top. Wet leaves and fruit following hot dry sun can lead to all sorts of disease and sun scalding. Having the tomatoes grown under structures such as Cat tunnels protects them from rain and wind. The best form of watering your tomato plants would be a drip irrigation system/ or manually water each plant down by the roots, not from up top.

Building material for the Cat tunnels include 20 ft lengths of schedule 40 pvc pipe, ¼ inch nylon rope, ground stakes, and a greenhouse rated plastic. I am using a 4 mil 24X100 ft roll, but you can get 6mil and longer rolls if you need to. I spaced each bent out at 5 ft but will most likely space out my next to tunnels at 6 ft. The rope holds the plastic down and is staked into the ground. You have to manually pull up and down the sides to vent the tunnels. If a storm is coming with high wind- obviously pull down your sides, so that the wind does not catch underneath the plastic. If it’s sunny and hot out, pull those sides up so that you do not cook those plants.

Here are some pictures of my first tunnel going up.