"In my opinion"- If the rods were iron they would be in the cottage junk shiek catagory. The slide rods would be too flimsy and may not have the desired look you're after. You could possibly use them to intertwine into the edges of a chicken wire support cage. I'd paint them green first. Having said all that, I have never grown a tomatoe that didn't fall over dead. LOL

Vicki, tomato plants get alot heavier than you'd think, especially at the middle of the season when there is alot of fruit on them.I use the tall cages and even then I've had them break off branches when they grew up over the top ;( , so I wouldn't reccomend them for tomatos. BUT your idea is cute. How about some climbing flowering vine in a large pot of some kind.I'd stick the flat side down deep into the pot, use three and gather them with the "hooks" facing out, like a tepee,and secure them with wire wrapped around where the hooks meet up. Depending on how long your rods are,you wouldnt need any additional climbing help with the twine.Just wrap the vine around as it grows. If it was placed in a shady area, some ivy, three sets, twined around would make a cute topiary effect.If you know anyone w/ ivy in their yard, theyd be more than happy to let you come dig up three little bits w/ long trailers on them to get you started.Cos anyone who has ivy will tell you, it keeps going like the energizer bunny once established!!!

Oops, missed the pepper plant part! I would use one rod per pot, flat side down to the bottom of the pot and tie loosly to plants w/ pieces of pantyhose cut in strips. As plants grow, tie w/ additional hose as needed to support them. Hose works better than twine or wire because it won't cut into your stems when it gets windy, or plant gets heavier and leans.
I think it'd work great w/ bell or hot peppers.Good idea for plant support akup!....... Judy

I think it would be good to use them somehow, keep them out of the landfill. But the curtain rods are not very strong (if it's those flat white type), maybe in a teepee fashion they would work.

Tomatoes need a very strong support, and I haven't ever staked my pepper plants, never had the need so far since they don't climb and support their fruit pretty well, maybe bell peppers would need some support, my bells never get very big, but jalapeno is so easy to grow. I make pepper jelly with them, and it's so good!

Don't think it's tacky, heck, I used our old aluminum sliding door frame from a bathtub to stake one of my potted plants, (4 long pieces) and tied the top together with copper wire. The aluminum was strong but light weight, and worked just fine. How tacky is that LOL.

Go for it Vickie, you never know til you try it ... let us know what you do with those curtain rods! ~tenderlee

Good for you for trying to find a use for the darn things. I have a bunch of them in my cellar unfortunately,lol.
kathy

Appreciate all the comments. I too thought that the rods might be too flimsy for tomatoe plants. The tepee idea is a good one for a topiary. I'm going to give it a try. Maybe I could find something, i.e. a ball, to glue to the top of the tepee.
Now, so many good ideas running through my head & not enough rods!
Vickie

I know this is fairly old post, but I just used 2 white metal curtain rods and used green wire and loosely tied and has been working for the support. I just wondered to myself - I never questioned if the metal was in the dirt w the roots (its in a large pot on my balcony). Any feedback would be great. (This was the only post where someone actually thought of using them as they've been in closet for years).

Can you explain what you mean by “I never questioned if the metal was in the dirt w the roots”. I’m not understanding your point. The poles would obviously be pushed into the soil, otherwise they wouldn't stand up. Are you asking if l that’s a problem? No, it’s not.