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  1. #1
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    Tomato plant question.

    For whatever reason, my tomatoes just go nuts. I'm average at growing almost everything else but those tomato plants are insane. I'm assuming it's the soil.

    At any rate, I'm frustrated with tomato cages. They're never big enough. At some point they fall over under the weight no matter how far down I get the legs into the ground and it's just a hot mess. My husband doesn't like it when they run all over the walkways so I kind of pile them up and keep pushing them to the side.

    Any thoughts on how to do it this year? I was kind of thinking that I should just stick a bunch of five foot bamboo poles around the planted area, run a bunch of strings between them like a web and let the plants do their thing.

    Any thoughts? Would that be strong enough?

  2. #2
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    The bamboo poles sound good as long as they are sunk well into the ground. Make like a monster tomato cage. I've also used 2x2 lumber, sharpen one end to a point, stand on a ladder and pound in. If you have some extra 2x4s laying around, saw one of those in half long way. Another way is to line the long stakes along the edge of the plant row, on both sides, and use string to make a "fence". I prefer a nylon strong as jute or cotton will sag quite a bit.
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  4. #3
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    We use the cages but have to stake them. Some of our cages have a pyramid shape, smaller at the bottom. Those tip over much more easily.
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  6. #4
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Snowshoe View Post
    We use the cages but have to stake them. Some of our cages have a pyramid shape, smaller at the bottom. Those tip over much more easily.
    I hate them. Once the plants are established, there's no pulling them out. They fall and they're just in there with everything wrapped around them. Drives me crazy.

  7. #5
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by POPTOP View Post
    The bamboo poles sound good as long as they are sunk well into the ground. Make like a monster tomato cage. I've also used 2x2 lumber, sharpen one end to a point, stand on a ladder and pound in. If you have some extra 2x4s laying around, saw one of those in half long way. Another way is to line the long stakes along the edge of the plant row, on both sides, and use string to make a "fence". I prefer a nylon strong as jute or cotton will sag quite a bit.
    Great tip on the nylon. I put a few on a slope today just to experiment a bit more. I'm hoping that they just go downhill with little support. Maybe a web close to the ground just to keep everything off the ground.

  8. #6
    Best Friend Retriever
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    My neighbor grows awesome tomato plants, and how wonderful that he shares with us! His plants probably grow to about 12 feet tall. They have made like giant tomato cages out of fencing--looks like livestock fencing with the big wire squares. He lets us go get cucumbers & blackberries, too.....yummmm…...

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  10. #7
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Some day perhaps I will try hanging tomatoes. The support would have to be far stronger than tomato cages. And how would I water them? It sounds interesting though.
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  12. #8
    "Sorry" Woody's Avatar
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    Mine go crazy as well.

    I use cages which always seem to break,

    I use bamboo stakes and longer pieces of lumber and tie them with that green garden tape.

    I try to stay vigilant on plucking the sucker shoots so I don't get a zillion offshoots but eventually they will get away from me.
    Thanks Everyone!!

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  14. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Snowshoe View Post
    Some day perhaps I will try hanging tomatoes. The support would have to be far stronger than tomato cages. And how would I water them? It sounds interesting though.
    All of my veggies and herbs are in containers, including a hanging planter. Not sure if they make it anymore, but it works great. My garden is small so I don't usually plant things that will grow big so they aren't the heaviest tomatoes and I mix the space below with something like jalapeño peppers to avoid overcrowding when things grow. It is very sturdy so think hanging more hearty tomatoes wouldn't be a problem. It is open on top so you can plant there too. I put lettuce up there to keep the rabbits from eating it. You just water from the top and gravity does the work to water what is hanging below.

    https://www.walmart.com/ip/Suncast-T...T2500/15712451

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  16. #10
    House Broken
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    Ocean State Job Lot store has some nice garden stakes, heavy duty too, think are oak wood with a point, we use them for peonies, hydrangeas and tomato plants, the wire stuff they sell is too flimsy.

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