Support the Vines

It is amazing how big one of these little plants can get. All twenty varieties I have planted this year are indeterminate tomatoes. This means that the vines will continue to grow and produce as long as those vines are properly supported. There are as many support systems for tomatoes as there are mosquitoes in the Delta. Forget the little wire baskets that are sold in the box stores. They are not big or strong enough.

For the four cherry tomato plants I am growing this year I will use the traditional concrete wire mesh baskets. My associate, Barbara, graciously gave me the baskets which were used by her father, a well known tomato gardener in North Carrollton. The baskets are five feet tall and are stackable. The goal will be for each cherry to be supported by two baskets stacked on top of each other. The ground level basket will be steadied with two four foot stakes driven into the ground like tent pegs. Hopefully this method will result in cherry tomatoes being produced from ground level all the way to the top.

My main bed contains sixteen plants, eight on each side of a frame supported by the steel posts which are eleven feet tall. The lateral supports are sixteen foot long PVC plumbing pipes attached to the posts with eleven-inch zip ties. In the past I have had to utilize my boy scout training in knot tying to construct this structure. Technology has made all that early training redundant with the invention of zip ties. These small plastic ties are a wonderful invention. They will hold anything together and are super strong. They are not biodegradable and must be removed after use.

After the first three lateral pipes are attached, I place small bamboo training sticks at the base of each tomato to train it to grow up the frame. Each plant will have its own two foot area of the frame as it grows upward. I use sisal twine to tie the plant. Never use a slip knot and be sure that the knot does not choke the plant. I will remove the training sticks when the plants are tall enough to tie to the first rung of the frame. I remove all the suckers up to the first set of blooms and after that stage I try and let each plant have three growing stems.