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Post by jeanette on Feb 26, 2006 10:38:13 GMT -6
since i'm planting heirloom tomatoes this year, i want to make sure i can keep the different varities seperate... i've never staked tomatoes before, i've tried cages but the tomatoes just devoured them.. anyhoo i'm not really sure how to go about staking them.. can anyone help me???
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Post by trudy on Feb 26, 2006 14:09:23 GMT -6
Jeanette if they are indeterminates then you will need something on the tall side. Or at least as tall as you can find. I went to a saw mill and found some stakes the diameter of the old tobacco stakes but I cut them down to where they were just taller than I am that worked great last year. Unless you plan to use a ladder to reach the fruit I would just let them drape back down and try an prevent breaking the main stem. I have heard of pholks using those cattle panels, when placed sideways they will reach about shoulder high. Sorry I'm not much more help, hopefully someone else will chime in that has a better system. trudy
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Post by Compost Pharmer on Feb 26, 2006 19:01:07 GMT -6
I used to use stakes for the tomato plants but they would always break the stakes. I didn't want to use a 2x4 for each tomato plant, so I build myself some tomato cages. I used concrete reenforcement wire. It is 5 feet wide. When standing up they are 5 feet tall. Yes you are right, the tomato's will devour the cages, but when they get to the top of the cage, I cut off the stocks. I find I have fuller plants and more tomatoes with a cage then stakes. Plus you always have to tie the stalks as they grow. With cages, I stuff the branches back in until they get at least 3 feet above the ground. Then I let them grow out. Yes, at times my garden looks like a jungle.
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Post by claudiascat on Feb 28, 2006 22:23:00 GMT -6
I've used and still use T-post i buy the flimsy wire so i can wrap around my T-post witch by the way are 7'ft tall.. And i use the brown tie rope to tie my tomatoes loosly to the wire. Works great here, and let me tell you we get bad storms here with very high winds, it works like a charm. :swng I try the wood but it broke every time, and my poor babies ended up on the floor. i just hate that. I hope this helps...Adelita East Texas
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Post by wannabe on Mar 1, 2006 15:36:31 GMT -6
Last year I just used 1x2's from Home Depot, about six feet tall. Pounded them into the ground next to the plant. This was after they had devoured their cages.
In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have pounded something right into the plant's roots like that and should have put in the stakes when the plants were planted. But: 1) my tomato plants were accidental volunteers that I just let grow where they sprouted, so I didn't even know what they were going to do when they were "planted", and 2) I'm such a complete newbie at this I'm still learning these things. It didn't seem to hurt them though. They did well and produced a lot of tomatoes.
I've heard that you should not use string or wire to tie the plants onto the stakes as that will damage them. I used old tube socks.
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Post by Adeltia on Mar 2, 2006 17:39:00 GMT -6
???No love i use twine to tie and the wire to hold it on to..Plus i use plastic netting to aide me in my tomatoes. been doing it for four season now. and dont forget to rotate your veggies luv adelita of east texas
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Post by wilderness1989 on Mar 7, 2006 23:39:38 GMT -6
Tomato cages - I've been doing it this way for 35 years. I take 6 foot sections of snow fence (available at most large lumber yards got mine at Tractor Supply this time), take every other stave out and make a circle out of the fence. Wire it together with the wire that holds fence together. Put a tomato plant in each one, mulch with straw, and stake the fence so it does not fall over. If interested send me your email address via message from this site and I'll email you pictures. Can't figure out how to post a picture if it's even possible. John Gray
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Post by hunter63 on Mar 13, 2006 11:53:30 GMT -6
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Post by jeanette on Mar 13, 2006 17:04:03 GMT -6
wow hunter thanks!! those even look like something we can make..!!
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Post by Pharmer Phil on Mar 14, 2006 5:38:01 GMT -6
I would need to extend the legs abit to sink them into the earth some, or provide a post for support, we get terrible strong winds here about tomato time
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Post by hunter63 on Mar 14, 2006 8:51:30 GMT -6
Phil, these are staked down, the screwed to the legs, saves the wood on the legs.
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Post by jeanette on Mar 14, 2006 9:05:34 GMT -6
that was one of the first things i looked at.. we do get strong strong winds...
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