GardenDesk

Tomato Stake and Weave for Tomato Tuesday

I finally installed my posts for the stake and weave tomato supports. I really waited a bit too long because the tomatoes in this bed were getting pretty big.

Since they were not supported, I wasn't able to prune the suckers off. You should always install whatever tomato support you plan to use when you plant your tomatoes. Don't do what I did and put it off.

Even though I waited too long, I think the tomatoes here will still do well with this Florida Stake-and-Weave method.

If you are not familiar with this method, you simply put a stake or post every few plants in a row and tie heavy duty twine or clothesline every foot or so. As the tomatoes grow taller, you train them to go on one side of the lower twine and the other side of the twine on the next level and so on. This way you effectively "weave" the tomato plants which keeps them upright.

This is a popular method with commercial tomato growers, but can serve the backyard gardener as well. It was originally designed for long rows of tomatoes, but I still use it with just three posts in my ten or 12 foot beds. I like using these metal fence posts because there are already holes to attach the line every foot up the post. My posts are much taller than they need to be, but I am reusing the ones I originally bought for my corn fence.

Stake and Weave tomato support works pretty well for me.

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Planning to use the Japanese Tomato Ring

In the portion of my garden that doesn't have raised beds, I plan to build a Japanese Tomato Ring and grow my biggest tomato varieties with it. I can't show the real thing yet, but here is what it looks like on my excel plan.

A Japanese Tomato Ring is basically a big circle of fence that you fill with compost and then grow tomatoes on the outside. My ring will probably just be chicken wire, although it is best if the wire can be five foot tall.

I will only fill the bottom foot or so with rich organic matter and maybe some finished compost. Then as the tomato plants grow, I will add more material to the compost ring. Of course, I'll tie the plants to the outside of the ring as they grow and prune them to a central stem.

I will keep the compost inside the ring well watered. This will greatly help the tomato plants by giving them a continuous supply of water and rich organic matter. Hopefully that will help the tomatoes grow bigger as well so I'm growing my giant tomato varieties on the ring. The tomatoes on my ring will be Big Zac, Omar's Lebanese, Jerry's German Giant, Delicious and Ultimate Giant.

The Japanese Tomato Ring is not a new idea. It appeared in Organic Gardening Magazine in June, 1976. I first read about it in Mike McGrath's, The Best of Organic Gardening

I love this book and have used many ideas from it. I probably own over a hundred gardening books and "The Best of Organic gardening" is one of my top 25 favorites.

I can't wait to get the Japanese Tomato Ring built and the tomato plants underway. I just wish it would stop raining!

This post is part of Tomato Tuesday. You can add your tomato posts there as well!

Happy Tomato Tuesday!