How To Stake Tomato Plants The Pro Gardener Way!

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How to stake tomato plants. The ultimate goal of staking is to hold the weight of the tomato fruits and keep the vines off the ground. 

It also improves the overall quality and health of your tomatoes. 

Stakes can support any sized tomato garden. You can even use them for potted tomatoes to save space. There are several ways to stake a Tomato plant, and this article shares key points about staking. 

How to Stake Tomato Plants

To stake tomato plants, use store-bought circular stakes for your tomato plants, simply insert them in the soil and tie the vines with the grids. The same process applies to homemade stakes. Ensure you stake the plant when it’s young and add new stakes as it grows. 

Tomato plant stake

A tomato plant stake is a stake that supports tomato plants when growing. Especially when tomatoes bear fruits, they gain a lot of weight. They might not be able to support themselves and risk breaking.

Once supported by a plant stake or trellis, tomato plants will grow thicker stems. The thick stem and the stake will support more tomato fruits.

Tomato Staking Basics

Staking Determinate Tomatoes

These tomatoes have a compact growing habit, so staking them is easier than indeterminate tomatoes. 

They’re also low-maintenance plants in the pruning department

We already know these Tomatoes will reach a predefined maximum size during a certain period. 

You can buy a Tomato cage or use stakes for Determinate Tomatoes; both work great. 

Ensure you install the support when the tomato plant is young because it will cover most of the support during growth, and you will not have to untie it at several places. 

Staking young Tomato plants can also prevent root damage. 

Staking Indeterminate Tomatoes

These Tomato varieties grow and bear fruit throughout the year except in fall. Therefore they can get big and heavy, so staking requires extra effort from the grower.

It is essential to train your indeterminate tomatoes for staking while they are young, as this will allow you to control their growth better.

If the maximum height for your plant is 4 ft (1.2 m) or less, you should tie it to stakes once it reaches 12 inches (3.6 m). Most growers opt for a wooden stake or bamboo can for such Tomato plants. 

If your tomato plant reaches a maximum height of 4 ft (1.2 m) or more, you have to go for sturdy support like a trellis or Tomato cage. 

You can also do both, just like how I do it. Simply create a circular cage using wire and secure the plant with two or more wooden stakes. 

Most varieties need a 7 ft (2.1m) high stake. Choose a material sturdy enough to bear the plant’s weight when it gets heavy with fruits. 

To install the stakes, find a location at least 5 inches away from the plant to avoid damaging the root zone. Bury the stake about 15 inches deep in the ground. 

As the vines and foliage multiply through the growing season, keep tying the new growth to the stake. Regularly prune suckers to avoid burdening the Tomato stake. 

How to Stake Row Tomatoes

If your tomatoes grow in rows, use the Florida weave method for staking. Follow the steps given below to stake row Tomatoes. 

The first step is to insert a 4-5 ft long stake in the soil between each plant in the row. Tie a fastener (mostly twine) about 8 inches above the soil surface. 

Now cross the twine in between Tomatoes in a pattern that creates an eight-figure. Bring the thread or twine back to the first stake to support the plants. 

As the tomatoes grow in height, add twines at 12 inches intervals. 

Tips for Staking Tomatoes

• Use a fastener to secure the Tomato vines or branches with the stake. Avoid using sharp materials such as wires because they can damage the vines. I would highly recommend fabric strips since they are soft. 
• You can make strips from an old T-shirt. Some growers tie the branches to the stake with natural twine. 
• Make sure the Tomato vines are tied loosely. Securing them very tightly can damage the foliage and the vines themselves. 
• If you are tying a flowering stem, tie it an inch or two above to avoid cutting the vine. Usually, the stem becomes heavy after it grows fruits, so there is a high chance of breaking. 
• Whether using a Tomato cage or stake, fasteners are used similarly for both. You should use a fastener every 6 or 8 inches of the vine length. 
• Comparing caging and staking, the latter is less expensive but requires extra care while tying the vines. 
• One end of the stake should be pointy to allow it to penetrate the soil. If your stake has no pointy end, you can create it yourself. 
• Choose a tall stake to support the maximum size of the tomato plant. 
• You can create a trellis using rows of stakes and twines running through them horizontally. Stake sizes will vary according to the size of your Tomato plant. 
• Single stems can be trained using a single-stake method. For multiple stems, you can use a trellis or cage. 

How Staking Helps Tomato Plants

Staking benefits both Determinate and Indeterminate Tomatoes because it keeps the branch straight. 

Some gardeners stake tomato crops for aesthetics because they do not like Tomato vines scattered on the ground. 

While others do this to save space in their garden, there are other reasons behind staking.

• After watering, the soil stays wet for several hours, so the leaves and fruits can rot if kept on a wet surface for too long. Staking raises the foliage and fruit away from the soil surface. 
• You can protect the foliage and fruit from several diseases and fungi that might be transmitted via direct contact with the soil. Even the pests have easy access to the fruit and can damage the Tomato plants growing on the ground. 
• Staking forces your tomato plant to grow vertically; my experience shows vertical crops are easier to water and prune. 
• You can also avoid broken stems once your plant is loaded with Tomatoes. You can easily access all parts of the plant, which makes it easier to check your plant for issues like bugs or pest infestations. 

Staking techniques vary on the tomato variety you’re growing. 

You can go for regular stakes, cages, or strings. Commonly used methods include caging or stakes.

Cages are convenient to install and maintain but have difficulty supporting a mature tomato plant with multiple fruits. 

Bamboo, wood, or plastic stakes can better support any tomato variety and are easy to install. 

However, they require more maintenance because you have to check and tie the vines as they grow regularly. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do vertically stacked Tomatoes need more water than those growing horizontally on the ground?

The Tomatoes growing vertically will require more water because they do not have roots buried in the soil for moisture absorption. 

When should you start training the Tomatoes for staking?

Tomato plants should be trained to grow on support when they are young. The ideal time is one month after transplanting. 

Takeaways

To stake tomatoes:

• Start early with seedlings to train them on a stake
• You can use curricular stakes or sticks
• Indeterminate tomatoes are especially important to stake as they grow tall and bear fruits throughout the year