Tip: Stake Up and Tie Those Stray Tomato Branches with Velcro
“Where but in a garden do summer hours pass so quickly?” — author unknown
Stray and Lengthy Tomato Branches
Dot’s Thot:
One of the tasks in the garden is to keep your tomato branches off the ground. I have tried a number of ways and tie-ups and while I’ll tell you my favorite tie-up method, you should use what works for you and suits your situation.
I have tried fabric strips, vegetable ties, roles of plastic coated wire, plastic strips, and finally velcro strips. Vegetable ties deteriorate pretty quickly. Most plastic strips are impossible to untie and retie.
At this time, my favorite tie-ups are strips of velcro that come on a large roll. My reason is that I like the ability to move the strips upward as the plants grow during the season.
While I tie up the branches pretty low in the beginning, the tomato branches quickly grow taller and need staking and tying at a higher point. Often the lower stalk is now thicker and
Velcro Tie to Tomato Cage or to Stake
Circular Tomato Cage Supplemented with Bamboo Stakes Is Convenient Place to Hang the Roll of Velcro and the Scissors You Need.
stronger and no longer needs the tie, so I unzip that velcro and move it higher up the stalk.
With the other things, reuse tends to be problematic. With Velcro, I have a flexible tie-up. When I first cut the strip, I make it a little long so as to be able to handle the growing girth of the branches in later weeks. Depending on the plant and situation, I cut the strips appropriately. Most strips tend to be cut about 3-4 inches long.
The roll I buy at the garden shop or in the garden department of the home improvement store comes in a 45-foot length. I also buy the tallest conical tomato cages I can find and then insert bamboo stakes inside the topmost circle and sink those in the ground around the cage, between the metal legs of the cage. This arrangement makes it convenient to hang the roll of velcro from one of the bamboo stakes, resting on the cage’s top circle. I poke my little scissors through the hole of the roll and this keeps both of them handy for using. I am sure there are lots of other ways to do this right and am just sharing what has worked for me.
I have included a reference to a video about pruning tomatoes, which is my one resolution for growing tomatoes better next year. The video also includes a demonstration of string trellising around a row of stakes — maybe I will try that another year.
Aloha, Dot
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