[lacewing]

I would like some advice please on how best to support outdoor tomatoes? I have always used bamboo canes but the plants seem sag under the weight of of the tomatoes. I was wondering about some sort of frame....any ideas?

[Jay The Digger]

Bamboo canes properly installed should be fine.  If you regularly tie them up then they should be solid.

The weight of the fruit usually looks worse the it is.  The fruit stalks are usually pretty tough and won't pull out (but they do snap off with any lateral movement so be gentle with them)  I guess the problem you are having is that the weight of the fruit is causing the whole plant to sag. 

I use wire ties every 20-30 cm to tie it very securely to the support canes.  Try not to damage the stem but at the same time make sure it is pinched tight.

(I grow mine in a polytunnel and tie 3 guy lines of string from the tops of the canes to the tunnel ribs to keep it from toppling.  I also tie in 2 bamboo cane lateral supports across each vertical cane spanning between each plant.  Mine aint going nowhere  )

[mumofstig]

I have seen supports of wire mesh bent round the plant so that the branches(of the bushy sorts) to grow through........but I think it seems a bit OTT to me.

I just use 4 bamboo canes and tie them around to each other every 5/6 inches, but that's only the bushey sorts. The upright toms just get a tall baton the same as the ones in the greenhouse

[dougsta]

I gently loop a long thick lace round the stem then tie them up to something fixed e.g. nail in the wall or post!
As they grow you just undo the lace and move it up to the next branch node

HTH

[8doubles]

I gently loop a long thick lace round the stem then tie them up to something fixed e.g. nail in the wall or post!
As they grow you just undo the lace and move it up to the next branch node

HTH

A 1" piece of old stocking or tights looped around the plant will expand as the plant grows. You can loop the pieces together if needed.

[goodegg]

use two longer canes to make a cross at the top and tie canes together then tie toms to centre of cross sorted

[lacewing]

Thanks to all! I have a better idea now. The greenhouse toms are no problem as i can tie them to wires or baton going accross. The ourdoor ones are a different story, but I will have a go with your suggestions. 

[noshed]

People on our site use hefty posts with twine horizontally at about 4-5'. Then they run twine vertically for each plant and tie with scraps of material. They grow giant Italian beefsteak toms.
I just use a cane or stick and tie up with twine at about 1' and 3'. Some fall on the ground but that seems to work OK.

[strangerachael]

If they're in the ground, not containers, I build a frame similar to a bean frame (either a wigwam or A-frame type but not so tall) which is quite sturdy.

[lacewing]

Thanks again for the advice, a few ideas there that I can use

[Ivah]

I use a stout stake at each end of the row holding three horizontal wires that I tie the canes to. It means that you can also have three ties that are to canes and wire so they don't slip down.

[Trikidiki]

I always tie mine to bamboo canes. However.

I used to work at a commercial tomato nursery when I was at school and they had large metal frames along the length of the rows. At each planting station they had a string hanging loosely to he ground.
When the tomato was planted the string was tied loosely round the base of the stem. As the plant grew the string was wrapped around the plants stem loosely, one wrap between each set of leaves.
The tomatoes were harvested from the base of the plant upwards as normal and the leaves removed up to the truss above the one being harvested next.
Once the plants reached the frame (about six foot) the string was untied at the top and the plant laid down along the row until the bottom most truss of unharvested tomatoes was just above the ground.
The string was retied onto the frame a few feet further down the row and the plant continued to grow upwards and twisted onto the string.
Where the lower stem was laid on the ground along the row the plant would produce roots which provided more nutrients to the plant.

The tomatoes were harvested before they were fully ripe so I don't know how this would translate to a garden/allotment where you'd want fuly ripened fruit. I guess it may reach the top of the frame before the bottom trusses have bee fully harvested.

The tying up bit would still work ok. I use it for cucumbers.

The string has to be strong as it is bearing the weight of the whole plant. Garden twine is not strong enough.

[Yabba]

That's pretty much how I grew mine last year, except the string was tied to an overhead wire. Worked well for the cherry toms, but not so well for the rest.

¥

[Kristen]

I have done that "laying" in my greenhouse, by by untying them from their support, laying them down along the row (very carefully!) and then back up a support 2 or 3 further along the row.  The ones near the end of the row went around and back along the parallel row ...

But now I pinch them out 1 month before first frost and they aren't too unwieldy by then. I plant them deep, and have lowered the borders in my greenhouse so that there is more soil-to-roof height to avoid the chore of laying them!

(I also "lay" my Sweet Peas when they get to the top of their canes.)

[Trillium]

I grow a German tomato that makes huge toms and canes will definitely snap under the weight (as someone found out to his great surprise  ). I buy 2x4/8's wherever I can find them cheap and run them lengthwise through the table saw (or simply buy 2x2x8's). I hammer about 2 ft into the ground and they never sag or snap no matter how heavy the tomato load, and believe me, they can get heavy. I also grow Jaune Flammes, a very heavy cropping cherry tom and the wood posts support them easily. After harvest they all go to a corner of the garage.