Tomatoes outgrowing cages!
My tomato plants have outgrown their cages. They are almost two feet
above the tops now. What can I do? I don't want to cut them off. Thanks, Dan |
Add stakes and start tying'em up.
Mine are over the top of homebuilt 6ft tall cages already and loaded with fruit. I see lots of canning in my not-so-distant future. Keith NE Georgia Mountains wrote in message oups.com... My tomato plants have outgrown their cages. They are almost two feet above the tops now. What can I do? I don't want to cut them off. Thanks, Dan |
What I did last year was to buy some rebar at Lowes and cut it down to
about 7 feet. drive the rebar home inside the cages. Don't be too afraid of getting close to the plant, the roots you cut won't have an impact on the plants. Tie the cages to the rebar. I didn't use cages this year. Bad idea for me. The sun is a killer in Dallas this year and the lack of shade from trimming them back to stay on the stake is killing them. Next year, I'll make my own cages. Or, just pull everything out and make a big watermelon patch. |
Thye will bend over when they get heavy enough, I just let them do that.
Mine too are about 8 ft tall. John! wrote: My tomato plants have outgrown their cages. They are almost two feet above the tops now. What can I do? I don't want to cut them off. Thanks, Dan |
On 21 Jul 2005 05:42:47 -0700, "FriscoSoxFan"
wrote: What I did last year was to buy some rebar at Lowes and cut it down to about 7 feet. drive the rebar home inside the cages. Don't be too afraid of getting close to the plant, the roots you cut won't have an impact on the plants. Tie the cages to the rebar. I didn't use cages this year. Bad idea for me. The sun is a killer in Dallas this year and the lack of shade from trimming them back to stay on the stake is killing them. My tomatoes are getting badly sunburned here in the Central Valley, CA. As well as my bell peppers. No relief in sight from the triple digits. Sue Next year, I'll make my own cages. Or, just pull everything out and make a big watermelon patch. |
wrote in message oups.com... My tomato plants have outgrown their cages. They are almost two feet above the tops now. What can I do? I don't want to cut them off. 1) Don't cut them off. If they fall over the side, it's not the end other world. You can just leave them be and still get plenty-o-tomatoes. 2) Better yet, erect a teepee made from 8-10' poles over the cage(s) and tie the vines to it. http://www.easternuswx.com/bb/index....=post&id=13854 |
mine are outgrowing their 4' cages i built from field fencing, check 'em
out! http://home.earthlink.net/~brickled/...arden05007.jpg wrote in message oups.com... My tomato plants have outgrown their cages. They are almost two feet above the tops now. What can I do? I don't want to cut them off. Thanks, Dan |
Mine are outgrowing the 8 foot 1x 2s that I put 4 inches into the
soil. Some will grow to 9 feet. I better stop fertilizing! The problem with letting them grow without tieing them is that some significant branches will break when they bend. I broke a few myself, while putting in the 1 x 2s. The 1 X 2s were $1.15 each at Home Depot. Does anyone know how much rebar costs? Someone suggested making a teepee for each plant out of 8 foot rebar. That's a pretty good idea, if the rebar is not too expensive, won't rust and you have a way of tieing the three poles together, without your being a 7 footer. On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 18:13:55 GMT, "brickled" wrote: mine are outgrowing their 4' cages i built from field fencing, check 'em out! http://home.earthlink.net/~brickled/...arden05007.jpg wrote in message roups.com... My tomato plants have outgrown their cages. They are almost two feet above the tops now. What can I do? I don't want to cut them off. Thanks, Dan |
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