Staking My Tomato Plants in the Garden
How are your tomato plants doing this year? Mine are growing excellently with just a little careful planning and maintenance.
If you’ve ever grown a vining plant, you know how important it is to provide strong structures to which the vines can cling and climb. Using teepee-like structures in the vegetable garden is an easy way to support these plants, and to add eye-catching texture to the garden beds. We used bamboo to build the supports. Bamboo is attractive, easy to find, and can be reused year after year. My gardener, Brian O'Kelly, worked hard to stake the fast growing vegetable crops, so the growing fruits stay off the ground.
Here are photos of the process - enjoy.
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- We planted our tomato plants at the end of May. Some I got from a friend, some came from one of our trusted vendors, and some were planted from seed in my greenhouse. We’re all very proud of the tomato crop we have this year. Tomatoes grow best when the daytime temperature is between 65 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. They stop growing above 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Tomatoes also need full sun and warm, well-drained soil. Our tomatoes are thriving.
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- Here they are all planted. They are transplanted in the ground as soon as daytime temperatures are consistently above 65-degrees Fahrenheit. Two-thirds of the plant should be underground, meaning all but the two top most leaf sets should be buried. Planting deeply helps the plant to develop more roots, and more roots mean more ability to take up water and nutrients. If the seedling is already too tall and wobbly, dig a trench instead of a hole and lay the plant on its side. The stronger root system also helps the plant better survive the hot weather. This applies to tomatoes planted in the ground, in a raised bed or in a container.
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- With nutrient rich soil and warm days they’ve grown pretty quickly. Tomatoes, Solanum lycopersicum, have long been one of America’s favorite garden vegetables. Those bold red, sun-ripened tomatoes deliver the taste of summer with every bite. And, they’re filled with excellent antioxidants and vitamins. We plant many, many tomatoes, but just a handful of healthy plants can produce a bounty of delicious fruits within eight weeks.
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- Here they are after just a couple of weeks – so robust.
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- As they grow, Brian removes any suckers he sees — those vigorous stems sprouting in-between a “V” of the stem and side branch. He removes the suckers beneath the first fruit cluster so they won’t slow the development of the fruit. It also keeps the plant open, allowing for good air circulation.
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- Last week was time to support their growing vines. Brian and Ryan begin putting up the stakes for the tomato plants. I am always trying new methods for staking our tomato plants. Every year we try something new and better. This year, we’re making angled teepee-like structures for each bed.
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- Brian secures one stake into the ground next to each tomato plant. The plants will use these upright stakes as supports. Each one is pushed into the ground about eight to 10-inches deep. The important thing is to place them deep enough, so they remain secure for the duration of the season.
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- All the stakes are pounded into the ground at an angle, so they touch each other in the center. Here, Brian also secures a center stake at each end and ties twine along the length of the bed to use as a guide.
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- Brian checks that the tomato plants and the stakes are planted close enough – this plant is already tall enough to wrap around the bamboo.
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- Using the line of twine secured above, Brian ensures the stakes are all centered perfectly. Then, he ties the two stakes securely using the same kind of twine.
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- As with all our projects using twine, we use jute – everything is kept uniform and as natural as possible.
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- Next, Brian measures a couple of feet up each upright angled stake, so he can secure horizontal bamboo pieces across all the bamboo stakes. He will add more rows of horizontal supports as the plants grow.
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- Brian places bamboo along the bed, so they are all in place as he works. Bamboo canes are easy to buy in bulk, and can be found in a variety of sizes. These canes are about 10-feet long.
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- Next, he secures them with twine at each joint, so it is tight and strong enough to hold the fruit laden vines. Securing the tomato plants is a time consuming process, but very crucial to good plant growth and performance.
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- There is plenty of space to tie and support every tomato vine.
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- Looking through the center of the bed, there will be just enough space for someone to carefully walk through for any maintenance work or harvesting.
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- And then Brian secures each plant to the bamboo stakes where needed. He ties a simple figure eight knot to the bamboo. I teach all the gardeners and grounds crew members to use figure eights, so the stems are not crushed.
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- Tomato leaves have serrated, or wavy and pointed, edging along the entire perimeter. Tomato leaves are compound with multiple leaflets growing along a common stem, called a rachis. These leaves are also slightly fuzzy to the touch, which is caused by the trichomes, or multi-cellular hairs, on the plant. Never use chemically treated wood or other material for staking climbers, as the chemicals would likely run off and go into the soil.
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- Each plant is now carefully propped up next to its designated stake and secured. These supports really help to keep all these beautiful fruits off the ground and free of rot.
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- It takes about 50 to 90 days for tomato varieties to reach maturity. Planting can also be staggered to produce early, mid and late season tomato harvests.
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- Maintaining the plants and checking them regularly will go a long way in keeping them healthy. Another key to maintaining a rich vegetable garden is to rotate the tomato bed between a few spots in the garden to diminish the risk of soil-borne diseases such as bacterial spot and early blight. Since this garden is new, we won’t have to think about rotation planting until next year. Very soon, we will have many, many tomatoes to enjoy. I am looking forward to a wonderful harvest this season. I can almost taste them now.
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