Trellising Tomatoes

[packyderms_wife]

How high of a trellis do I need for my tomatoes if I'm not using cages? My plan is to put th plants approx 18-20 inches apart, I have 16 foot and 20 foot rows respectively and 35 plants to get into the ground.

Kimberly

[TNHermit]

Depends on your variety. Some of mine will go 5-6 ft.

[packyderms_wife]

Depends on your variety. Some of mine will go 5-6 ft.

I'm raising an heirloom roma tomato known as Daego Red it's been in the family for a hundred years now. The fruits get to the size of large grapefruit and typically produce about a dozen seeds per fruit. It's been five years since I've started any seed and decided I needed to do so this year to keep the varient going.

I guess I'll have to call my dad to find out how tall they get.

Kimberly

[IdahoMom]

Kimberly,

I had one Roma tomato last year and it had over 100 pounds of tomatos easily..

It's not only the height, but the weight you need to think about. I'm thinking mine was about five feet tall. It started out with a cage and ended up with stakes tied to bricks to keep it from falling over..

Those sound AWESOME by the way.

[packyderms_wife]

Kimberly,

I had one Roma tomato last year and it had over 100 pounds of tomatos easily..

It's not only the height, but the weight you need to think about. I'm thinking mine was about five feet tall. It started out with a cage and ended up with stakes tied to bricks to keep it from falling over..

Those sound AWESOME by the way.

I'm hoping it'll be a good tomato year here, maybe I'll just stick with my cattle panels then??? Still haven't heard back from my dad.

Kimberly

[ovendoctor]

stock panels work great

I use concrete wire made into a circle

the plants go all the way up to the top and over

[momof23goats]

my brandy wine got over 7 ft.they get huge.

[shortstop]

This thread is perfect timing... I just went to walmart and didnt like those cages... they seemed too big for the tomatoes I have in containers.... I'm thinking of wooden stakes or dowels... going to hit Lowes and Home Depot.....

And a side note, I just tried a small radish- the first of my crop- delish!!!

Thank you Lord!

[TNHermit]

This thread is perfect timing... I just went to walmart and didnt like those cages... they seemed too big for the tomatoes I have in containers.... I'm thinking of wooden stakes or dowels... going to hit Lowes and Home Depot.....

And a side note, I just tried a small radish- the first of my crop- delish!!!

Thank you Lord!


Don'T do the stake thing unless your raising midgets. Once your tomatoes get up there and start doing their thing you will be glad for all the support. The cages WM has for a buck or so that are about 18" across are the right size for a lot of tomatoes . Bigger ones will grow right out the top . Then you can stake that :mrgreen:

[shortstop]

Oh no! i did go to Lowes and get the stakes... ...just great.......well they are really nice wire with a plastic coat on them....