Introduction
Do your tomato plants seem droopy? Don’t question your gardening skills as these plants are floppy by nature. I was really concerned about them when I first started gardening. While it is in their nature to not stay straight, however, you cannot let them droop wherever they want.
If you are also concerned about keeping your tomato stems upright, then you have come to the right place. In this article, we will talk about different ways that you can keep your tomato plants straight and put your gardening skills to best use.
Why Supporting Tomatoes Is Important?
It is important to take care of your tomato plants if you wish to see them grow perfectly. If they are left to sprawl here and there, they become more prone to diseases. The quality of the produce may also suffer. Tomato stems droop over because they are unable to bear the weight of the fruit and foliage that they have to carry. Tomatoes are heavy and the stems are not that strong to bear their weight.
This is why it is important to choose a system to support your tomato plant and keep it off the ground. Keeping them off the ground will encourage air circulation which is important for getting good quality fruit. Supporting these plants also results in a bigger haul and they will look much tidier as well.
Here are some of the options you can choose from to support your unruly tomato plants.
Stake Them
One of the best ways to support tomato stems from drooping over is to stake them. You can use whatever you want to stake them, such as bamboo, metal, or wooden stakes. Make sure that the takes are at least 2 feet in height (https://seedmoney.org/blog/5-ways-of-supporting-your-tomato-plants/). Staking your plants is not an easy job. It requires regular maintenance and upkeep. You will have to keep tieing the plant up during the entire season. However, it is a cheap method to support your plants and also works well.
Fence Them
Another way to keep your tomato plant upright is to fence them. Many people already have a fence structure in the garden. If you have one, you can use it to support not just tomatoes but also other evening plants and crops. If you don’t have a fence, buy a lightweight one and use it for supporting your plants.
Cage Them
The next thing you can do for keeping your tomato plants erect is to cage them. Cages are one of the most commonly used methods for supporting vining plants (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9580IdYBiw). You can get cone-shaped cages from any gardening shop. They are cheap and can easily be worked with. However, these may topple over when the plant starts to grow and the top becomes heavy with fruit and foliage. Therefore, it is best to secure the cages using heavy stakes. Put the stakes at least a foot deep into the soil so that it can support the plant easily.
If you are looking for a long term investment, then you can also opt for square cages. Also known as tomato towers, these cages will hold up for many years. You can grow your fruit care-free. You also don’t need to tie or tuck these cages using stakes.
Trellis Them
Trellis is another method to tame your unruly tomato plants. It is often used by advanced gardeners and farmers (https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/gardening/a20706330/the-4-best-ways-to-support-your-tomatoes/#:~:text=Install%20wood%20or%20rebar%20stakes,twine%20or%20strips%20of%20fabric.). It yields maximum production rates of tomatoes. In this method, tomatoes are trained to a single vine. You need support structures to keep the plants from falling over. These can be costly but are a great investment if you are serious about gardening and growing tomatoes. You may need both vertical and horizontal stakes to keep your plants from falling over. These stakes should be strong enough to hold the weight of so many fruits and foliage. The right stakes for this purpose are made from wood or metal.
FAQ
Is it better to stake or cage?
Caging is better as you don’t have to prune the plant over and over again. However, it takes time and effort to build a cage. Once built, it requires minimal upkeep.
Do you have to support tomato plants?
Yes, plants of tomato in your garden need support as they droop over when they start yielding fruits.
Conclusion
If you are growing tomato in your garden, then you must understand the importance of supporting them. Without proper support, your plants will start drooping to the ground. This will restrict airflow which can lead to rotting fruit. It can also reduce your produce and also lead to serious pests and diseases. In this article, you learned about different ways you can use to support your plants. If you are growing tomatoes in your garden, you can use one of these methods to keep your produce to the maximum.
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