brooklyn1 wrote in
:

Isn't stake and weave a technique advanced knitters employ. LOL

uh... no.


Stake and weave is fine if you have lots of illegals to perform
all the labor. And as you've noted decent stakes ain't cheap and
don't last long, often they don't last the season.

huh? buy 6-8' grade stakes from Agway. i've been using the same
stakes for going on 10 years now. if you use bamboo they only last
maybe 3-5 years, especially if you leave them out all winter.
i tried making a bean teepee from Norway maple branches last summer,
trying to get some value from a trash tree, but they collapsed under
the weight of the beans.

For home
grown I've found the square/triangular foldable vinyl clad steel
wire cages are best; they offer the best support without
damaging plants, are virtually labor free, they last years and
years and years and years, and fold flat for storage.

yeah, those *are* nice. where did you get yours, & how many tomatoes
do you usually grow?

I don't
like the welded cone shaped cages and the DIY kind made from
concrete reinforcement wire are worse.

they work passably for determinate varieties, but really are useless
for indeterminates.
lee