Staking Big and Heavy Tomato Plants

[Christian]

I'm having a dilemma. I hope to grow quite a few indeterminate tomato plants. These are expected to have 1 pound tomatoes. So weight will become an issue. I can't believe how expensive tomato cages are. At least for my pocketbook. I was thinking of using the Florida weave, but that will not be strong enough down the road. Is tieing each plant to a metal t post a solution. Then tieing the plant more as it grows upward. If it were just a few plants I would be rebar. I need an affordable method, that's simple.

 

[CanadianLori]

I'm having a dilemma. I was thinking of using the Florida weave, but that will not be strong enough down the road. Is tieing each plant to a metal t post a solution. Then tieing the plant more as it grows upward. If it were just a few plants I would be rebar. I need an affordable method, that's simple.

I have had great success using plant supports from Johnny's. And can reuse them every year.
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-8888-rollerhook.aspx and use the clips with it. These work out to about a buck apiece.

 

[Chuck]

I'm having a dilemma. I hope to grow quite a few indeterminate tomato plants. These are expected to have 1 pound tomatoes. So weight will become an issue. I can't believe how expensive tomato cages are. At least for my pocketbook. I was thinking of using the Florida weave, but that will not be strong enough down the road. Is tieing each plant to a metal t post a solution. Then tieing the plant more as it grows upward. If it were just a few plants I would be rebar. I need an affordable method, that's simple.

Here is the way I do it and it works very well and costs next to nothing. I use rebar and twine. Drive the rebar (or something else) fairly deep into the ground about every 3-5 tomato plants. Run the twine tightly on both sides of the plant and tie to the next rebar. Then between each plant tie the 2 lengths of twine together with a short piece of twine, thus tightening and enclosing the plant. As the plant gets taller just do the same thing again only higher up the rebar.

 

[granjera]

Last year, I used PVC.

 

[Molly Gene]

I'm having a dilemma. I hope to grow quite a few indeterminate tomato plants. These are expected to have 1 pound tomatoes. So weight will become an issue. I can't believe how expensive tomato cages are. At least for my pocketbook. I was thinking of using the Florida weave, but that will not be strong enough down the road. Is tieing each plant to a metal t post a solution. Then tieing the plant more as it grows upward. If it were just a few plants I would be rebar. I need an affordable method, that's simple.

My dad would stake the whole plant with a strong sturdy stick. Then he would prop up any heavy branches or fruit with "crutch" sticks. He would just look for sticks shaped like a "Y" and prop them up. Can't get much cheaper than that!

 

[rosiecotton19]

Last year I cut some bamboo from a neighbor's yard and used that. It was great and I still have some sticks left. I just tied the main stem to the stick using twist ties or old pantyhose as the plant grew and removed all suckers. It worked great! And I had some big tomatoes.

 

[Durgan]

I have used all systems over the years. This is now my selected system.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?QWGMW 1 May 2013 Tomato Support System
A tomato support system was made using rebar and plastic ties to support 27 tomato plants by strings 1/8 diameter dropped down from the structure to the tomato fruit bearing branches. The total area for the structure is 6.5 feet by 22 feet. The verticals are eight foot half inch rebar about two feet in the ground so the hight is approximately six feet to avoid head bumping when harvesting the fruit.The rebar are held together by plastic ties.The planting area was fertilized with compost and rototilled in preparation for planting about the 24 of May in my Zone 5.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?VLYDB 21 May 2013 Mulching Tomatoes
It rained last night and the ground is reasonably moist. It is an ideal time to mulch. A yard of wood chips was placed on the tomato patch. This layer is about three inches thick. The purpose is to retain moisture, to inhibit evaporation from a hot Sun.

 

[remnant]

A simple method of staking your plants is to erect two strong posts at each end of the row. Them nail a horizontal pole at the top. The next step is to tie your plants with sisal twine which is tied to the horizontal pole for the plants to be trained to grow upwards.