Ways to stake tomatoes?

[Beekissed]

I'm thinking that, if metal cages or trellises affected tomatoes negatively to such a degree as to cause poor yields and disease, someone would have noticed this by now and everyone would have stopped using metal cages around their tomatoes? Wouldn't ALL metal tomato cages get hot in the sun enough to damage tomato vines in this manner?

Having asked those questions, I have noticed more difficulty in my tomatoes since incorporating the CPs(we always staked our maters with wooden stakes)...but in my garden, I can't call that conclusive, as it was also the same time I switched to no till, BTE type gardening, which can also contribute to more disease and lower yields.

I'm doing searches on it and can't find anything about it, but will still do some experimenting in the garden this year with old fashioned wooden supports vs. CPs to see if I can see a difference. It would be interesting to see if this bears out.

If so, I have a ton of uses for these CPs and can go back to wood trellising easily, but I do love the ease of the CP trellises.

You know, I can see where worms and pest bugs would find it an easier travel to just walk down the fencing trellis, visiting each plant, as opposed to having to go to the soil to traverse between plants. Much disease and pestilence is carried by these vectors.

Could be why individual tomato cages wouldn't be affected by such a thing but a long, continuous trellis of metal would?

Interesting topic and worthy of experimenting and following up on!

 

[Farmer Connie]

This is the only photo I can find right now, but we train them to twist up long suspended twine cords. About every other day, wrap the vine around the cord and it will be spiraled eventually.
To efficiently pollinate the flowers, strum the strings up above like a harp.
The stings are seen in the left top portion of the photo. I post a better pic if I find one.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

@Farmer Connie Were you growing those tomatoes in pots?

 

[Wannabefree]

I use T posts and baling twine but I put 4 plants between the posts and go around them with the twine and secure the ends to the posts as the tomatoes grow. I put the twine about every 8 inches and it seems to do pretty well unless it breaks like the old twine I used last year did. So I'm buying new twine this year to prevent such aggravation.

 

[Farmer Connie]

@Farmer Connie Were you growing those tomatoes in pots?

roger that. We take soil out of the big garden after first till, mix in some goat or dried pig poo. At the end of the season we just empty the pots back into the big garden. Repeat.
We do this for bell pepper too. As well as cucumbers. Green onion, radish.. as so on.
All these are from containers.

Now corn, potatoes yellow onions, beans, lettuces, etc.... are in the big garden.
I don't have any recent garden stuff to post yet. Season is just beginning. But I have a ton of seeds started.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Awesome that they do so well in pots for you. Hope mine follow suit!

 

[CrealCritter]

This is the only photo I can find right now, but we train them to twist up long suspended twine cords. About every other day, wrap the vine around the cord and it will be spiraled eventually.
To efficiently pollinate the flowers, strum the strings up above like a harp.
The stings are seen in the left top portion of the photo. I post a better pic if I find one.
View attachment 6943 View attachment 6944 View attachment 6945

You take such pretty pictures. I do the same to polinate but I thump the tee posts with the palm of my hand. Morning seems like he best time to polinate, just after the dew dries off the leaves.

I've never had much luck with pots though, it seemed like I had to play momma and water them daily. I would rather much put them in the ground instead of pots.

 

[NH Homesteader]

OK tomato people, I have a question. I have a hard time getting tomatoes to ripen before frost. We are planning on converting a hoop coop into a greenhouse. I would like to do tomatoes in containers. So, what size containers do I use? Or would I be better off with raised beds? The only thing I care about in the whole darn garden this year is tomatoes (OK and herbs) so help me make them live!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Hmmmm....If you're doing containers - the bigger the better. I've seen people do them in 5 gallon buckets, so I'd say that's probably the minimum. I got lucky and found someone who has cattle and buys a lot of those big mineral tubs - I think they're 30 gallons. I have a bunch of tomatoes in those types of tubs this year and two raised beds with tomatoes in them too. I want tomatoes this year too!

Staking would probably depend on how/where you plant. In my big tubs I've used everything form regular tomato cages for the smaller varieties on up to big stakes in the ground to tie them up to. Some of them are growing close to a stock panel so I'll probably utilize that as a place to tie off to also.

Pictures when you get it up and going!!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Hmm I was thinking a 5 gallon bucket might be OK but was worried it would be too small. How tall do raised beds need to be (for the plant's sake)? Maybe I'll have DH build me some. I've seen them built with metal roofing instead of wood, and I have a whole bunch left over from the barn. Hmm...