Thursday, May 16, 2013

Tomato stakes

Last year I had tomatoes get so tall that I couldn't reach the tops of them.  I had to extend the stakes that I used and then tie those stakes off to other stakes.  It was crazy.  I got really good, really big beefstake tomatoes though.
This year I didn't want to have to deal with stakes being pulled over and plants growing and falling down because I didn't have something tall enough to tie them to.  So I went into the woods behind my house and cut down trees.  Little ones that were 1-1.5" in diameter.  Then I cut them to 8' lengths and had my son carve points on the ends with his pocket knife.  After that I got out the step ladder and hammered them into the ground in the raised beds.  While I was doing this the neighbors drove by and gave me the stink-eye.

I added stakes on both sides of the bed and then lashed some horizontal sticks to them to add stability.  I did end up using some shorter stakes on the plants in the middle of the bed.  If they get out of control I can always lash some more sticks across the bed between the tall stakes on the two sides.  

Hopefully, what I have here will be sufficient for holding up all of my tomatoes.  I guess I'll just have to wait and see.  So far the tomatoes have been doing pretty well, unlike my peppers.

No comments:

Post a Comment