Chris, I love this idea!! I don't have storage space for cages so I was going to stake them this year.

Last year I made a bamboo pymarid but it was not used for tomatoes. I can see how your stake idea would work well.

I saw some inexpensive stakes as well. Looks like I have an alternative to cages.

Karen

Chris: Could you please explain ( or maybe a picture?)... "Then I run more twine around the legs of this pyramid starting from the top and tying off at the bottom." I love this idea, but I don't understand this part. Thanks.

Chris,

Interesting!

I used to use stakes, but when I moved to a new home with very different (extremely sandy) soil, I found it too hard to drive them in far enough to be stable. I started tying 3 or 4 of them together at the top, finding, as you did, that this arrangement was very stable even if only put a few inches into the ground.

I eventually started lashing the tops together with a plastic "zip" tie, which I find stays tighter throughout the season than twine.

But I still use each "leg" as a stake for one tomato and tie it. This shape fits the tomatoes' growth pattersn well---the plants are bigger at the bottom, where they are farther apart; the ones that get near the top of the poles where they are close together tend to have only one or two branches up there.

I can see how wrapping the twine first (a sort of pyramidal "Florida weave" approach) would be more convenient if you wanted to do the work all at the start of the season! I actually prefer tying up to stakes, as it spreads the work over the season. There's never really enough time for it no matter when I do it, of course....

I use jute twine, so at the end of the season I just cut it and compost it with the plants.

The "zip" ties are even reusable; if I have time I undo them. If not, I cut and recycle them and use new ones---they are cheap.

Some of my poles are 8-foot bamboo, and for the cherries and a few other really prolific plants I have 10-foot lengths of rebar, which I've spray-painted to combat rust.

The bamboo poles are starting to wear out after 6-7 years, so I will be replacing them a few each year with rebar cut to 7 or 8 feet, which I find is tall enough for most of my plants.

Thanks for sharing your methods! I'd love to see photos too.

Zabby

Zip ties are so smart!

I am thinking of making my own tripods this summer. I love this idea.

Thanks for sharing.
Karen