# Inexpensive stakes for tomato plants



## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

I need lots and lots of them but don't have the money to invest in t-posts-which I figure would be ideal. I don't like tomato cages-but I could be just doing them wrong.

What's a cheap way to stake all these tomato plants I just stuck in the ground?


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## Melissa (Apr 15, 2002)

I have a fence that I tie the plants to. If you don't have any old fencing lying around, it might be too costly. But it works much better than cages or individual stakes.


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## rzrubek (May 13, 2004)

I see you are in NC also, I see "Tobacco Sticks" for sale on Craigslist all the time, usually for about a dollar a stick. they are hardwood about an inch in diameter and about five feet long.


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## jbowyer01 (Aug 4, 2008)

Do you have access to bamboo? It makes wonderful tomato stakes or cages. Most people will let you cut it for free if there are large amounts.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

I've got a huge patch of bamboo... I can cut all the stakes I need, and I'll have new ones next year...

Weave a bunch of it together, and I've got a fence around my plants to help keep the critters out..


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## EDDIE BUCK (Jul 17, 2005)

PrettyPaisley said:


> I need lots and lots of them but don't have the money to invest in t-posts-which I figure would be ideal. I don't like tomato cages-but I could be just doing them wrong.
> 
> What's a cheap way to stake all these tomato plants I just stuck in the ground?


 U Gotta PM


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## ldc (Oct 11, 2006)

PP, when students move in my area, I pull their brooms and mops out of dumpsters and cut the long handles off to use as stakes. Many have lasted for years now.


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## Tacoma (Apr 3, 2013)

I use pvc pipes and tie up with "flagging tape" Same ones for many years. In my potted tomatoes, I make a 4 pole crossed at top, teepee style, tied together, then run the flagging tape around for support to the plant. The plants don't get pinched and have the support they need.


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## wannabechef (Nov 20, 2012)

I use scrap wood and cut them on my table saw...I cut about 125 the other day...took me about 15-20 minutes.


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

Well I've got gobs of scrap wood but no table saw. I love the bamboo idea; I've got a message out to a few local friends to see if anyone has a patch I can cut from!


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## Rocky Fields (Jan 24, 2007)

I rip an 8 foot pine 2x4 down the middle to give me two really strong stakes. A lumber/home improvement store will cut wood for a reasonably small fee. I can buy an 8 foot pine 2x4 from a big box store for around $2 each. If you're more rural, maybe a local sawmill can set you up.

Using long sturdy tree branches is probably the cheapest yet.


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## dkhern (Nov 30, 2012)

2x4 will work. they rip them because what you are doing doesnt require the strength of a full one so they are getting two stakes for one. nothing wrong using full 2x4. i saw a video but cant fine it now. guy put stakes in every 3 plants then laced with string. apparently you can buy tomatoe string that comes in a box and feeds out and doesnt tangle with a place to thread your belt through to carry on your waist leaving hands free. (what will they think of next).
anyway you run string thru a piece of pvc then tie end to stake wrap string around side of first plant and go between plant 1 and 2 around opposite side of plant 2 and between plant 2 and 3 around side of plant 3 and wrap around next stake. repeat to end of row and then repeat on opposite side of row. as plants grow above the string repeate the process


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## dkhern (Nov 30, 2012)

there is a video on country singletrees about pruning and stakeing tomtoes


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## RomeGrower (Feb 27, 2013)

Here's what we're doing this year.


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## Taylor R. (Apr 3, 2013)

Honestly? I have just used sturdy sticks I've found in the yard for the last two years. I make kind of a mini-trellis with two sticks (or branches) made to form a V, then a cross post about 2 foot long of another branch. I let the cross post stick out and tie it up with either some bailing twine or wire by crossing the string in front and back to make Xs. Totally free  You just have to make sure to shove them in deep as they aren't quite as sturdy as more precise stakes.


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## danielsumner (Jul 18, 2009)

I buy rebar fence posts at my local Ace Hardware for about $2 each. They will last for my lifetime and beyond. They are like a piece of rebar with a fin welded on to make it stable. I've put two about 3 feet apart and tie string between for a trelis for some plants.


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## BlackWillowFarm (Mar 24, 2008)

We use cattle panels or a section of woven wire fence tacked up to 2 x 4's stuck in the ground. I usually plant between 25 - 30 plants.

I've always wondered about using a Florida Weave and probably would if I planted a lot more tomatoes. It's also called Stake and Weave.

A couple links about it here: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj2uZ9K-DCM[/ame]

http://www.foogod.com/~torquill/barefoot/weave.html

http://www.tomatogardeningguru.com/tying_article.html


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## kudzuvine (Aug 11, 2011)

this might sound odd, but I use the tripod floral stands that are used for funeral arrangements. For tomatoes, I tied strips of cloth or string around tripod from the bottom wire brace up to the top (about 3) around outside of three vertical rods to keep tomatoes from falling through. Also use them as trellis for beans and cucs. You can get from florist or if you contact person that is in charge of cemetery clean up, they sometimes have responsbility of removing these old stands from older gravesites. They are very sturdy and last years.


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## SJSFarm (Jun 13, 2012)

I found this one about the Florida weave which uses less stakes

http://www.youtube.com/embed/SRohHQ7mMBw?autoplay=1

I'm going to try it this year, my beds are 4x 16 long.


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## mistletoad (Apr 17, 2003)

Every few years we order them in bulk from a local sawmill (around here if you go to the wrong one they are very good at sending you to the one that you need) - they run about 50 cents a piece - 1"x1"x6' one end sharpened. Tobacco sticks here are painted, tomato stakes are plain.


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

Out on the island with no stores, it is harder to haul wood etc....I just go shopping down on the beach! I find all kinds of wood down there... My garden beds are rimmed in beach sticks and netting I fix to it....it has a rustic look but it is free. I replace the sticks as needed. For staking off tomatoes, I get a good stick and tie as it grows....works great and no expense. It all depends on how many plants you want to grow I guess.


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## Forest (Oct 14, 2010)

Cattle panels. You can make cages out of them, too, by wiring them together to form a circle.


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

The Florida Weave method looks like it will be perfect for how I am growing my plants. I can spend a couple bucks on rebar-there is an Ace just up the street. 

Thanks!


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## bluemule31 (Nov 30, 2011)

CHeaper than cattle panels but similar are concrete reinforcement panels that I've seen at construction distributorships. Luckily, I had a friend a few years ago who gave me some just to get them out of his way. They look like the cattle panels but the wire is a smaller diameter of rebar and they lay flat in the concrete to make it stronger.


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## bluemule31 (Nov 30, 2011)

I know there's a certain pride that comes from being resourceful and industrious and "re-purposing" common items for use in our garden. However, for me there has to be some financial practicality when it comes to my garden, also. 

It wouldn't take much time or gas spent than you would be better off just buying the T-posts that are going to last 30 PLUS YEARS. I got several off of CL. Also, SOuthern States Co-op sent me an e-coupon for $15 off a $100 purchase. Guess what? I bought t-posts!! It will not take but a few broken tobacco sticks or time spent jury-riggin contraptions MULTIPLIED by several years of gardening that you'll be much better off economically with the t-posts.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

concrete rebar mesh like used under driveways. It comes in 100 foot rolls here for right at $100. Cut into 3' pieces and roll like a cage. These are tall enough for the indeterminate varieties and won't tip over if staked at the bottom. The holes are big enough to reach through.


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## Farmer Willy (Aug 7, 2005)

PrettyPaisley said:


> The Florida Weave method looks like it will be perfect for how I am growing my plants. I can spend a couple bucks on rebar-there is an Ace just up the street.
> 
> Thanks!


 
I went to the local menonite lumber yard. They carry 20' rebar rods. I used thier rod buster to cut them down into several pieces. Those bars will last longer than I will. If I was lucky I would have found a source for teflon coated bar---wasn't that lucky.


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## BKB HOMESTEAD (Mar 25, 2013)

I make teepees from old branches from our trees. This works good for pole beans. I use my corn for the squash and cucumbers to vine up. Also scrap lumber and twine, small pvc piping. You can buy a roll of chicken fencing for around $20 or so, can't remember.


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

I use either Bamboo poles or limbs, which we have lot of. In addition, I do have some Tomato cages, which I also don't mind using. This year, I will be using a combination of all three, avoiding buying anything these days, if possible. I scored a big spool of plastic twine at a garage sale for only $2.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

For those of you that choose rebar or electric fence posts, buy a can of Stoplight Orange phosphorescent paint, so you won't lose one in the grass and hit it with your lawnmower..........

geo


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## Chucknbob (Nov 21, 2012)

PVC pipe. Cut it in half and drive it in the ground. Costs about a buck per stake


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## secuono (Sep 28, 2011)

Lowes has green coated metal stakes with a curl on the top, different lengths, fairly cheap.
Or you just get second hand fencing of any kind and make a cage for it.


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