HOW do you, cage, stake, tie, your tomato plants?

[Gary350]

I have tried a lot of things over the past 50 years, metal wire fence, poles, ropes, 2 parallel fences, no stakes or cages, metal cages, cement wire, I wonder if there is a better way than what I have now?

I keep my plants inside the cages the best I can until they are 6 feet tall. I have 5/8" diameter cement rebar stakes 8' tall holding the cages up this also helps in storms and high wind. I tie the plants up to about 6 feet high. After that mother nature takes over. The plants grow down the sides hanging down all around like a very large umbrella. The whole inside of the cage is so packed full of tomatoes they are hard to reach in and pull them out. Now the tops of my plants are hanging down almost toughing the ground. The plants were all loaded with lots of green tomatoes but they have been getting ripe for 3 weeks, last week plants produced 20 lbs. of tomatoes every day, this week they are produced about 30 lbs. of tomatoes every day. The rain has finally stopped it is going to be 100 degrees and very little rain until mid August. Tomatoes always slow down in this hot weather then pick up again in cool weather about Sept. I still have a lot of tomatoes to harvest when they get ripe but I don't expect much from the plants in this hot weather. Sept plants will be loaded and heavy, they get so heavy the plant limbs break off. At this point I have 100 jars of tomatoes in the pantry. I don't tie my plants up or do much work to them the rest of the garden season. As long as we have ripe tomatoes on the kitchen table every day until Halloween things are good. Any extra tomatoes will go to the homeless shelter.

[gumbo2176]

Even though I just stake mine now, I believe concrete reinforcing wire with the large openings is the best way to go. It comes in 60 inch widths on rolls 50 ft. long and if you cut it in 5 ft. lengths, you can get 10 cages out of a roll. And like you do, use rebar to stake them in the ground to keep them from falling over.

Unfortunately, I've had fungal issues in my garden for a few years now when the humidity climbs in our summer months and my tomato plants never get as large, or as productive as yours. I envy you for your tomato crop. For me to have tomatoes at Halloween, I have to put another crop in soon and hope the heat doesn't get to them before it cools down a bit in late September, and even then, it's pushing the envelope. I know I'll have some for Thanksgiving though.

[jal_ut]

I just let them sprawl on the ground.

[rainbowgardener]

Apparently that works in arid Utah. It would be a recipe for disaster for those of us in high-humidity areas....

[gumbo2176]

Not to mention most members don't even come close to the amount of space James has on his mountain retreat. His garden area is WAY bigger than my little plot and my plot takes up most of my back yard.

[PaulF]

Concrete reinforcing wire five feet tall made into a cage two feet across anchored by two four foot electric fence posts. The tomatoes centered and when small a two foot stake next to the plant. As the tomatoes grow they are tied to the small center stake until they are large enough to be supported by the larger cage.

My tomato vines usually grow up and out the top of the cage and fountain down. With the anchoring posts these cages withstand any wind.....last week we were hit by 115 MPH winds and not one of my 35 cages blew over but 6 major trees on the property were destroyed.

[imafan26]

I have a 10 ft x 7 ft CRW trellis. I wrap the ends of the 10ft length around two 18 gallon pots the ends are secured with zip ties to create the circular cages around the end pots. and I put the third 18 gallon pot in the middle. The trellis is very stable and does not require rebar supports.

I use tomato cages (the folding kind) for cucumbers. I double stack cages and tie them with twist ties or zip ties and the cage is reinforced with two long stakes (6ft)

I use a 3ft x 7ft CRW around a single pot but it will become top heavy and can blow over in the wind, so I use 4 ft rebar stakes pounded into the ground around the pot to keep it from tipping and 6 ft stakes inside the pot and tied to the wire to support the plants from the inside.

My indeterminate tomatoes will still top the cages and hang over. I just push any ones growing out of the cage back inside the cage. I also have to use bird netting on top and plastic temporary construction fencing on the bottom to keep the birds from eating the tomatoes. It also makes it very hard for me to get to the tomatoes too.

I don't like training tomatoes to a single stake or wire. It is too time consuming to continually prune and tie the vines and I have too many other plants to take care of. Cucumbers train themselves once they get started and only the side shoots have to be redirected. Three tomatoes are all I need. I do have wild ones growing in the yard. They can stay as long as they don't cause trouble.

[JayPoc]

The tallest conical "cages" from the box store, trussed up across the top with wooden stakes, bamboo stakes, and whatever else I can find. Once they over-top the cages, they form a canopy on top of the stakes. I long for something better, but this seems to work OK.

[applestar]

I more-or-less do the 'Florida weave' -- T posts and bamboo stakes alternating. Wrap twice around the stake and in opposite direction for each stake -- clockwise-counter clockwise, then come back and wrap the other way so there is a slight gap between the double strands for each level.

It's best to weave the strings before the vines reach them and tuck them between the strands after they reach them. Once the vines reach the topmost strands, I start tying them to the strings. I use strings that are strong enough to last the season but breaks down by the end or over the winter so I can just cut and compost or even just mulch/trample them into the ground for the winter.

I do single stake on spiral tomato stakes for the cherry varieties and use the double wrap stringing method to tie the stakes to each other which helps to keep them from leaning and falling over. T-posts on the ends of the row. (I had one in the middle of the row too last year, and used a wire for the top strand. Wondering if I'm gonna wish I did that this year.)

I use the otherwise useless (to me) largest conical tomato cages for dwarf and compact varieties, and use what I think if as pepper cones for the taller micro varieties.

[JayPoc]

I just realized there was another part to your question...the "tie" part. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the green velcro strips that come in a roll for fastening plants to the supports when needed. Of course, the old worn out whitey-tighty cotton tee-shirt cut into strips will always have a place in my garden....

[imafan26]

I like the zip ties because sometimes the twist ties break, but if nylon stockings are really good for tying and bagging things. As far as stakes go, tomatoes are heavy and when the wind is up to 40-50 mph gusts, I really need to use the rebar. I can impale my bamboo over them and that gives the stakes added height and stength especially if I use 2-3 inch bamboo poles. I have tried using pvc over the rebar but they are not as strong and I cannot manage rebar pieces longer than 4 ft.

[jal_ut]

Check out :

FEEDLOT PANEL, CATTLE, 16 FT. L X 50 IN.

These panels are heavy duty and would last you indefinitely. Maybe 3 steel posts to hold them up?

[imafan26]

cattle fencing not available except online. I guess because I live in the burbs not in a rural zone. Four feet would be a little short.

[Allyn]

I tie my own netting with jute twine, and when the plants start to reach the top of the netting, I train them sideways instead of letting them continue to grow up. I'm short, so growing vining crops sideways instead of up means I don't need a ladder in the garden. I weave the vines through the netting so there isn't a lot of tying, but when I do need to tie, I use strips of T-shirt jersey or flannel.