Tomato Support Methods

[applestar]

The other day at a Tractor Supply, I was briefly considering those cattle panels, but they're heavier gauge than concrete re-inforcing wires, longer, and heavier. The elderly gentleman who was showing me around the outside supply area was skeptical -- "How are you going to get it home?" (I have my husband's pick up today) "You can't even lift it" -- and I couldn't, not even one corner (I don't know if I could cut this myself) "You'd need a bolt cutter."

In short, I decided against getting those.

[Dixana]

You don't need to cut em
One big piece, staked at each end, tie your toms to it as the grow, or your eggplants, or peas, or beans, etc.
I know the stuff is strong though, when 80 pound children climb and lean on it and it doesn't warp

[garden5]

I use sticks . When you have about 50 tomato plants, cages and even 2x2x8s get to be expensive. One thing I can say about sticks is you get what you pay for. If it's too weak it breaks or if there's a hard rain and it's not in the ground deep enough, well, let's just say that mud-wrestling with a 4 ft. tomato plant in September is not the most fun thing in the world.

But at the end of the day, they serve their purpose and I get some nice tomatoes.

[Liska]

Hopefully it's OK to post in an already existing thread??

Anyway, long story short, I have my tomato plants staked at the moment, and kept from falling over by nylons (strange, yes, but it's worked so far!). I took a look this morning, and they've managed to already start growing taller than the stakes. I don't know if cages would be a better option, but is it going to hurt the plants roots if I put cages into the ground and around them now? What's the best way to support them as they grow taller ? Several already have green tomatoes growing on them!

[TZ -OH6]

Discussing methods is what the thread is here for...adding to it is better than cluttering up the forum with individual posts, IMO.


What little damage a cage would do to roots wouldn't be noticed by the plant. Generally stakes are added after the plant out grows the cage, not the other way around, but whatever looks like it will work in an emergency. How tall are your stakes?

[Liska]

Discussing methods is what the thread is here for...adding to it is better than cluttering up the forum with individual posts, IMO.


What little damage a cage would do to roots wouldn't be noticed by the plant. Generally stakes are added after the plant out grows the cage, not the other way around, but whatever looks like it will work in an emergency. How tall are your stakes?

I got littelier ones than I should have . They're probably about 3-4 feet tall above the ground. When I used to plant tomatoes with my grandpa, I never remembed the plants growing all that tall. So, when I walked outside this morning and my tomato plants were up to my chest, t was a mega Oh EDITED - PLEASE REPORT THIS POST! Do the tomatoes just fit right in the cages on their own most times? do I have to tie them to the cages at all?

My current set up is three stakes per two plants - one on each side, then one in the middle. The stakes are about 6 inches out from the plants, and I've got the nylons woven around them to keep them from falling over.

[TZ -OH6]

If you are talking about the commercial ring cages then you will have to tie them off to the wires to prevent slumping eventually. If you have a big ol' CRW cage with 6 inch squares then a bushy plant with fruit will support itself as long as you keep poking the plant back inside the wires. In general, tomato vines/branches are weak wimpy things, and then they try to hold up a couple of pounds of fruit so when in doubt support the heck out of them. You may need to tie off fruit trusses to prevent vine slumping and trusses ripping.

[gixxerific]

When in doubt go BIGGER! Tomatoes are known to get out of hand, at least here they do. I have on cherry plant that has already overgrown it's CRW cage. While other are doing there thing, it was an early plant.

Don't worry too much about putting stakes in the ground and destroying the roots worry more about supporting what you already have.

I can tell you that even if you have a 7 foot support system ready some plants will try to outgrow it.

Good luck

[Liska]

If you are talking about the commercial ring cages then you will have to tie them off to the wires to prevent slumping eventually. If you have a big ol' CRW cage with 6 inch squares then a bushy plant with fruit will support itself as long as you keep poking the plant back inside the wires. In general, tomato vines/branches are weak wimpy things, and then they try to hold up a couple of pounds of fruit so when in doubt support the heck out of them. You may need to tie off fruit trusses to prevent vine slumping and trusses ripping.

Oh wow. I never knew tomato support was so complicated!! Now I wish I hadn't put my bell peppers right in between them

[garden5]

It really isn't complicated, it just sounds that way . In the end, find something that is sturdy, as tall (or preferably taller than) your tomato plants, and tie them to it. Really, that's all tomato staking comes down to .

[tedln]

I forgot I had already posted comments about my t post and string method on this thread.

Ted

[TZ -OH6]

I took a bunch of pictures and made a Flickr set showing as much as I could about the things I mentioned in the original post. The file names should help to group them.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/51251503@N03/sets/72157624247441049/

[garden5]

OK, I just want to throw this out there that whatever support method you use, you will want to take a torch and flame it before you use it if your plants had septoria, early blight, or some other fungal disease the previous year.

These diseases will can live for up to three years on a trellis or stake and infect future plants.

[tedln]

I tried to burn my CRW cages but ran out of matches before I could set even one on fire.

Ted

[Duh_Vinci]

TZ - enjoyed the virtual "walk through" your garden. Great use of "whatever" is available for support of tomatoes!

At the early stages - I still use old Walmart $2.00 cages from the days when I didn't know any better. They do provide enough support and proper upward growth. But the rest is EMT conduit poles and trellis netting (just wash it with bleach in the washer machine before the season starts)

[img]https://drphotography.smugmug.com/Garden/2010-Garden/2010supports/921849202_f797Z-M.jpg[/img]

And green vinyl tape to support heavy clusters:

[img]https://drphotography.smugmug.com/Garden/2010-Garden/2010dagestanski20701/921848441_aQ6hb-L.jpg[/img]

Regards,
D

[speedster7926]

ok quick question I got my tomatoes in the cages but the branches wither went horizontal and ended up breaking off or bending or going over the cages and doing the same I will stake them next time but what about the side branches?

[TZ -OH6]

What type of cages? With the 6" square concrete wire cages you have to keep pushing the branches back inside. They will flop over the top when they hit about 6 ft tall, but you can tie the tops together and get a few more feet before they fall over. They generally keep growing and producing even when kinked over.


With the store bought 3 and 4 ring cages there is not much you can do except get a bunch of twine out and tie the branches off, wrap them up whatever...because they don't support the branches worth a @#$%.

[garden5]

Yeah, those store-bought cages are terrible.

If you go with stakes, it'd be best to prune your plants to 2-4 growing stems. To do this, pinch out the suckers that grow in the axles (crotches) of the branches.

Here's another tip: if you are growing the concrete wire cages, you can tie up the stems along the outside vertical wires of the cage. I've seen it done with good success.

[tedln]

D,

Love your supports. What diameter conduit are you using and how tall is it? Do you simply drive the uprights into the soil. I assume you simply use a conduit elbow to connect the horizontal conduit to the vertical conduit. How many feet do your horizontals span? Where is the netting available? It looks similar to the netting used for soccer and hockey gaols.

Ted

[TZ -OH6]

I like the way they attached the conduit pieces in this study using bent sections of pipe for the corners.

https://www.mastergardeners.org/picks/tomato_staking.html

[tedln]

Yea TZ, that is neat. I have a little problem understanding the 10' spans of conduit. Normally conduit is pretty thin walled. I'm surprised it can support heavy tomato plants over that distance without a center support.

Ted

[TZ -OH6]

Mine are tied to stakes so the span is only about 9 feet, but I haven't had any trouble with weight. I tie the sides of the trellis fence off to the stakes so that might help take pressure off the top center. The weight distributions might be different with the nylon. I definitely would NOT go with 1/2 inch, but 3/4 seems to work well.

[Liska]

The cages some of the stores come up with are wimpy, it's amazing that they even hold the tomato plants up!

Anyway, long story short, I was trying to go off the shorter stakes until I coudl figure something else out, and a tomato branch broke off

So I ran out in a panic to the local tractor supply store and picked up some 9 ft tall (taller than me -_-) rolled steel rods, banged them into the ground best I could with a hammer, and tied the tomatoes to them with some anchored rope. They're managing pretty well so far, they move with the wind (in a good way, without falling over) and no more broken branches. Does anyone know if having the steel up against them is going to hurt the plants in any way shape or form? They seem to be doing okay, but thought I would double check.

[applestar]

I think only if they're loosely tied and rub against the rough surface. When in doubt, I make a figure 8, tying the X in the 8, or wrap the material around the support to create a cushion.

A tip: Note that you don't have to keep the same tomato on the same stake or cage. When a branch grows out too far, tie it to the NEXT stake or tuck it inside the NEXT cage.

[Liska]

I think only if they're loosely tied and rub against the rough surface. When in doubt, I make a figure 8, tying the X in the 8, or wrap the material around the support to create a cushion.

A tip: Note that you don't have to keep the same tomato on the same stake or cage. When a branch grows out too far, tie it to the NEXT stake or tuck it inside the NEXT cage.

Thank you I will try the figure 8 thing. Thankfully, the steel rods have a smooth surface, so I don't have to worry about them getting damaged that way. I was more worried about the fact that when I picked them up, I ended up with some black stuff on my hands from carrying them, and didn't know if that was something that'd hurt my plants too!

[TZ -OH6]

Rust won't hurt anything, and if it is some sort of grease/oil it won't cause enough damage to go to the trouble of cleaning it off unless it is just a goopy mess.

[Liska]

Rust won't hurt anything, and if it is some sort of grease/oil it won't cause enough damage to go to the trouble of cleaning it off unless it is just a goopy mess.

Definately not rust, so I'm guessing it's an oil of some sort. I feel much better now that I won't cause any extra harm to my tomatoes. Thank you

On another note, the branch that broke isn't doing so well is there anything I can do to save it, or is it a loss?

[vermontkingdom]

I tried something new this year and so far really like it. I grow lots of tomatoes (primarily different kinds of heirlooms). I normally use tomato ladders with an eight foot pole to secure the ladders. I remove a few lower stem suckers and let the rest grow. This year I placed horizontal pieces of chicken wire 4 feet by 4 feet across the five foot ladders. Many of the stems have grown up through the wire. Normally at this time of the year, many of the branches would have fallen onto the ground and large patches of dense foliage would have resulted. With high humidly and poor air circulation, they were often perfect incubation spots for fungal/bacterial diseases. This year, the incredibly dense vegetation is five feet above the ground and plants have lots of air circulation. The number of tomatoes developing on these massive plants is quite impressive. Among the 22 raised beds in my garden, four beds are for tomatoes, 10 feet by 54 inches with 10 plants in each bed.

[TZ -OH6]

Liska, It is a bit late in the season to try saving broken branches that are going bad. Earlier you could have rooted a small branch and probably gotten fruit by the end of the season.




Vermontkingdom,

Could you post pictures? The tomato ladders sound interestng

[rainbowgardener]

ok quick question I got my tomatoes in the cages but the branches wither went horizontal and ended up breaking off or bending or going over the cages and doing the same I will stake them next time but what about the side branches?

I use regular store bought round cages, the biggest, heaviest ones I could find. I have 5 of them in a 4x8' bed so they are pretty close together at the wide ends. I do as AS suggested and just support the branches from one cage onto the next one. Works pretty well, I don't have any branches breaking.

[alexia.brake]

I try to use stuff around my home, instead of buying,,,,,

Bought some cheap plastic trellis (netlike) for $3.99 borrowed hubbys nail stapler and stapled across the fence. As plants grow I have their limbs grow unto the plastic trellis. Now that it's mid summer, wow, the fence is just green with tomato vines. (The fence height is about 8 ft)

Now all of my tomato plants are intrwine with each other, but I don't think this a bad thing. And I trellis up the stalks about every third day or so.

[TZ -OH6]

I just spent most of the day sitting on my butt in the dirt pruning out the lower and internal leaves from my cages, and sticking tips back inside the wires. At this point I think that I rather grow two staked plants than deal with one caged plant. The staked plants may need a bit more attention, but it is straight forward and all of the plants usually need to be done at the same time. I rather tie my shoelaces ten times than lace the shoes once.

[applestar]

Well, TZ, I'm kinda glad to hear that YOU were doing that, because I've been thinking I need to do the same thing, and have been beating myself up about NOT getting it done. Hearing that you were just getting around to it helps me feel better. Now I can tackle the project this weekend with a lighter heart.

[TZ -OH6]

We had rain and it made things grow all of a sudden and get messy. Very inconvenient.

[Shoontok]

I'm running out of stuff to support my tomatoes some are getting 6 foot plus in height. I think tommorow I will go up into the wooded part of the back yard and saw off some fresh lumber.

I use vertical 6 foot sturdy wooden stakes pounded in the ground spaced out along the tomato rows anywhere from each individual plant upwards to spans of 5 foot or so. I also use the wooden material around 2 inch think or so with lengths of 6 or so feet or more to tie into the verticals in a horizontal fashion to create an upright grid system with plenty of places to tie off the tomato plant. I use tie wire to fasten the horizontal members to the upright stakes. I use shredded up old tee shirts half inch wide or so to tie the tomato's to the grid. It works real well for me. I didnt pay a dime to purchase any material to support my tomato plants.

If I had to go out and purchase special tomato supporting systems it would make the price of growing these things more then it would cost to go to the local supermarket. I prefer the use what ya got and improvise method

[alexia.brake]

If I had to go out and purchase special tomato supporting systems it would make the price of growing these things more then it would cost to go to the local supermarket. I prefer the use what ya got and improvise method

I couldn't have said it any better

[pepper4]

I used an old wooden broom handle and some extra pvc pipe I found in the garage. Cheeper the better and in this case, free

[Ozark Lady]

I built my own cages out of rabbit fencing, boy they seemed huge.
I put the small spacings down into the soil, at the same time that I transplanted the tomatoes. It looked alot like overkill for a long time.

But now, I can't reach the tomatoes! Oops yes I can, the limb just broke, and down they came. So, I had to get a stake and attach it to the buried cage, and tie stake, cage and plant all together, finally, supporting the fruit clusters on the stake, and not on the stem. Then I grabbed the duct tape to "fix" the bent stem, I bent it a second time, other direction while trying to stake it! Man, why are all the tomatoes growing at the tip, well above my head?

I am very seriously considering taking out the growing tip, I don't wanna use a ladder to reach my tomatoes! And how do I support them so high up there? I even considered just cutting the plant off where it broke, but there are over a dozen nice looking blue tomatoes on that growing tip!

I think I will just pinch, barely past the most recent blooms, and make them all stop this upward progression... they think they are trees! And the other tomatoes saw the OSU do this so they are reacing too! Man!

[mattie g]

I go around the corner and chop down some of the rampant bamboo in the woods, then use them to make stakes and/or A-frame support.

Easy as could be.

[TZ -OH6]

The problem with tall plants is how to let them come back down when they get too high without causing them to kink. I wonder if 3" PVC or 5" drainage pipe placed horizontlly along the top of stakes or cages would give them a wide enough shoulder to loop over without kinking.