Tomato plant staking.

[Matt Ocel]

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]

I personally use the cages instead of stakes. They give more support to the plant.

[Heather Thompson]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Yep. Concrete wire

[Dave Lehnert]

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]

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]

"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]

Wouldn't you get wet watering them?

[Heather Thompson]

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. 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]

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.