No one right way to stake a tomato plant
Question: I am growing tomatoes in my garden for the first time. I already have planted them. How would you advise that I stake them up?
Answer: Congratulations on growing your first tomatoes! You are on the right track thinking about staking them up already. It is way more difficult to support a plant after they get very big.
Without some attachment to a stake, fence or cage, most tomato plants will flop onto the ground where slugs and other pests may chew on the leaves and later feast on the fruit.
Getting those plants up off the ground also allows air to circulate through the foliage of the plant, helping to prevent disease.
Tomatoes can be supported with tall stakes, homemade or store-bought cages or supported fencing.
If you choose to stake, it is easier if you first remove each tomato plant's side shoots, as they are often in the way of tying the main stem to the stake. Carefully tie the main stem to a strong 3- to 5-foot stake, sturdily pounded into the ground, then tie the stem with cloth or that stretchy green nursery tape to the stake. Do not use inflexible tight string or wire, as these could injure the plant. Stakes can be made of almost any sturdy material including wood, metal or any other strong, straight material that can be cut into lengths.
Over the years, I've used all sorts of things for tomato stakes, including New Zealand fence posts, old broom handles, pruned-off fruit tree sucker shoots, rebar and scrap lathe wood.
Lazy gardeners, like me, use only one stake. Others, like my husband, who is far from lazy, uses three stakes to support each plant, each about 6 inches from the young tomato plant. He then selects a strong side branch to tie to each stake. Each of the staked branches will support a load of tomato fruits.
Strong wire fencing or concrete reinforcement wire (rebar) can be bent into circular, tomato plant cages that are about 3 feet tall when they're in place. Or strong cages can be built with 1-by-2 strips of wood, screwed or nailed together in a three- or four-sided cage structure. These tend to not last as long as the wire cages, in my experience.
If you choose to use cages, put them on when the plants are small, so you don't have to contort the plants to put the cage over them.
Tomatoes also can be supported along wire fencing, stretched out in a straight line and fastened to sturdy posts every 3 or 4 feet. The tomato plants can be tied onto this fence with stretchy ties. Or they can be tied to a line strung above the plants.
If you have money and no time, or don't want to make your own tomato supports, visit your local garden store and purchase a few wire stands specifically made for tomato plants.
Veggies to be planting out in early June
Sow seed of warm crops if you haven't already, including corn, beans, basil, melons, dukes and both winter and summer squash.
Don't forget to put in some seed for annual flowers: Sunflowers, marigolds, calendula, zinnias, cosmos and nasturtiums will all do well now if planted from seed.
It is imperative to plant tomatoes, eggplants, peppers from starts, not seeds now, as there is not time left for them to mature in the fall if planted from seed. Garden stores still have lots of starts on hand.
Don't forget to put in second crops of potatoes, peas, carrots, salad greens and beets.