How many tomatoe are you planning on growing?!

Here's a thread that might be useful. I might also try a Farm Supply store or newspaper. Someone might be able to build something custom for you.

Sources for metal trellis

forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/calif/msg061528118679.html?10

Bill,

A steel T-post should meet your specifications. They are available from several different sources, like farm supply stores, home improvement stores, etc. Sometimes it is difficult to find the longer sizes in stock. I had our local Agway order me some 8-foot T-posts last year. Here is an on-line 10-foot steel post source. Another source is Stockyards Ranch Supply. Wellscroft Fence Systems also has steel T-posts.

MM

Thanks to you both for the ideas and the links. I'll check the local farm supply for long t-posts. If they can't get them for me, now I have online sources too.

Happy Holidays.
Bill

Have you considered the Florida Weave method?

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg052154181708.html
http://www.foogod.com/~torquill/barefoot/weave.html

Have you tried electrical conduit with a large nylon netting? That's my main choice á la square foot gardening. Failing that, Lee Valley Hardware has some fantastic options. I love that place.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lee Valley Hardware

Before I retired from work I was a TV repairman. When replacing a roof antennae, I would take the old 10-foot aluminum antennae pole home and use it for staking tomatoes. I'm still using them 25-30 years later.

I know someone who does use rebar--he primes it and then paints it dark green. He says it works great...I think I'll be trying that myself this year. Tamara

bill,
have you thought of aluminum toprail from chain-link fencing? i built my vertical garden out of some leftover lengths: For around $15 you get a 22 ft length of weather-proof pipe, about 2.25 inches in diameter. One minute with a hacksaw and you'd have two 11' lengths for stakes. There are all sorts of connectors and caps available, and if you give it a good coat of primer, you can spray paint it any color. You can easly drive it with a sledge 2 or 3'.

The one drawback is it's pretty slick and doesn't offer any purchase for ties. Somewhere on GW someone recommended drilling holes and pushing dowels through the holes. It is very easy to drill -- an awl and a titanium bit does the trick. Just be VERY careful, since the holes are surrounded by razor sharp metal shavings -- use a file to remove them!

I bought treated 2 X 4s 8 foot long and ripped them down the middle and sharpened one end. The boards cost $2.67 at the big box hardware, so each stake cosr $1.48 and will last for years.
Cut 1 inch stips from old pantyhose to make ties that are strong and will not bruise the plant.

I went with 6' stakes which were 1x4, 12 for $8 at big box. I put stakes perpendicular to plant line so I get more stiffness out of the 4" wide strip. then I used heavy gage jute twine ($2.33/190 LF) and created tight netting. my plants may grow 6-7 feet, but at least I will have 5' high strong stake holding them up. also these stakes were meant for fence so they can take weather and pests for a few years. Best choice is Rebar of course!

I plant a mix of heirloom and hybrid tomatoes so wood stakes and tomato cages did not do the job for me. I settled on rows, using three steel sign-supports 8' to 12' long. Five gallon buckets were filled with cement, then the post was put in the bucket. When dry the bucket was buried. Plastic coated wire was strung between the steel posts, 3 to 6 strands.

I use bamboo poles, 4 -6 buried 12-16 inches deep.
I bought some seeds for tomatoes & pick the variety by the size of the fruit.
I planted the tomatoes with 8 feet bamboo poles.
Then I discovered they were patio tomatoes & I had 8 feet poles with 6 inch tomatoes plants:-).
The poles last 2-3 years or longer if you dry them first & take them in out of the weather at season end.
Work great for beans & any vine veggie.

Bamboo is good but only last a couple of seasons. I personally really like rebar just under the 1" range.

It all depends upon size for them as to what your growing. Indeterminate types can frequently grow to 6-8 foot needing just under a 1" Rebar, while Det need 5 foot and can be bought much easier without having to cut.

I paint them black with rustoleum grill paint and they work perfectly.

Rebar is costly & my bamboo is free.
What happens if lighten hits a rebar trellis?

Earlier on this post, green_devo mentioned electric conduit with large square nylon netting, which is a system I've used successfully for my pole beans, peas, cucumbers and tomatoes.

Conduit is readily available at Home Depot, really long (10 ft.), comes in different diameters, is cheap ($2.00 ea. for the smallest dia.), easy to cut, and won't corrode. Pair it with nylon netting, heavy duty concrete mesh or livestock fencing using wire or zip ties to attach it, and you're good to go!

You'll note that we've used pipe elbow joints and added conduit cross braces along the top, without any threading or gluing, since there's just enough tooth in the threaded joints to grip the conduit, but you could caulk those to make sure they don't loosen in strong weather.

We usually sink 4 ft. of slightly smaller rebar 2 feet into the dirt, then slip 6 ft. long conduit over that spike, but if you need it tall, those could be longer; much easier to pound in the shorter, sturdier rebar than the longer conduit. This all breaks down easily (including pulling out the rebar) after the growing season is over, and stores compactly. Super happy with this system!

By the way, notice the tomatoes at the left in the photo are sprawling and ready for trellising.

Maybe you can try fiberglass tomato stakes. They are resist corrosion, can last more years than wood ones.

http://www.wellcoindustries.com/Landscape.Asp?ID=47

or you can contact ivy@wellcoindustries.com

My two tomato rows are supported by plastic-coated wire running between two metal posts. They are green squarish three-sides metal, maybe twelve feet in length. Found them at the big box store, maybe $14? Their main purpose is for supporting electrical stuff or conduit.

I set them in a 5 gallon bucket of wet concrete and plant it in the soil. The posts are about twenty to thirty feet apart. The wire comes down each year and it stored inside.

Hosiery attaches the plants to the plastic-coated wire, maybe five strands depending on plant size. Hosiery works nicely as it stretches, and dries quickly.

Not trying to knock your tomato stakes Jojl as they look really good. But not everybody has access to the kind of Bamboo or the quantity of it that you have. Even if they do, the rebar I mentioned above is only 5$'s a piece when cut in half. That and you only have to use 1/5th as much as the bamboo in your rows above using the florida weave method. Just alternative the bars about six inches for a modified florida weave method and tie 1 to 2 as you normally would and then tie 1 straight to 3 making the box you have above with 1/5th of the stakes.

Hope that wasn't too confusing, it was really hard for me trying to explain it. The link below is somewhat good, just stagger the rebar with tomato twine if your growing taller indeterminates to make the growing area boxier.

http://www.gardenbetty.com/2011/08/trellising-tomatoes-with-the-florida-weave/

Our bamboo stakes is very good

https://www.wellcoindustries.com/bamboo-stake/

Our bamboo poles for nursery support are very suitable for supporting trees, fruits and flowers in gardening. They are also an excellent material for hand crafting bamboo and rattan. Bamboo material is also very environmentally friendly and very strong, straight and of good quality to ensure long-term stability.

https://www.wellcowholesale.com/agriculture-gardening/bamboo-stakes-poles.html

FRP plant stakes, a great alternative to bamboo and wood stakes, which enjoys five advantages:

1. Excellent performance in UV resistance and chemical resistance

2. Will survive more growing reason than bamboo stakes and wood stakes

3. Heavy duty and sturdy, will never rust

4. Easy to install with the tapered end.Easy to cut to any length you want

5. Long life expectancy. Ideal training stakes, garden stakes, nursery stakes and vineyard stakes

Go away SPAM, we grow our own pole. 2" X 12' cost about ten minutes.

I know this is an old post, but for many years, I've used cages made out of concrete reinforcing wire. It has openings about 4"x4", so it's easy to reach in there to pick tomatoes. As the tomato plants grows, I can lift up the branches and support it higher. I also stabilize each cage with a 3-4' metal stake. I've been doing this for about 22 years and they're still working great. Sometimes you can find small sheets of the reinforcing wire, but I bought a 100' role and made them all into various diameters of cages.

The last few years I made cages out of cattle wire, it is cheaper than concrete wire & work as well. Cattle wire from Tractor supply only last about eighty years or so.

But 330 feet per roll.