I’ve use the cheap tomato cages before, and I’m always less then impressed. Tomatoes get too big for the cages quickly and I don’t find them extremely easy to use. Other tomato staking devices require too much money or too much work, like having to actually prune a tomato plant.

I grow 15+ tomato plants a year, and it requires an easy inexpensive staking solution. I’ve been doing this system for several years after seeing it on organic farm, and I love it. It’s easy and inexpensive. Here’s a look at my tomatoes, all staked up.

It’s simple. There are six foot tall t-posts on the end, with tape in between. I used two t-post for about 6-8 plants. After pounding in the t-posts, I tied off the tape and weaved it in between the tomatoes. In the past, I used twine but I’m liking the flexibility of the marking tape this year. (It’s not actually sticky tape and is found in the hardware story with other supplies like marking flags.) It does stretch a bit, so when the kiddie pool fell on top of my tomatoes I had to re-tighten the tape but it wasn’t a big deal.

As the season progresses, I’ll continue to add more levels of tape. If any tomato is especially floppy, I can use a small section of tape to tie it directly on to the bigger tape section. Since the tape is stretchy and soft, it’s not going to girdle my plants. I will have to monitor it because if it isn’t kept tight the tomatoes start to flop.

Material cost is very low, and the main materials (t-posts) will last for a long time. This year I had to upgrade/re-do the system, and the entire cost to stake 14 tomatoes was under $20. It’s easy to put in initially. It does take some work during the growing season, but I don’t find it excessive.

Shared in the HomeAcre hop.