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Old 10-03-2007, 02:21 PM posted to rec.gardens
JoeSpareBedroom JoeSpareBedroom is offline
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Default Tomatoe stake question

"Ook" Ook Don't send me any freakin' spam at zootal dot com delete the
Don't send me any freakin' spam wrote in message
...
Does anyone have some practical advice on what to use to stake up
tomatoes? Last year I used some 3 foot steel fencing, but my tomatoes grew
an easy 6-7 feet tall. It was a mess, one of the clusters fell over lol.



Don't use stakes. Buy 5 or 6 foot high fence wire and make cages, as shown
in the pictures below. Two stakes/posts per cage. The branches grow out the
holes, and that's what supports the plants. Much of the fruit grows inside
the cages, so you have to cut a few holes to reach into for harvesting.
Other fruit may grow outside the cage and threaten to snap the branches, so
you might have to tie the branches to the cage occasionally. I've been using
these cages for 25 years. Correctly set up, they'll withstand 60 mph winds.

http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c197/ancientangler/?