Do you stake or cage your determinate tomatoes?

[adoremybabe]

Plain and simple. I am just trying to decided what is best.

Thanks!

[Aubergine68]

Started with stakes but went to cages and like them better. The stakes I used didn't stand up under the weight of the fruit.

[Talula Fairie]

I don't think I have any determinate, but I prefer cages to stakes for my indeterminate. The only issue with that is that big enough cages are expensive, or you have to make them yourself which is kind of a PITA.

Stakes are kind of annoying, you have to tie the plant to them and the ties slip down...and I don't think they are as supportive as a good cage. Still, stakes are cheaper. You can get a medium sized wooden stake at home depo for $2. A good tomato cage seems to run $4 and up.

[Close2Me]

skinny bamboo stakes here

[seashells]

I've caged mine but it seems there was no point. They just aren't growing. My Early Girl has a tomato growing! But the plant itself is the same height as when I bought it, in early May. I wonder if it's too little sun, too little rain, or both or neither that caused the plant to not grow. Frustrating. My other tomatos, like a Fourth of July and so on, also did not grow at all, so they are about, oh, 5 inches tall?

[Close2Me]

I have an Early Girl too and they are smaller less producing of Tomatoes.

[Talula Fairie]

My Early girl is a little bit thinner with less branches than some of my others, but it's getting huge really fast. But, I live in a hot area, and tomatoes just really love it here. It's like the only plant I grow really well

[adoremybabe]

Talula - Nice to see that there is another crazy momma growing a garden and due in August!

Did you stake or support your early girls at all? This is my first year with determinant toms.

[Talula Fairie]

Originally Posted by adoremybabe

Talula - Nice to see that there is another crazy momma growing a garden and due in August!

Did you stake or support your early girls at all? This is my first year with determinant toms.

The early girl tomatoes I have are an indeterminate hybrid, and I did stake them This is the exact plant I have: http://www.bonnieplants.com/Catalog/...lt.aspx?p=1013

Oh and yes, I am a little crazy but really, I have a container garden and a raised bed so it's pretty easy to care for, not a whole lot of pests. All I'll have to do come August is water and harvest my veggies!

[AlwaysByMySide]

I cage all of my tomatoes. Mine are all in DIY Earthboxes (in the form of 5-gallon buckets), so the whole deal stays round from the bottom to the top.

[librarybooks]

i cage every other plant, and the alternate (uncaged) plants get sort of propped up between the two cages. it's like a giant wall of tomatoes.

[adoremybabe]

Thanks for all of your responses. I suppose that I should have DH get on this project then

[Autumn Breeze]

I can't decide what to do with mine! They appear to be 'bush' rather than 'stalk'. We bought stakes to do a teepee with...and planned on braiding some yarn or rope to go around the stakes.

One of my tomato plants fruited just fine while still in a container, so I hadn't planned on staking it, but my 9 smaller ones, I wasn't sure. But they're growing great right now. Hoping for a little more OUT soon, they're going UP right now.