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View Full Version : Tomato plant staking.



Matt Ocel
06-28-2008, 12:34 PM
Hey all you Tomato Heads out there.

Whats the best way to stake and tie up tomato plants to get the best yields???

mark page
06-28-2008, 12:51 PM
I personally use the cages instead of stakes. They give more support to the plant.

Heather Thompson
06-28-2008, 12:57 PM
Matt,

About five years ago I went to the local BORG, bought some concrete reinforceing material for doing sidewalks, cut to length to make make some hefty cages. Then I put them thru a phospheric acid bath to stop rust, next painted with chain link fence paint and have had folks want me to make them for their garden. I cut the bottom ring off and drive that into the ground, never had one blow over and I feed all of the neighbors plus our home (canning too). To support peppers and such, I use a simple stake and old pantyhose material, my grandmother always used it.

Heather

Butch Edwards
06-28-2008, 2:20 PM
Matt,
To support peppers and such, I use a simple stake and old pantyhose material, my grandmother always used it.

Heather

yep..wooden stakes and old nylons(she didn't use pantyhose back then) was all the G'parents used....it's all I use today....for 'maters and peppers alike

Peter Stahl
06-28-2008, 3:08 PM
Matt,

About five years ago I went to the local BORG, bought some concrete reinforceing material for doing sidewalks, cut to length to make make some hefty cages. Then I put them thru a phospheric acid bath to stop rust, next painted with chain link fence paint and have had folks want me to make them for their garden. I cut the bottom ring off and drive that into the ground, never had one blow over and I feed all of the neighbors plus our home (canning too). To support peppers and such, I use a simple stake and old pantyhose material, my grandmother always used it.

Heather

Heather, How tall are your cages? I used concrete wire my BIL had from the end of rolls and that was 5 ft long. Never bothered to paint them.

David G Baker
06-28-2008, 3:35 PM
A friend of mine used the concrete wire cages that were 6 feet tall and 36 inches across. I don't know what he fed his plants because his plants filled the cages to the top and had a lot of fruit on them.

Mike Malott
06-28-2008, 8:05 PM
I use Heather's method with great success!

I believe my personal best tomato crop was grown on a chicken wire fence stretched between two landscape timber posts.

The plants were spaced about 3 feet apart and alternately planted one side then the other side of the fence.

Supposedly, the plants get lots of sun and ventilation this way.

I had way too many 'maters that year!

Mike

Joe Mioux
06-28-2008, 9:19 PM
I have done it several ways. Cages, woodstakes, steel fence stakes and nothing at all.

The tomatoes all bear fruit no matter how you support them.

joe

Steve Clardy
06-28-2008, 9:52 PM
Yep. Concrete wire

Dave Lehnert
06-28-2008, 10:34 PM
I'm a tomato cage salesman in my day job (and other garden stuff)

Take a tomato cage and use it upside down. Cut the legs off. (now facing up) bend in a "U" and stake the cage to the ground.

Eddie Watkins
06-29-2008, 12:52 AM
I use field fence bent in a circle with about a 1 foot diameter set around each plant. The branches grow through and makes good support and the holes are big enough to stick my hand through to get the tomatoes growing on the inside. LOML has 2 growing on the patio that she planted in containers that hang them upside down. They are producing like crazy.

Eddie

Matt Ocel
06-29-2008, 7:36 AM
"LOML has 2 growing on the patio that she planted in containers that hang them upside down. They are producing like crazy."

I didn't know if that really worked

Yves Pinet
06-29-2008, 7:47 AM
Wouldn't you get wet watering them?

Heather Thompson
06-29-2008, 8:12 AM
Heather, How tall are your cages? I used concrete wire my BIL had from the end of rolls and that was 5 ft long. Never bothered to paint them.

Peter,

My cages are 4' tall and a little over 24" across. I live in a townhome with the dreaded association, am not supposed to have a garden so I painted the cages to look nice and so far have been able to fly under the radar. My neighbor is on the board, always make sure she has fresh tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, beans and such, not sure if that has anything to do with the blind eye. :D I have been in the garden since I was born, my mom would have me out there while she was caring for ours, guess it got in my blood. When the seed catalogs start showing up in the winter is almost on par with the new Lee Valley catalogs.

Heather

Cliff Rohrabacher
06-29-2008, 10:15 AM
I built two ten foot tall poles from which I hang four green painted 5-gallon plastic buckets with holes in 'em for the tomatoes to hang .

I have potted and staked some but for reasons I can't explain the hung tomatoes always out perform the staked ones. They are lusher healthier the leaves don't turn over and look funny and I get more production from them.

I am thinking of trying to increase yield by using more dirt and cutting half moon slots in the sidewalls for more plants per bucket.

To water them I took a length of pipe attached a hose connector to one end soldered up a "U" bend in the other ( put a sprinkler head on that) and put a ball valve in it. I'm thinking of adding a fertilized injector to it.

This year I added a top to the buckets to keep wind blown seeds out and cut a hole in the top leaving it attached by a little flap that keeps seeds and light out while letting me water them.

It might look better still if I put some little draping flowering plant in the top of the bucket.

Roger Bell
06-29-2008, 10:41 AM
I take galvanized steel cattle fence panels and cut them up with bolt cutters. The wire in these panels is hot dipped and about the thickness of a 20 penny nail. Storebought, the panels are about 52" high x 16 feet long. So you can get a bunch of cages (or bean trellis, or whatever) out of a single panel. Cattle panel is stout stuff and will not bend.

When cut, the pieces for cages are about 24" wide x about 52". Your dimensions could be as required. Each of these mini-panels is held or laced to the adjacent other by electricians nylon zip ties to make a square box around the plant. At the end of the season, the ties are clipped and the boxes fold flat for winter storage.

It always seemed like the store bought varieties crapped out just when the plant was getting heavy with fruit. They were also a pain to store.

If someone wants a pic, I can go out and take one.

mark page
06-29-2008, 11:46 AM
I may have to try that "Australian upside-down style" once just to see what happens. You have my curiosity "upside-down" now!!!

Prashun Patel
06-29-2008, 1:14 PM
IMHO, the easiest way is to use the green coated steel stakes.
Don't stake until the plants get about 3 ft tall. Then, spike a stake next to each leader and 'train' it around the stake by gently pushing the top set of leaves around the pole. over time, the leader will snake up the pole.

I stake random stakes in between plants to which I can gently tie heavy branches with twine.

Michael Wetzel
06-29-2008, 6:49 PM
I buy 10' sections of galv EMT, cut off 6.5' and use 4 per plant. I use the cut off section to stake the plants when they are young. I pound the one end flat so it is easier to hammer in.

Cliff Rohrabacher
06-29-2008, 7:42 PM
I may have to try that "Australian upside-down style" once just to see what happens. You have my curiosity "upside-down" now!!!

Well in the wild tomatoes hang from ledges and trees.
They are perfect plants to grow so that they are hanging.
They have nice thick stalks with plenty of strength to support the whole plant.

http://www.dcwoodworking.com/Pictures/Costa%20Rica/021%20-%20Wild%20Tomatoes.jpg

Melons don't lend themselves to this.

Keith Cope
06-29-2008, 7:51 PM
I like using cattle panels as well, but keep them intact and attach them to steel fence posts. They are very sturdy, and you can plant on both sides with good results.

Keith

Jim Becker
06-29-2008, 9:03 PM
We use some twisty aluminum posts that the plants can intertwine with. They have worked very well. But it's not just about staking...you need to help the plants along including making sure they twist around the stakes as well as getting rid of the suckers and being careful that the yield isn't so big that the plants break from the weight.

Peter Stahl
06-29-2008, 9:19 PM
A friend of mine used the concrete wire cages that were 6 feet tall and 36 inches across. I don't know what he fed his plants because his plants filled the cages to the top and had a lot of fruit on them.

I used to sucker mine which were burpee big girl plants and they would get big and fill the cage pretty good. The ones that really grew like a weed were called super sweet 100's which were cherry tomatoes and boy were they good. Don't plant anything now. Yard at this house is small and my male Jack Russel Terror waters everything if you know what I mean.

Peter Stahl
06-29-2008, 9:24 PM
Peter,

My cages are 4' tall and a little over 24" across. I live in a townhome with the dreaded association, am not supposed to have a garden so I painted the cages to look nice and so far have been able to fly under the radar. My neighbor is on the board, always make sure she has fresh tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, beans and such, not sure if that has anything to do with the blind eye. :D I have been in the garden since I was born, my mom would have me out there while she was caring for ours, guess it got in my blood. When the seed catalogs start showing up in the winter is almost on par with the new Lee Valley catalogs.

Heather

Thanks Heather. Whatever works to keep the neighbor happy.:) I miss having a garden, may try it again on the side of my house.

Peter Stahl
06-29-2008, 9:26 PM
I built two ten foot tall poles from which I hang four green painted 5-gallon plastic buckets with holes in 'em for the tomatoes to hang .

I have potted and staked some but for reasons I can't explain the hung tomatoes always out perform the staked ones. They are lusher healthier the leaves don't turn over and look funny and I get more production from them.

I am thinking of trying to increase yield by using more dirt and cutting half moon slots in the sidewalls for more plants per bucket.

To water them I took a length of pipe attached a hose connector to one end soldered up a "U" bend in the other ( put a sprinkler head on that) and put a ball valve in it. I'm thinking of adding a fertilized injector to it.

This year I added a top to the buckets to keep wind blown seeds out and cut a hole in the top leaving it attached by a little flap that keeps seeds and light out while letting me water them.

It might look better still if I put some little draping flowering plant in the top of the bucket.

Cliff, What kind of tomatoes are you using and what type of soil mixture do you put in the buckets?