Wanted: beautiful, orderly tomato patch...

michigan_jen · May 23, 2007

Hi!

My first post... I've been planting a few heirloom tomatoes each year for about a decade, but ramped it up since we bought our first house 3 years ago. (52 plants in 2006, still have salsa in the basement) I saved seeds for the first time last fall, but unfortunately started them late this spring (all my seeds have sprouted, but the first true leaves still haven't formed). So I bought about 25 plants (to plant this weekend), and may plant another dozen or so of my homegrown if they show a will to live...

We're slated to be on our town's garden tour this year (yikes), and so I'd like to make a better effort at keeping our tomato patch orderly and attractive. In the past, I've tried the green metal stakes and Florida weave, but everything topples by mid-season. The soil is a sandy loam and not conducive to keeping stakes vertical.

I ordered a few of the tomato ladders from Gardeners Supply Co. They're attractive and seem quite sturdy but are probably not tall enough. Any experience with these?

I like the design of the PVC tomato trellises from Mother Earth News, but would replace the PVC and conduit with bamboo or cedar for the verticals and dowels for the horizontals, so it looks more natural. Has anyone tried this? I'd prefer to do something using wood, bamboo, etc (I'm not a big fan of the metal cage/wire solutions). I wonder how expensive this would be. Would appreciate any thoughts...

Tomato ladders: http://www.gardeners.com/Green-Tomat...ult/34-140.prd

Mother Earth News PVC tomato cage:http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organ...mato-Cage.aspx

May 23, 2007	#1
michigan_jen Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: Michigan Posts: 5	Wanted: beautiful, orderly tomato patch... Hi! My first post... I've been planting a few heirloom tomatoes each year for about a decade, but ramped it up since we bought our first house 3 years ago. (52 plants in 2006, still have salsa in the basement) I saved seeds for the first time last fall, but unfortunately started them late this spring (all my seeds have sprouted, but the first true leaves still haven't formed). So I bought about 25 plants (to plant this weekend), and may plant another dozen or so of my homegrown if they show a will to live... We're slated to be on our town's garden tour this year (yikes), and so I'd like to make a better effort at keeping our tomato patch orderly and attractive. In the past, I've tried the green metal stakes and Florida weave, but everything topples by mid-season. The soil is a sandy loam and not conducive to keeping stakes vertical. I ordered a few of the tomato ladders from Gardeners Supply Co. They're attractive and seem quite sturdy but are probably not tall enough. Any experience with these? I like the design of the PVC tomato trellises from Mother Earth News, but would replace the PVC and conduit with bamboo or cedar for the verticals and dowels for the horizontals, so it looks more natural. Has anyone tried this? I'd prefer to do something using wood, bamboo, etc (I'm not a big fan of the metal cage/wire solutions). I wonder how expensive this would be. Would appreciate any thoughts... Tomato ladders: http://www.gardeners.com/Green-Tomat...ult/34-140.prd Mother Earth News PVC tomato cage:http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organ...mato-Cage.aspx