I grew them in 25 qt pots with fence wire wrapped around the pots. Twisted
the wire below the rim with pliers until it was tight then twisted a row of
wire above the rim some so the wire couldnt fall down to the ground. this
worked great. The fence even made good handles for moving them around. Some
training of the plant as it grows and your in business. Mr. Stripey stood
about 7 or 8 feet tall and drank 2 gallons of water on hot days, but they
were good.
Or you could always cut a hole out of the bottom of a 5 gal bucket. About 4
to 6 inches diameter. Lay the bucket on its side and fill about half full
with potting mix. Insert Tomato plant thru hole with the top sticking out
the bottom. Put several layers of newspaper around the base of the plant in
the bottom of the bucket to keep dirt from gettinh thru the hole. Fill the
bucket as good as you can while its on its side. then carefully hang it up
and finish filling with your potting mix. Now your plant is hanging from the
bottom of thr bucket. Plant some carrots or something.(I like leaf lettuce)
in the top just because you can. Your plant will not need any support it
will grow from the bottom of the bucket without any problems.

Roger In Indy
"Dwayne" wrote in message
...
I would build a cage out of fence wire with large holes to allow you to
reach in and pick the tomatoes. You can make it 16 inches around so it
would fit over your pot, and 4, 5, or 6 feet tall. I used the 4 ft tall
one and they came out the top, but not enough to be a problem. Go to a
store that will sell it by the foot rather than by the roll.

Dwayne

"OmManiPadmeOmelet" wrote in message
...
In article ,
HelixStalwart wrote:

Next spring I will be starting a Paul Robeson tomato (black beefsteak,
climber), but...

...it will be in a 14" terracotta pot, not directly in the ground.

This gives me a headache knowing how to stake it. This year at least,
I can't put the Paul Robeson in the ground and I can't put trellis
wires on the wall. It *has* to be in the container. Apparently it can
grow up to six feet (or more in warmer climates). It is fairly cold
here in Scotland, so I am not too worried about it becoming a monster.
Also, this will be my first staked tomato so I have no prior
experience of tall tomatoes.

So - how do I stake it? I'd guess the obvious choices would include...
i) a single stake right next to the pot, lean the first vine over a
bit and stake as normal - would it sag?

ii) make a tall tripod of three stakes lashed at the top, each stake
fixed into the ground below the level for the pot but long enough to
give some decent headroom for growing - would need about 7-foot
stakes?

Please can you offer some advice. Because it's in a container, I can't
use something like a Veggie Cage (from www.tomato-cages.com).

Thanks.

I used cages last winter for pots.
I just tied them to a side stake in the ground to stabilize them.

Worked for me! :-)

Cheers!
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack
Nicholson