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Posted: 10/20/2020 5:02:04 PM EDT
What is the best way to support tomato vines? Mine are a mess.
Link Posted: 10/20/2020 5:06:28 PM EDT
[#1]
I use bamboo stakes and the twist ties from the produce department at the grocery store.
Link Posted: 10/20/2020 5:09:05 PM EDT
[#2]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
I use bamboo stakes and the twist ties from the produce department at the grocery store.
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I was going to ask for a picture but I can’t post them either.
Link Posted: 10/20/2020 5:16:04 PM EDT
[#3]
My Mom & Dad always used strips of cloth from worn cotton bed sheets.  The larger/heavier the limb the wider the strip to keep from cutting the plant.  Never tie them tight to the stake/post/basket for the same reason.
Link Posted: 10/20/2020 5:19:34 PM EDT
[#4]
Link Posted: 10/20/2020 5:39:33 PM EDT
[#5]
I use 2 cattle panels (16' x 50" livestock fence panel)  spaced about 8 inches apart, supported by t-posts. Tying vines to stakes with anything is a huge time waster.
Link Posted: 10/20/2020 6:46:20 PM EDT
[#6]
I cut 20' cattle panels into thirds and used them as tomato cages.
Link Posted: 10/20/2020 7:03:53 PM EDT
[#7]
Florida weave.  Your welcome!!
Link Posted: 10/21/2020 8:16:46 AM EDT
[#8]
Most folks I know use concrete mesh cages.  If you know a concrete "guy" and only need a few, they probably have the end of a roll that they would give you or sell you on the cheap.  If you need to make several, just buy a whole roll.  ETA: Dang, I don't think it was $160 the last time a made a bunch of them (Lowes).  I'm going off memory here, but 150' would probably make 35 - 40 cages... maybe a little overkill for what you are doing...

Anyhow, I prefer the cages.  I would go out every few nights and "tuck" the growing plant into the cages, encouraging upward growth.  It eliminates tying.  It does make it a little tougher to pick maters when the plant gets really bushy since everything is stuffed into the cage as opposed to out in the open with the tying method.  

Link Posted: 10/21/2020 8:22:47 AM EDT
[#9]
Here are the only old garden pics I had on my phone.  Not great pics of cages, but you get the idea.
Attachment Attached File

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Link Posted: 10/22/2020 10:58:32 AM EDT
[#10]
Trellis them! Easily the best way for low maintenance, airflow and pruning IMO. I'll never go back to cages.
Link Posted: 10/23/2020 11:51:17 AM EDT
[#11]
My family always used wooden stakes, fastest source was to buy bundles of 8' furring strips, drive them or use a small auger to drill hole into the ground and tamp them to firm up.  Most of the tomatoes we planted were indeterminate so would usually top the stake by the end of the season.  My mom would cut old sheets into ties.

This fall I set up 2 rows of 16' cattle panels on t-posts with the bottom about 1' off the ground, I don't know that it is any faster than setting the stakes but they will last a long time, the wooden stakes rot after a couple of seasons, break easily and get warped over time.  I planted more determinate varieties as a test but they should work reasonably well on the indeterminates as well.  Over the last few years I've used the green plant tie tape which is easy, fast and a little stretchy.

Never used cages we plant too many plants.
Link Posted: 10/23/2020 12:17:57 PM EDT
[#12]
I built an 8' high frame with 1" pipe and hung masonry twine to wrap the stalk around (as it grew) for vertical tomatoes. It ran the length of the garden, in the back with plants every 18" or so.

Trimmed the "suckers" and I ended up with hundreds of gorgeous 'maters. (I did allow more room for the cherry tomatoes and didn't trim them as heavily.)

Had a helluva time this year with blossom-end-rot, early on, though - probably due to over-watering during the freakin' heat wave we had.
Link Posted: 10/23/2020 12:37:11 PM EDT
[#13]
I started using medical/silicon tubing to tie them with seems to work really well.
Link Posted: 10/23/2020 1:46:33 PM EDT
[#14]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Florida weave.  Your welcome!!
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This! 4'x8' raised bed out of 1"x12" untreated, then use three 8' joints of EMT (and two elbows) to form a frame over it. You can use some twine to tie a tautline to the top of the frame, then use a loose loop at the bottom to hold the plants upright while they grow. Once they get over 12" tall, I use the twine & a Florida weave to support every foot or so (sometimes use zip ties every foot on the uprights, so the twine doesn't slip). Cut the twine at each end for easy cleanup after the season's over.

I've grown Cherokee Purple vines up & over the top several past seasons, plus you can offset the frame and get lots of planting space under the 'maters for companion planting. I took mine down a few weeks ago, or I'd post a pic.

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