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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

I now have the concrete reinforcing wire, but I used to use field 
fencing.  If you have some stakes or bamboo rods, you can poke them 
through the holes in the fence (remember playing Kerplunk as a kid?-it's 
that game with marbles and sticks. As the vine grows, you put in another 
stick....no tying necessary..  the sticks placed horizontally through 
the wire supports the weight of the vines.
What I still do if I need extra support for a bunch of plants is I use 
cattle panels.  2 t-posts and a 16 foot panel(tie it with baling twine 
or whatever you have-no need to get fancy with bolts) will support a 
number of plants on each side.  Dig a nice trough down the middle, under 
the fence and you have your very own tomato watering canal
Of course, if you want to tie, panty hose is wonderful, but old t-shirt 
strands are ok, too.
I've also have a 'fence' out an old mattress coils.  Burn the mattress 
leaving the coils.  Make an A frame from 2x4 and hang the coiled 
mattress from the top.  (Picture a swingset without swings and toys, but 
instead a large mattress suspended from a side..)  I actually think this 
is the most awesome thing because you can make it tall, and the vines 
will work their way through the coils to hold themselves up for the most 
part-I tie them anyway.  Be sure and dig your irrigation trench that 
will water all those lined up toms at the same time.
I've found that the closer the top of the support is to eye level, the 
better shot I have of picking tomato hornworms off. They like eye level 
altitude for some reason.  Of course, the ones doomed with wasp eggs are 
saved and released in an adjacent bed or in the compost bed....
Of course, if you have abundant water nearby, the upside down in the 5 
gallon bucket thing does work.  In the South, it is just a pain in the 
butt to water them every day or twice a day.  You could probably rig 
something up if you were inventive, perhaps even using graywater or 
rainwater so the water cops don't get you.
Another thing that works, and you probably won't like this any better, 
but it does work,,,,is to lay a piece of fencing or an old chain link 
gate or something down and prop it on cinder blocks or something else 
that is a foot or more off the ground.  What happens is that the vines 
grow up through the holes then as the weight of the vine increases, it 
bends and falls over onto the wire fence and begins to sprawl there 
above the ground instead of on the ground.  The vines shade the ground, 
and you might could even grow something else in the filtered light 
underneath.It's cleaner, but you might want to watch out for snakes in 
the shade waiting on those rabbits. :)
I actually created a bed like that...4x8..used a piece of red top field 
fencing..and some scrap 2x4s.  I planted a couple of toms at the north 
end and oriented the bed NS.  The toms vined out and covered the entire 
4x8 'bed'..Tomatoes everywhere.  That method doesn't save space, but it 
could definitely maximize yield from a few plants.
Finally, I think there's the concentric rings plan of growing 
tomatoes..I started it one year, and the tornado that came ripping 
through dropped a huge 1000 pound limb onto the arrangement.. :(

Bev



Robert Walton wrote:
> For the last two years here, I've not staked tomatoes. No time. Just
> mulched them with straw and let them ramble. I hate that, because they
> ramble all over, I can't walk through the patch, harvest gets
> difficult. My tomatoes have grow so well that rabbits live in the
> maze. One way or another, I'm getting them off the ground this year.
> It's better for me and better for tomato health.
>
> I travel all over Southside Virginia for my job, and check out gardens
> where ever I go. Last year I saw a patch that had maybe 25 tomato
> plants, in wire cages. I liked that.
>
> Looked up how to make the wire cages, and went to Home Depot tonight.
> 150' of concrete reinforcing wire is $90. I can make 30 cages from
> that, Walmart has premade wire cages for $5.99 each. Yikes! I'll have
> to shop that price, I was expecting $60.
>
> I've seen ladder style cages made from wood. I figure I can make
> something like that from saplings that need to be cleared. I can wire
> them together with scrap wire.
>
> Last year I tried the "Florida Weave". Hated it. The twine broke,
> vines fell out, etc.
>
> Other option is a stake per plant, pruning and tying, seems like a lot of 
> work.
>
> What do you folks use?
>
> The fun part of tomato growing is the varieties. I grow Brandywine,
> Arkansas Traveler (a favorite), Marzano and Pittman Valley for canning
> plums. This year I am trying Rutgers, I broke down and bought a 9 pack
> of Homestead plants also to try.
>
> I'm down to a few bags of froze toamtoes and fewer jars. The drought
> last year busted me, need a good crop this year. For me freezing is
> easy, I wipe them off, put them on a tray or something and freeze
> them. Bag them later. When you want to use them, just take them out of
> the freezer and let them sit a bit. Skin comes right off and you can
> take the stem core out too. Lots more time for that in the winter!
>
> Rob - Va
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--
BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm   NW Georgia USDA Zone 7
34.498N 85.076W    Bev is Earth, Ron is Sky