how do you support your tomato plants?

[mrbigstuff]

my sticks in the ground are looking too rudimentary for my taste. plus, they're just too labor intensive to keep stringing up the leafy buds.

[jdc]

you mean you dont grow yours upside down?

how about a tomato cage?

[sekker]

I was afraid this really belonged on the other side based on the title!

[mrbigstuff]

you mean like WIC for my tomato plants?

or, some sort of tomato(e) plants?

[OWC Jamie]

I have dozens of VHF antennas of various lengths for the indeterminates
one stem per plant
cherry and plum that tend to grow like wild grape vines get the taller ones
cages really aren't tall enough
course you can always just hack the tops off as they get too tall

I use those wire tomato cage/basket things for determinate romas and am trying a concrete reinforcing fence this year but it really isn't working like I had hoped
I've cut pine branches and lashed to make teepees in the past to tie to to stop the branches from breaking something straighter like bamboo would be better
I'm not buying poles

We can have a bit of wind here so poles and supports really have to be stabbed into the ground a ways

I've tried the dangling string thing but the wind just yanks them off


I use lots of the gardening velcro

[OWC Jamie]

sekker wrote:
I was afraid this really belonged on the other side based on the title!

copper spray might work for rhetoric blight :-)

[Black]

I don't do much pruning, although last year I had my best tomatoes ever due to hail disaster-- the root structure ultimately outpaced the foliage. I suppose there's a message in there... I usually end up using one stick in the middle, raising the entire plant, and tying one large loop around the outside to kind of hold the thing together. Goal is to keep them off the ground (they're in containers.)
I have a few rolls of that plant-specific velcro tie which works fine.

[wurm]

A couple of years ago I decided to try to make some cages from concrete reinforcing wire mesh as explained here. I cheated a little, so mine are only a foot in diameter. They aren't pretty, but they do the job. Wish I could say the same for the plants themselves.

[tortoise]

mrbigstuff wrote:
my sticks in the ground are looking too rudimentary for my taste. plus, they're just too labor intensive to keep stringing up the leafy buds.

I made these cages from bulk roll of wiring, they get used over each year and will last forever, support the largest plants you can grow. They also work for cucumbers and numerous other plants, made straight runs for climbing beans, etc.

[Fritz]

I hire the neighborhood kids to hold them up. Pay them in Viet dong.
Keeps them out of trouble and gives them meaningful employment.
They whine alot at night, but its summer And the windows are closed so the AC can keep the furry critters comfy.
And they can be fed and watered at the same time as the tomatoes.