Staking Tomatoes

Diamond_Doll

I feel dumb asking this, but if you have a square foot garden, do you stake your tomatoes? If so what do you use and how do you do it? I'm obviously very new at this. TIA!

nitaw

Yes, I stake my tomatoes. You can buy stakes at any garden center. I got mine from Home Depot. They are green plastic and come in different heights. I placed the stake in the soil close to the plant stem. I haven't tied my plants to the stake yet (no need since they are still small), but use pantyhose (knee highs) or twine to tie it to the stake. I used twist ties last year and they seemed to cut into the plant. 

 

lneuner09

my tomatoes last years actually got too big for stakes - I ended up having to re-stake them like 2-3 times, often with 2-3 stakes!  This year I plan to cage them - it's a little more expensive than staking, but with how big my plants got last year, I think the cages will work better.  You can get those at Home Depot too.

pugznploons

we will probably use cages again, but stick them  down deeper, they fell over under the weight of the tomatoes last year

hoping4septimus

i use both stakes and cages but not on the same plant. I tie mine tomatoes to the stakes with pretty ribbon scraps

schoolsoutbride

My tomatoes were so big last year they bent the cages over. 

My SFG has a trellis like he describes in the book:

 

laddiebug

schoolsoutbride:

My tomatoes were so big last year they bent the cages over. 

My SFG has a trellis like he describes in the book:

 

Hello giant picture! Mind sizing that down some?

anneg

lneuner09:

my tomatoes last years actually got too big for stakes - I ended up having to re-stake them like 2-3 times, often with 2-3 stakes!  This year I plan to cage them - it's a little more expensive than staking, but with how big my plants got last year, I think the cages will work better.  You can get those at Home Depot too.

actually, if you're going to cage them you'd be better off making your own, like the ones on this site (scroll down).  2 - 2 1/2 feet wide, will last for ten years.  the cages you can buy at garden stores stink if you're tomatoes get tall, which ours do.

flame

I grow my tomoatoes on trellises.  My tomatoe trellisses are a metal U support and mesh attached to the metal support. I lso trellis all my melons and cucumbers and beans.