Tomato Support Methods

[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.

[cookie41]

I'm a newbie here and I was looking to see what others were doing to stake their tomatoes. Last season I bought some cages at Lowe's that were $6.00 each and they worked quite well. They are a triangular shape and are about 5' tall after they are pushed into the ground. I will purchase a few more this year as I was quite pleased with the result...they never tipped at all and when the tomatoes grew beyond the structure they just draped over the top.
Mother Earth News also has some pretty neat DIY cages that look like they would be terrific, but I am lazy.

[tedln]

Hi Cookie,

Welcome to the forum. I think most of us would take the lazy route but sometimes in the middle of winter, we are looking for something to do and putting tomato and pepper cages, stakes, trellis up is a good pastime. It works for me.

TZ, I use 1"x4"x8' wood strips across the top of my cages for the plants to curve over on their way back down. It isn't such a sharp angle and the vines don't seem to crimp at the bend.

Ted

[Sani]

what are the best/easiest ways to support tomatoes in 5 gallon containers?

[applestar]

I had a crazy idea, Sani -- since you have your tomatoes in the indoor pool room, how about hanging a large fishing net from the ceiling and tying the tomato vines to the net as they grow? (You could also just do the single drop-line per plant like the commercial tomato growers.)

Another idea I had was to make upright posts by standing them in 5 gal buckets of cement. Then secure cross pieces to them.

There was a member with nickname of SP8 that used to post here, and he posted a thread with photos of how he secured a stake for his tomato plant in the bottom of the container before planting, but I don't have the time to look for it. Try the "Search the Forum" like in the link bar at the top of the page.

[tedln]

I think I would simply stretch a single rope above all of the pots in a long line. The rope would need to be attached to strong supports on both ends. I then would drop a single rope down from the primary support rope above each pot. As the plants grow, loosely tie each primary vine to a hanging rope. It would use the same concept as hanging a net.

Ted

[TZ -OH6]

I highly recommend a solid overhead horizontal support for droplines such as a 1x2 or 2x2 board or metal electrical conduit pipe. In the old days my mom used droplines from a rope for unpruned plants (results were not pretty), and I tried droplines from an overhead cable this year (for single vine pruned plants), but it was immediately apparent that the weight distribution would cause the cable to sag and other odd things to happen so I ran out and got conduit. Instead of rope droplines you can use thin bamboo stakes as a substitute (or those green plastic/metal things the sell as tomato stakes) but you still need the top horizontal support to keep the stakes upright when the weight of fruit builds up.

[Sani]

how can I hang the rope if the pool has a very high double story ceiling?

bamboo stakes are doing their job for now, I'm worried once I get fruit that the vines will break. can something be used with the bamboo stakes to prevent that? I'm very intimidated by tomato support methods, they seem complicated :c

[applestar]

With indoor containers, it's not so much vines breaking that you need to worry about, but the containers falling over once the plants start getting top-heavy.

You could group the containers -- 3 or 4 touching each other, then either bend the tops of the bamboo together into a torchier/tee-pee shape if they're flexible enough, or connect them together with short cross pieces (like ladders). Wire or tie the containers together or drill holes near the top and bolt them together to form a single secure base?

I'm trying to think of ways that you can still rotate the containers for even sun exposure.

[tedln]

Your pool room probably has a flat, slightly angled roof supported by steel girders with holes in them. You probably also have light fixtures hanging from the girders. The bulbs in the light fixtures need to be changed occasionally. Use the same ladder you use when changing the bulbs and hang a couple of strong ropes from the girders. Use those ropes to support or hang a board like TZ described and hang the drop ropes from the board. The bottoms of the drop lines don't need to be attached to anything. That will allow you to move your pots around a little even after you have started tying the tomato vines to the drop lines. Space the drop lines about twenty four inches apart.

Ted

[Heron's Nest Farm]

Would using drop down cable lines work for Branywines? They are so heavy!
I need to figure it out quick. We are putting in 100 Brandywines, 100 Romas, and 100 San Marzanos!

[tedln]

I don't know what "cable line" is unless you are talking about coaxial cable for television signal transmission or twisted wire cable. The answer for both of those is no. The coated cables surface is too slick and the vines will simply slide down the support. The twisted wire cable would probably be so heavy you need additional upright support simply to hold them up.

My suggestion is a cotton or polyester woven (not twisted) string or rope. 1/4" thick is the best size, but slightly smaller is okay. You can use even smaller and it would be strong enough to hold the vines up, but as the vines move in a breeze or wind, the smaller diameter has a tendency to have a sawing motion cutting into the vines damaging them.

I followed your link to your blog. It is nice, but it also raises a question in my mind. Since you are just wrapping up work on your green house, are you planning on putting a total of 300 tomato vines on string supports in the green house? The green house is way to small for 300 full sized plants and the single ridge pole and hoops will never support that much weight.

Just curious!

Good Luck

Ted

[swickstrum]

I think I'm learning that gardeners are mini-Macgyvers!

After reading all of these posts it seems like a lot of people are creating their own ways of supporting their tomato plants. I'm hoping to try a few of them and see how successful each one is. I guess that's the benefit of being a newbie, the joys of experimentation.

[billtyus]

Great ideas - everyone should be to find an appropriate method for their own needs.

I use 4' high stock fencing - a $50 roll is plenty for a dozen or more long-lasting cages. The wire is relatively easy to cut and work with; once the cages are assembled, I cut "access windows" into the sides as the plants grow to make weeding and harvesting quick and easy. Rather than trying to find space to store the cages from year to year, I lay them on their sides in the garden as part of my fall/winter cat-proofing system.

Thats the same material I've always used for my cucumber trellis access holes included.

[img]https://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll308/tedln/2009%20Garden/IMG_1703.jpg[/img]

and my bean trellis.

[img]https://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll308/tedln/2009%20Garden/IMG_1646.jpg[/img]

It just never seemed to have the structural strength of the CRW for supporting large tomato plants.

Ted

I notice all raised bedswith wire.I usually use cages 3 or 4 ring or stock fencing and make my own cages.cutting 4x8 sections out to be able to weed,trim,and water.I keep all tomato plants trimmed to get mass fruit production before the heat arrives in florida..on tomatoes I leave about 3 or 4 main branches and trim all others except for the fruit bearing ones.since our heat arrives way to quickly I ferlize every 7 days to get my plants to produce up to 3 weeks earlier.but with my cages or ring cages I usually don't have a problem with them because I keep them triimmed so you don't have to worry about the plant weight.then you get to pick alot of fruit from your tomato plants soon and often..but for beans I use 12 ft boards and stock wire to allow them to vine upward and sideways,never had a problem with this method.but it does get windy her also.so I usually put my tall plants on the outside the the squash and zucs inside so the other plants block alot of the wind and they suffer as litttle damage as possible.... I also use russian mammoth sunflowers to take the wind effects from my produce, I build a wall with them it works great
since these flower grow 8 to 12 feet tall...but it always helps to drive stakes in the ground on the bottom of your stock wire cages this will stop high winds from knocking stuff over....since I have done the little trick I don't lose may plants due to high winds.. hopefully this will help with your wind problems

[Tilde]

For container growing indeterminates in large, low, 18" pots, I stared with small tomato cages and worked my way up to bigger ones. Used a couple of large stakes in each pot to tie the cages to (then I didn't need to push the cage into the dirt, giving me another foot).

For the lanky tomatoes, I took bits of bamboo and crossed them between the plants as they got taller, building a bit of a "floor" on each.

Doing the tomatoes in milk crates this fall - on a raised table. A neighbor just cleaned out a boatload of bamboo, cut into very handy 6 foot long stakes. I think I'll do some scavenging tonight ...

The plan for the milk crates this fall was going to be stakes at all four corners of each pot (zipties) and then weave in some heavy twine.

Now that I might have some tougher bamboo (it looks like the poles are 2" wide!) I might do something different ...

[dustyrivergardens]

wow a lot of great ideas good job I usually use the concrete wire. [img]https://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj163/hunt-john/gardening/IMG_1666.jpg[/img][/url]