Your favorite way to stake tomatoes?

I guess you could do either, but I'm thinking the easiest way is to just encircle the plant with the field fencing.

OaklandCityFarmer said:

Ja8edfyre said:

Okay, a bit gruesome for some but my granddad -who's a practical guy "waste not, want not"- uses the wreath stands that are left over from grave side funeral services. They're triangular shaped stands that work like a tomato cage.

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This is great. How does he get them? I wonder if our local cemetery would give them up?

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He's on a committee that takes care of a small town cemetary. They would normally just throw them away once the wreathes and sprays have been removed. The florists never come to pick them up. I imagine if you just asked a funeral home or graveyard keeper, they'd give them to you.

DrakeMaiden said:

How tall are those wreath-supports? I'm having a hard time imagining what they look like. Great idea, if they really do get thrown away after just one use.

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They're usually about two or three feet tall, sometimes taller.

I do all of my tomatoes on a fence/trellis. I bought 2X2X8' treated poles and I sink them about 18" in the ground about 2' apart and I attach 1X2X8' treated strips across about every foot in height. I use drywall screws to attach the strips to the poles. They last for years, are relocatable and will handle even the most aggressive tomatoes like Brandywines which grow to great heights. I don't pinch back and get terrific yields. Just be careful where you put them because the dense growth and height will cause a significant shade shadow behind them. Big box hardware stores will sell slightly twisted poles and strips at reduced prices ... just ask.

Paul

I am using trellises for the first time this year and found it much less time consuming than staking. From the pics I have seen this provides a taller and less stressful support than tying to a stake. I know that when the stake is short enough for me to pound in the ground, it is never tall enough to finish out my plants.

PJ, could a person use twine for the cross pieces instead of wood strips? If one was to interweave the vines up through this twine at about 6 in. intervals, would it provide enough support for a heavy laden tomato plant? I have 6 doz. plants this year: Brandywine, Big Boy, Big Girl, Germans and Sweet 100s.

I made some out of regula field fence ,but need to make them bigger around, Does anyone know how big they need to be across the middle.I have read that they need to be 3 feet.

I use tobacco sticks and then tie panty hose cut into strips to tie then up. The pantyhose will give since they are so stretchy and it won't cut into the tomato plant. I also sucker my plants, you will get bigger fruit then if you don't.

I made a lot of different ones and for me the best ones are field fence 4' tall and about 2 1/2' or so across. You can tie more fence on top of the cage too, if you want, so you can get more height. I hold the cages up with one or two fence posts. the other one I've done is a hog or cattle panel cut in 2' or 2 1/2' pieces so you can tie them around the plants. When it comes time for storage they lay flat and out of the way unlike the field fence but if you have the room the fence is the way to go. Hope I didn't confuse :/ I could take a pic of mine but I'm having trouble resizing pics on photo-bucket

Y'all are high tech! I use long branches that come out of my really, really old pecan trees. Stick them in the containers and tie panty hose to them. I prefer a bushier tomato instead of a tall one since the tall ones just turn the container over. I snip the apical meristem when they get tall enough. Of course then I have sticks supporting each 'limb' of the plant. It looks trashy, but hey they taste soooo good.

jc12551 said:

Y'all are high tech! I use long branches that come out of my really, really old pecan trees. Stick them in the containers and tie panty hose to them. I prefer a bushier tomato instead of a tall one since the tall ones just turn the container over. I snip the apical meristem when they get tall enough. Of course then I have sticks supporting each 'limb' of the plant. It looks trashy, but hey they taste soooo good.

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you have got to be a southerner, only we would ever think to use tobacky sticks and pantyhose.