So the objection is not to having tall supports, but to having tall supports while the plants are still small? Ridiculous, of course....

Have a look at the 1-25-09 post by geeboss in the thread linked below. This is designed for a paved situation, so you'd want to change the bottom so it could be fastened to the ground.

An alternative to driving the plastic pipes into the ground is to use a short piece of re-bar or metal pipe. Drive the re-bar or metal pipe into the ground, then slide the PVC pipe over that.

I have no idea what it would cost to make.

There have also been discussions comparing the gray plastic pipe to the white PVC, but I don't remember which is stronger and/or cheaper.

It would also be a good idea to search "tomato cage" or "tomato support" in this forum and look at other innovative homemade thingamajigs people have constructed.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg0507322226321.html

Sounds as though you gardeners should chip in and buy an all summer around the world cruise ticket for your garden organizer who is way out of line, IMHO.

To repeat a tomato support method I posted a short time ago that works well. Purchase at the plumbing department of your local box store enough pieces of 10 foot, 1/2" diameter plastic pipe. You will need two pipe sections for each tomato. Give them a quick coat of flat black acrylic paint which will make them less noticeable. Now form hoops with the pipes, 2 hoops per plant pushed into the ground, one leg of the hoop about eight inches apart next to the plant and the other end set so the whole support is about 4' tall at the center. Weave the growing tomatoes between the two hoop supports and use single wrap velcro to secure stems. The velcro is also available at box stores or you can purchase a heavy duty type in 25 foot lengths at www.homesew.com. Worth the money as I have found that you can place it in boiling water at the end of the season to sterilize and reuse the velcro for many years. The plastic pipes are easy to remove and store in the fall and will also last for many years. So, the only cost is the initial outlay. Installation is so easy, no fussing with strings and poles.

Using this method allows one to maximize growing space and basil (or whatever) can be grown under the tomato hoops. I think your garden organizer (warden) will be impressed with the appearance of your secured tomatoes.

Hi fairbakl,

The change in opinion totally stinks!

Try printing out pictures of some of the taller tomatoes you see in some of these threads, especially the one of johnny_tomato_seed and his orange strawberry in the thread that missingtheobvious linked above and take it to your garden organizer and ask if he/she would prefer to have that kind of plant neatly contained or sprawled all over because you have it in a cage too small?

The suggestion to use the PVC for a cage is a pretty good one if "they" insist that your support be not much taller than your plants. You can add to it as the plants grow.

I have added a stake to a plant after it got to be pretty good size. (Had one break from the wind cracking it at a knot hole, so I wanted to reinforce it before it broke totally.) It was a 2" x 2", I drove it in on the opposite side of the plant and the 'mater never even seemed to notice! To be able to pound it in, I had to cut the end at an angle and it was not easy, but it worked.

BTW, how many plants are we talking here?

Bets

Sounds like you got a Monsanto employee for an organizer. If you dare, print this and hand it to that person.

"Are you stupid or just suffering from a birth defect of the brain. Tomatoes don't have an upper size limit and if you're only into how the whole community plot looks, and not how much they're growing, you've been appointed to a position that is way above the capabilities of your IQ. I'll even bet you like Walmart produce. How tall will you allow beans to climb? Can cucumbers be trellised? Are you anti-garden? My name is Ted and the person handing you this can give you my Email address for further discussion if you're not to busy counting your friends."

How do we get so many idiots in positions of power??? Wasn't Cheney and that ex-speaker of the house, Newt, the traitor from Georgia, examples enough???

Just another example of "HORSE PUCKEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Sorry, I have a short fuse on my firecracker for morons like this.

Ted

Thanks all, you are very helpful! I am pretty frustrated with the situation, but I am trying to keep the peace (though I have avoided the garden since "the incident"). The organizer helps out in many ways (including watering) and I can't burn the bridge. I'd really love to rant like Ted, though!

I wonder how PVC would be--those plants look awesome and so well supported. It's something to consider, especially if I paint it. Maybe green or camo.

Also, for anyone that's tried CRW, I have a question. Could I use a flimsy tomato cage and later wrap the CRW around the plant and the cage once it outgrows the cage? I can't imagine anyone being able to argue with me once the plant is so tall...but then again I never thought I would have to argue about the florida weave!

What tomato varieties are you growing?

I don't think you need to direct a rant at your garden organizer, but you might do a Search of each variety here and print them out. The height of each variety is given. Then show the information to the garden organizer and explain that if your supports are too short now, you'll have to add to them later, and the plants can be damaged by pounding in stakes later when they're taller and the root system is larger. The truth is that containerted is right -- the choice is to provide a sturdy support for indeterminate tomatoes from the beginning or have dinky supports that fall over with tomato plants broken and/or sprawled everywhere.

The kicker? Ask the garden organizer what you should do and say you've thought a lot about ways to support them that are attractive, and maybe you two can choose the best plan. Four to five feet is enough height to let the plants grow and then cascade down the other side.

Again, I don't think you need to be confrontational. Since she sounds like a "managerial type", she might give you the go-ahead for a better support system with enough information and if she has some say in what you do.

God, I'm GLAD I don't have to put up with gardening ignoramuses telling me what I can and can't do! It's bad enough with so many differing opinions by people who are experienced gardeners!

Also not cheap but very sturdy and will last many years: texas tomato cages. They come in 2 parts so you can have the first part up until your plants are about 3 feet tall then add the extension so they are about 6 ft (they have an additional ext you can buy but I didn't)

I use a stealth version of the Florida weave because I'm growing in the front of my house and need to keep it as low-key as possible.

I start with 6' T-posts driven 2' into the ground. This gives 4' "stakes" which should be acceptable in your situation. Once the plants get to be taller than the posts, I use smaller t-posts (4' I think...) to extend them. The posts nest together very nicely and have holes in them that you can just put small screws through and bolt them together.

The only problem is removing the plate on the smaller t-posts. You need to drill through the rivets holding them onto the post and knocked them off with a hammer.

My 7-foot stakes made from bamboo were ugly tall when I first planted out the tomatoes. So I cut them in half, and then cut plastic "sleeves" out of an old 3 gallon pot. I wrapped a sleeve around the cut area on each stake, and taped it down to the top half of the stake so it could be removed from the bottom half.

Now my plants have passed the halfway mark, and I brought out the top halves (all connected together at the top by some crossbars) and slipped them onto the bottom halves. The sleeves keep them together, and the top crossbars distribute the support across the entire network of stakes.

OK so I am making this sound too complicated, right? I hope it makes some sense...I could post an illustration or photo if needed. ;)

corin99--Cool idea, where would I find T-posts? At a big box store or a fencing store?

catman529--I'm not sure I understand. Pics or a diagram would be really helpful!

I forgot to say this before, but I have 2 rows of tomatoes with 4 plants in each row. I think it's about 10ft wide total.

Thanks again for all the suggestions, I really appreciate the input.

You can get the posts at Home Depot, Lowes or most garden centers in the fencing area. They are very common green metal fence posts. Actually, there are two types: T-posts and U-Posts, and it's U-posts that I'm using. They are thinner metal with holes in them.

Three options that occur to me are (1) Texas cages, because as someone else said, they have a top which can be put on later, (2) Tomato Towers (Extra Tall) from Gardeners Supply, also two piece top and bottom design, (3) Two of the box store type cages, put second one on as plants grow - set upside down on top of the first one and wire or ziptie in place. Check out one of Ray's Earthtainer threads for a picture, as this appears to be what he has done. Seems to work well for him.

"Are you stupid or just suffering from a birth defect of the brain. Tomatoes don't have an upper size limit and if you're only into how the whole community plot looks, and not how much they're growing, you've been appointed to a position that is way above the capabilities of your IQ. I'll even bet you like Walmart produce. How tall will you allow beans to climb? Can cucumbers be trellised? Are you anti-garden? My name is Ted and the person handing you this can give you my Email address for further discussion if you're not to busy counting your friends."

Now now, no need to create a ruckus. Just plant bindweed on the organizer's plot in the middle of the night. Nobody gets in trouble that way. ;)

karenrei!!!!!

That's the most EVIL suggestion I've ever seen!

LOL!