Wisdom from tomato growers needed

[puglogic]

I'd like to grow more of my tomatoes UP rather than OUT this year. I've always tended to be lazy, maybe staking them down low (18" stake) but then letting them sprawl all over. (I do pinch out the suckers etc) It seems like a waste of garden area, so this year I'm repenting and thinking about how to make them go more vertical.

There's a great number of solutions out there in garden catalogs -- tomato cages, tomato towers, etc --- but I thought I'd ask the experts. Do you trellis or stake or cage your tomato plants? Do you like the results? What's your method?

[Rosemary]

I use a wire trellis that's about 4' high. It's a frame that can be formed into a triangular cage or spread out horizontally, which is what I do. I use it for my sugar snap and snow peas first, then move it to the tomatoes and tie them loosely as needed.

[herbgeek]

I used to use a cage, now I use wooden stakes. I switched because I did a side by side test last year and the late blight affected the caged tomatoes significantly more. I suppose I could bleach the cages from year to year to kill fungus/viruses/bacteria, but I'm lazy, and know I won't. I use gardener's velcro to attach the stems to the stake - maybe about every foot or so.

[CathyA]

This is alot of work, but well worth it. I bought a roll of concrete reinforcing wire and then figured out the diameter of the cages I wanted, then cut the wire (need bolt cutters) and then put them in a circle and tied the ends together. They are about 4' tall. I made mine about 12-15 years ago and they are still going strong. I think the roll made about 23 cages. I leave them out over winter and they've rusted, but are as strong as ever. I plant the tomatoes and then put the cages over them. All the neighboring cages support each other. You don't need anything to tie them up, since the wire supports them. I do put 2 stakes per cage in the ground though, so the wind doesn't blow them over.
If you don't need 23 cages, you might see if a neighbor would go in on the wire with you and you'd share it. You'll need a pick-up truck though. That wire is extremely heavy in a roll.

[chas&rod]

We also used concrete wire to make ours. They work great!

[iris lily]

DH has a system of wire supports that are tied to fence posts. It's quite a sturdy system, sort of like a wire fences.

[CathyA]

puglogic.....one more thing......whatever kind of wire structure you might make that surrounds the tomatoes, be sure that the openings between the wires are big enough for your hand and a big tomato to get through!

[chord_ata]

I reused 6 foot cone cages from the blight year without washing, and had no blight problems with them this past year. Just watch the plants early on to keep the first few branches inside the cage.

[simplelife2]

I stake them with any long thing I can find from my alley prowls. I found a cache of surveyor stakes, although more are cracking because they are getting old. I also have a colorful assortment of broom and mop handles. Needless to says, Martha Stewart wouldn't approve, but it's all free. Rather than using twisties or twine, I used old pantyhose and T-shirts. They have lots of give and don't cut into the stems. I tie bows so I can readjust as needed.

One thing to be sure of is to get the stakes far enough in the ground so they don't topple when the plants are laden with fruit.

[Zigzagman]

Concrete wire here also - I made them about 10 years ago and they are still going strong.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y41/Beststash/garden/teepee.jpg

[puglogic]

Oooh, great ideas. Thanks, everyone.