I am often asked what method I use for staking my
tomato plants. Well, over the years I have used cages, wooden
post, and all the fancy tomato stake’s sold at garden centers. What I have found to be the best method is
actually using ½ inch rebar. This may not
seem like the cheapest method at first, but in the long run it really is, because they last forever.
What I like about the ½ inch rebar is that it will last a life
time. The rebar is very durable, and easy to clean/ disinfect if needed. Wooden stakes eventually rot and require
more maintenance.
Another great thing about the rebar is, that they pound into the ground much easier. This is much appreciated particularly if you have a ton of stakes to pound.
I bought some ½ inch rebar at Home Depot in 10 foot lengths
for about $5.00 a piece. If you are
requiring a lot of stakes, I recommend calling around to some steel companies. Also try contacting some local contractors, maybe a stone mason to find out where you can purchase a
large amount, and have delivered to your place.
Typically they come in 20 foot long sections and most companies will cut
them to your desired length.
The cost will be significantly less buying them this way, and usually
the more you buy the lower the cost. It
would be worth getting others involved as a group order to lower the cost even
more.
The 10 foot length I found is a good size for my
indeterminate plants, but for the determinate ones shorter stakes would be more
efficient. I space out my rebar maybe
every 5 ft or so the entire length of a row.
At both ends of the row- which would be the very first and very last
piece of rebar- I make sure are anchored securely so that they do not sag in
toward the middle of the row. Each rebar
stake is connected to the next with string, rope or wire. As the plants grow I clip them to the line with
tomato trellis clips. I repeat this process until I get to my desired height
I want to keep my plants pruned at.
I highly recommend these tomato clips. They are very easy to use and reuse every
season. I would make sure to disinfect
them each year to be safe, by soaking the clips in some hot water and bleach.
I bought these handy tomato trellis clips at Johnny's Select Seed
Yes there are several other tomato staking methods, some which may even
actually work better for you; I just found that this method works great for me. I have seen more efficient ways of staking-
particularly in High Tunnel production where String is suspend from above and
anchored to the ground, but I wouldn't think that this would work great for field production.
So if you are considering different ways to stake your tomato plants this year, perhaps you will consider using 1/2 rebar. You may have to eventually buy more rebar as you decide to grow more, but should never have to replace the rebar.
Pink Honey is a
large 6-10 oz heart shaped indeterminate, reg. leaf variety from Russia. Pink
Honey is the translated name from Russia and was introduced to America by
Andrey Baranovski of Minsk, Belarus. 
