How to Stake Tomato Plants in 3 Easy Steps
Would you love to grow your own tomatoes this year?
Welcome back to our Beginner Gardening Wednesday series. This series is designed to offer tips and tricks to all gardening levels.
For this Beginner Gardening Wednesday, we turn our attention to staking tomato plants. Growing tomatoes is a great first step if you are new to gardening. They are fairly easy to grow and offer a rewarding harvest. Who doesn’t love a BLT sandwich made with garden fresh tomatoes?
Benefits to staking tomato plants include ensuring that they have the support they need to grow healthy and strong. It also helps to keep the fruit clean and to make it easier to monitor for disease, spray and monitor problems. It is also pretty easy to do.
While there are many different methods to staking tomatoes from wire cages to wooden cages and more, the method we are reviewing today is an economical choice that will help save you money on materials.
3 Easy Cost Effective Steps to Stake Tomato Plants
- Stake When You Plant
- Plant your stakes right when you plant your tomato seedling. You can use a bamboo stake, a wooden stake or even a plastic stake. It is really up to you.
- The reason that you will want to stake as you are planting is because you don’t want to disrupt the root growth once the plant has started growing.
- If you have already planted and would like to add stakes, set the stake to the right of the plant. Make sure it goes about 10 inches into the ground.
- Place each stake about 3 feet apart.
- Tie it Up
According to Bonnieplant.com, one way to secure tomato plants is to use an 8 inch strip of panty hose to tie the main stem loosely to your stake. This way, your plant will have room as it grows.
http://bonnieplants.com/library/how-to-support-tomatoes/ - Add The Crossbar
If your tomato plant starts growing like crazy, you can add a crossbar that is attached to stakes at both ends. This will offer additional support to your growing tomato plants.
Bonus Tips on Caring For Your Growing Tomato Plant
- The Huffington Post recommends to “be brutal” when pruning the stems and suckers. You only want the biggest and best tomatoes and that comes from the best stems.
- Install Rootsticks around each tomato plant to ensure that water, oxygen and nutrients reach deep into the soil to encourage deep root growth.
Summary
Staking your tomatoes this season is a great way to support them as they grow, keep the fruit clean and help to fight disease. Staking should also provide you with beautiful red tomatoes to harvest and enjoy.
What is your biggest gardening challenge? Please let us know in the comment section below.
