What does everyone use for their tomato supports? every year I buy bigger and better cages , push countless stakes in the ground and every year I end up with my tomatoes all over the ground, because the cages fall over. I saw some supports in this magazine called gardeners supply company. They are called tomato ladders. They are supposed to support over 100# and they are like a v shape with supports about every 12". total height is 58". they retail for $59.95 for 5. Has anyone used these? also does anyone out there have a rain barrel that they purchased for a decent price from a reputable online source that they are happy with?I have a seed/plant catalog from jungs, located in Wisconsin. Years ago my dad used to order from them and they were great, anyone ordered recently? I appeciate any replies, thanks kathy
tomato supports, rain barrels. jungs seed catalog
Would anyone be interested in a few of these that row is about 10 ft long and hasn't been dug in several years m so i think there is quite a few They are a greenish yellow but i have them out in the open i think they would show up more up against something I also have old fashion ires they are light purple dark purple and a yellow with purple beards also can have purple passion plant
This message was edited Mar 24, 2007 11:32 AM
For tomatoes- I drive a sturdy stake into the ground at planting time a little taller than I expect the tomatoes to be and gradually tie the tomatoe to it with, believe it or not, small lengths of pantyhose. remove the first few branches near the ground and carefully prune the other branches as it grows. This sends the energy to the remaining branches and your yield will improve in quality. I read about twining the vine to the stake but i've never tried that. The pantyhose- they stretch and do not cut into the vine. I cut strips about 1/4" wide and however long I need, I use this for almost all my twining needs.
i usually bury my tomatoes up to the first set of leaves. i really dont prune them ,i dont really know how. i have a friend who takes off what she calls suckers, anything that grows into the v of a leaf joint, she has better soil than i do, her tomatoes arent much bigger, the plants look impressive but her yields are about half of mine. i do alot of canning, so i like lots of tomatoes. i will try your method with the pantyhose and see how it works. i did order some suports from the gardeners supply catalog, they were expensive but look interesting. i will give both methods a try and see which works best.what do you use for stakes? wooden? thanks for the advise!
Best support I ever used was a plastic netting trellis that stretched the length of the tomato bed. I could tie vines up to whatever was closest. I had 8 tomato plants, yes removed suckers, and during part of the summer was eating fresh-picked tomatoes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner -- nirvana in a bowl. Long time ago. Last year I had determinate tomatoes in a pot and used a wire support that was a couple of circles with 3 legs. It was adequate for a pot. This year I got those tomato ladders from Park Seed, 3 for $15.95, identical to the Gardeners Supply Co ones if you believe the pictures. They're quite sturdy and easily tall enough, but narrower than I expected, and I'm thinking of buying another set of 3 and growing a tomato plant up between a pair of them. I plan to use the round job for a determinate tomato and need to find/buy one more for the husk cherries if they ever stop dallying around in the seedling cells and put on a little growth.
I use whatever I have on hand for a stake. Sometimes wooden, sometimes metal concrete rebar, anything that is long enough and sturdy and doesn't bend easily.Tomatoe plants can get very heavy as you know.
today i received the tomato ladders from gardening supply. they are extremely heavy! i had to have my son cary them up the steps. i too thought about using two of them, for each tomato. i am upset that i paid so much for them after seeing that you got them for $15.95. if i buy more i will try park seed! my tomatoes are pretty small in the flats right now. my green house sets empty because its too cold and there isnt enough light. i have 6 flats under grow lights. last summer i was picking 50#s of tomatoes each weekend. i put up 51 jars of salsa, and about 6 quarts of spaghetti sauce. my sons 18 & 22 yrs. old ate most all of the salsa, and i gave much away in christmas gift baskets.hope this is a good year!
Kathy--don't be upset, the two products may not be the same exact thing. I have six tomato ladders I ordered several years ago from Gardeners Supply Co. I use two per tomato plant, or if I have two plants in a large pot, I'll put three or four ladders around the edges of the pot. When the plants get large enough that they need more support, I tie them to the ladders or even run that stretchy green tape stuff around the entire conglomeration. The ladders are very sturdy, and after years of use they still look new. Not familiar with the ones from Park Seed Co, but I love the tomato ladders I've got! Hope you enjoy yours too.
Kathy, I have to apologize! I got the GSC catalog this weekend and although Park's drawing of their tomato towers are just like the GSC photos, the GSC photos show a much larger support than the Park supports in my garden. So, comparing my 3 to the photos of their 5, GSC's price is probably quite reasonable.
But I must boast about how I compensated for the narrow supports Park sent me. I got a remesh fence, 4x7' with 4" wire mesh, and some 6' lengths of wood trim, nothing fancy, in fact the cheapest trim Home Depot had. I set the 7' edge of the remesh fence on top of the Park ladders, and wove the trim thru the ladders and the 4" mesh, creating a very sturdy trellis about 5x7' -- very sturdy, but too open for the wind to knock down. Remesh fence and wood trim cost me under $10, so I feel very frugal, and it's exactly what I like, a wide-mouthed mesh on which I can tie up any length of vine pretty much wherever it's growing. This contraption is for only 3 tomatoes this year, but I think I'd be able to grow as many as 8 plants on it, alternating them on either side, next year. It's too cold and my seedlings too small for me to use it yet, but the local birds like it, too, as it's solid enough for them to perch on it without it swaying.
This message was edited Apr 2, 2007 3:35 PM
carriebryan, thanks for the update. it sounds like a great tomatoe support. i will give it a try. the weather has been cold and rainy here. i adopted a 4 month old puppy in sept. he is a little crazy. i was gone the entire day and my kids let him out in the fenced yard. he must have been bored... he destroyed the cover on my green house!!. it was cheap plastic but i was so mad!! i had to go to menards to purchase a new cover. the weather is too cold to use the greenhouse any way but i had to buy 50 ft of snow fencing to put around the green house so he wont do it again.. my seedlings are under grow lights but they need the hothouse effect the greenhouse gives them. they look kinda spindly right now. hope the sun shines soon. although i always hated rain when i was younger i now relish it. i know how beneficial it is for the plants. i ordered a rainbarrel and it was shipped on the 26th. it will probably stop raining as soon as i get the barrel! have a good day! kathy
hi garden 6 . i bought one from www.rainbarrelsandmore.com. they use recycled plastic pickle and olive barrels from food service places. it comes with a brass spiggot and 2 overflow valves near the top, the top screws on & off and has screen on it to prevent debree. i bought a 50 gal. bright red one. it smells like greek olives! i checked the web and their pricing seemed good and they shipped in only 5 days. it was $99.95 including shipping. i think its rather pretty but i do love red. i was going to put it out under my gutter tonight but we are expecting 50 mph winds and didnt want it flying in my neighbors yard. it was a little expensive but to me it was worth it. rain water has the perfect ph for plants and i was tired of setting out 5 gallon buckets all over the yard each time we were expecting rain and then hauling them around to my indoor and outside plants. give the website a try, they have many different types. happy gardening, kathy
hey everyone i just have to vent to someone.. my kids think i am nuts. yesterday it was 56 degrees. i woke up this am and it dipped down to 27 last night. we had 40- 50 mph winds and the wind chill is 18. ALL my stuff looks half dead! my lungwort which was blooming is all wilty looking along with all my tulips, pink hycinths, peonys, poppys, violets, columbine, clemitis,tall phlox,lillies, you name it, anything that is above ground looks horrible. i ran around dragging sheets, blankets,towels, anything i could find to cover as much as i could. its supposed to get even colder tonight and continue with the winds. i am so frustrated! my seedlings are all under grow lights but are getting spindly because they need to be in my portable greenhouse, which is sitting empty because there is NO SUN! and its under 30 degrees. i have been gardening (obsessively) for about 10 years and dont remember it getting 18 degrees at night in april. i might just be getting older and cranky. maybe i should move someplace warmer...ill probably be on here complaining in august when its 95 and too hot to work outside.. thanks for listening kathy
LOL. WE will all be complaining when it reaches 95. I can't remember an April this cold either!