i didnt cage my tomato plants. am i screwed?

[vash]

i hate those cages. seems most branches end up not supported anyways. until it comes time to dispose of the plant. then they seem securely supported and tangled.

i had a few unbroken cages, and stuffed them over my ROMAS. the rest, are unbridled. will stakes work? with the cool weather, they are growing so slow anyways.

how does a tomato farm do it? they cant be staking a billion plants, can they?

[masraum]

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by vash

i hate those cages. seems most branches end up not supported anyways. until it comes time to dispose of the plant. then they seem securely supported and tangled.

i had a few unbroken cages, and stuffed them over my ROMAS. the rest, are unbridled. will stakes work? with the cool weather, they are growing so slow anyways.

how does a tomato farm do it? they cant be staking a billion plants, can they?

They grow determinant plants that have been bred to resist fungus and disease, ripen at the same time, and "travel" well.
You presumably want to grow tomatoes that taste good. You need to keep the vines up off the ground so air can circulate and keep the vines dry. Hot wet conditions promote the growth of all kinds of fungi and diseases. Romas aren't particularly resistant to anything, so they need to be kept dry.

I followed a tomato truck on the way to the Campbell's plant in northern Ohio once when a tomato fell off the truck, hit the road, and bounced clear up over my car. That's the kind of thing they breed commercial tomatoes to do.

[Palum6o]

at this point you should use steaks. If you try fitting the cages, don't attempt to maneuver the branches because they can easily snap, if you haven't already done so. Funny, I seem to always forget as well, and they grow so fast! I've never done the upside down thing.

[willtel]

Stakes will work but they need to be tall. In the past I have used 3 stakes in a triangle and tied them together using gardening twine but IMO cages are much easier.

These are nice, but expensive.
Stacking Tomato Ladder Tomato Supports | Buy from Gardener's Supply

[Superman]

They WILL need support. What support depends on your situation. If they are under, or nearly under, the eaves of your house, then you can put eyescrews and such in your eve, and run strings down and across, etc. You can then attach them to the strings.

Otherwise, some sort of freestanding setup will be necessary. If you have grown them a while indoors, repotted, grown them more, then put them in a huge hole with compost filler (always plant tomato plants DEEP. Those hairs on the stalks become additional roots, so peel the lower leaves off and always plant them a few, or several, inches deeper each time), then you will need a robust support system. If you didn't do all this, then a regular tomato cage is about all the bigger they will get.

Hooray for growing tomatoes! Grow Sweet Basil too. Basil can be the "secret ingredient" in nearly any dish.

[jyl]

Bamboo stakes, tie strings for support. Not too late, esp w/ this weather. I expect to have fruit by Sept. Maybe Oct.

[Hugh R]

I have a couple of those topsy-turveys for peppers and tomatoes and I like them. They reduce bugs considerably.