Staking Tomato Plants

[JohnCU]

My granddaddy's tomato plants are getting high and he's ready to either put some stakes around for support or tomato cages. He'd rather not use the cages cause they are big and ugly, but he thinks if you drive stakes in the ground the roots will be messed up.

What do any of you gardeners do?

 

[Yossarian]

my dad used to use ski poles. he worked part time at a local ski resort and the sheer number of lost poles he took home was amazing.

 

[knivox]

I've just started growing some myself, so I don't really know, but check out the Gardenweb forums There's lots of good info there.

 

[OZEE]

cages -- stakes won't support the weight of the tomotoes.

 

[WannaFly]

cages work alot better for large tomator plants but it might be hard to put it in if the plant is already large so stakes might be your best option. No matter what you'll hit roots, just don't drive the stake right next to the base of the plant.

 

[Rumpltzer]

People (I) use the cage for a reason. It's not because a cage adds to the visual appeal of the plant... but it's not as if other gardeners are coming around to make fun of the way my tomato plants look.

The plant is gonna get huge, and the fruit bunches weigh a ton on the branches of the plant. Even using a cage and plant ties, I often get entire branches breaking at the main trunk of the plant. I'm sure you can pull it off with stakes, but it's going to take a LOT of them, and they'll need to be supported laterally (like, tying them to one another... like a cage!).

BTW, the cage needs to be installed when the plant is small... small enough to get the base of the cage around the plant... so it might be too late anyway.

The roots are plentiful. I wouldn't worry a lot about taking some of them out with the stakes.

 

[MichaelD]

I just wanted to say I thought the title was "Stalking Tomato Plants."

I was like "this guy needs some serious freakin' help!" But then I reread it. Good luck, Farmer Brown.

 

[JohnCU]

The plants are only about a foot tall right now, so it's not too late for cages yet...thanks for the help.

 

[Subzero]

Multiple stakes (3-4)per plant around it stay away from base of plant if that makes sense..
That should support it ..cages are best though..

 

[Atomic Rooster]

Cages arent the nicest looking things, but they do an excellent job of supporting the extra weight of the tomatoes. If using stakes, you will need to put them in a perimeter around the plants, then run string, or even old pantyhose between each of the stakes to give support to the branches holding the 'maters

 

[episodic]

Originally posted by: BadDaddy
Cages arent the nicest looking things, but they do an excellent job of supporting the extra weight of the tomatoes. If using stakes, you will need to put them in a perimeter around the plants, then run string, or even old pantyhose between each of the stakes to give support to the branches holding the 'maters

My mom has raised a tomato crop every year of her life. All she uses is a tomato stake. It is a square pole about 6 feet tall about 1 inch by 1 inch by 1 inch by 1 inch. . . . Just a hammer it beside the tomato plant into the ground until it is sturdy. As the plant grows, at first just just some cheap cord to tie the plant to the pole. It will soon follow it.

You can get these by the dozens where I live by going to a sawmill and telling em what you want . ..

Dirt cheap . . .