Congratulations! You have just opened a can of worms!

:)

(Heaps of opinions and discussions as to the best way of growing tomatoes)

Good on you for asking, Halina...this should be a good thread to follow.

I too am an amateuter. I start out faithfully trying to tie the little seedlings to their stake, but there seems to be a growth spurt and it all gets away from me. I shall be very pleased to read what these more experienced folks do.

I think it all depends on what type of tomato you plant, hubby has been known to put three stakes like a fan shape so he can tie the cherry toms as ours seem to grow tall and wide, then there were the Grosse Lisse that he grew in Townsville would you believe that the 6ft stake was not high enough so he wired on extensions and I had to get up on a ladder to pick them and the birds had a ball.

We dont use panty hose as I dont wear them, but plenty of our old clothes end up at ties and I often go to the $2 shop and buy a huge roll of natural twine for $2 that seem to last longer I dont like that nylon string as it does not last long in our climate....Cheers..MM.

Not being an expert I play it by ear and do what the plant seems to need and otherwise let them call the tune ( sort of half heartedy permissive and domineering like I trained my kids depending on which one you talk to ) I use wooden stakes to start out with using 8" cable ties which you can get in Bunning for $2 a 100 . Natural raffia is also good for holding up heavy branches once they reach any height. $2 a roll in Chickenfeed. I also leaf prune a fair bit to reduce the messyness. Sometimes I stick a bamboo cane in to support a specific branch so it ends up looking a bit like a hedghog. Otherwise I do nothing and let them wander at will and stuff lots of fluffed up straw under them to keep them off the ground and keep the critters out of them; so its really a hit and miss procedure in this garden...............................................Next one......

Thanks everyone, I picked up some good ideas for next time. Mantis, you mentioned "cages", what are these?
Halina

We use cages, although I've come to the conclusion, after using them for two years now, that they're too small. We bought them in Bunnings and they're three hinged trellis-like "walls" that when joined make a triangle.

Someone here is experimenting with a round cage made of what looked like reinforcing wire - I saw a pic a little while back but I forget who was doing it - was that you Mantis?

Halinka it also depends on the type of tomato you're growing. There are certainly better tommie experts than me, but we mostly grow indeterminate varieties (these are also known as bush or vining types) and they are not suited to the single-stake type of support because they are multi-branching.

I'm very interested to learn and maybe see pics of what people use for staking/caging as we need to do something different next year to make more room inside the cage. We've had to prune severely this year and that made me cry!

I'll search for a pic of our cages and post one shortly.

Just one thing I might contribute ...
Every year I use new tying material. Mabb and I use this blue stretchy cloth in a long ball of string. This is $6 for 100m at Bunnings. Well worth it! The old stuff I cut off and throw away. This eliminates one more place for diseases to carry over to the next plantings. A little bit wasteful I admit, but it is cheap and convinient.

I think it really depends on how much room you've got and also on your personal preferences.

I usually bung in a stake when I plant a seedling. Then I try to tie them up as they grow. However, they always seem to reach a stage where they get out of hand. In that case I just get a long piece of baling twine or similar and go round and round the plant till it is all tucked in.

I've also had to put in additional bamboo stakes to support branches that got away.

There's also a patch where I let them sprawl. They are all heavily mulched so that no soil gets splashed up.

I don't seem to be able to prune the plants. Take out suckers, etc. Every year I plan to do so, but never have the heart. So I just let them be. :)

I've tried staking, caging, sprawling.
Sprawling is okay as long they're well-spaced. Mine were way too close for sprawling and I had other things in there as well. Live and learn!
I like caging. Made a whole lot last year from trellis wire from Bunnings, fairly heavy guage so they don't collapse but not so heavy that it's impossible to work. I'll go back to this I think, and possibly a few sprawlers if I have the room.
Individual stakes are too much trouble once the plant gets big.
This year I tried a kind of sprawl inside a cage affair. Stakes around the edge of the patch, twine wrapped around to enclose the patch. Most unsuccessful. Won't be trying that again!

I do similar to Mantis suggestion though I use one wooden stake at each end of a row (in the middle too if needed) and using baling twine, I go down one side of the row and then up the other side so the plants are in between. As the plant grows, I just put more twine around. If any branches escape, I just tuck back in. If the weight is too much and they start leaning a bit I will tie the two sides of twine together between each of the plants. For me I find this is the easiest way and the plants don't get damaged from the ties.

Goldie, how long are your rows? How big are your stakes?

Length of rows depends on which garden I'm using but generally wouldn't be longer than 3m or so. The wooden stakes are usually 5cm x 2.5cm or if I haven't any left will use star pickets or whatever is handy.

I use 8ft stake and pantyhose, carefully tying the hose so I can untie them. Before each season I wash the ties in bleach, wash out and put in a net bag on the clothe's line. I can reach in and grab some ties near my patch when I need to.

One tip I have learnt: black or brown pantyhose or green twine is best. White tee shirt material attracts white flies. Seriously. I've run comparisons on plants. Yellow ties may be even worse.

I will stick to staking, adding extra stakes like Spatz for support where needed. I have over 70 stakes. I don't want over 70 cages ;)

I use a similar method to Mantis. Around the bed of tomatoes I put in stakes every 50cm. I run hemp rope around the stakes and this keeps the tomatoes off the ground. Any stray branches get tucked back in. This has worked for me for the last two years. I was going to cage them properly with wire mesh, but will need to think about it again after Ray's adventures

Helen