Hi Diana, my tomato plants are doing real well so my next question is do I tie them to stakes and at what stage of their growth or do I put one of those tall cages around them? Thanks
You can go either way. I use the tall 4’ square cages - pricey, but I’ve had them for a decade already and they are very sturdy. I usually have 4 cages per my 8’x4’ beds, and then I use bungee cords to kind of anchor them to one another. (I’ll post pictures later - I’m really behind this week!)
If you’re going to use the round cages, get the larges ones you can find, and run a stake of some sort on the INSIDE edge on two sides.
If you just want to stake them to a post, wait until they’re about 2’ tall. Put the stake as close to the plant as you can, and use something SOFT to tie the main trunk to the stake in a few places using a ‘figure-8’ wrapping with some ‘play’ in it for when the wind blows. If you have varieties that are going to get quite large, add another die to the stake as they grow.
An old t-shirt cut into strips makes a great tie-up for tomatoes. It needs to be soft so you don’t damage the trunk from rubbing when the wind blows. :)
New post for the week is coming right up!