Too old to cage, too young to pick

16 years ago

I planned to cage my tomato plants early this summer, but got distracted by a critter invasion. Now some of the plants are sprawling and have borne fruit heavily. I tried gathering one together and putting it in a cage, which worked out OK, but it got a little beat up in the process and lost quite a few green tomatoes. That one's a cherry tomato plant, but the others have larger tomatoes that won't be replaceable in our short season. I've put straw or flat rocks under the tomatoes that are lying on the ground, but can't figure how to do anything else other than let 'em sprawl and pick the fruit as they ripen. Any ideas/suggestions?!

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Comments (7)

farkee
16 years ago
I have done the very same thing--only to regret it tremendously. The fruit that touches the ground rots, the fruit off the ground hidden in the jungle mass of branches rots from insect damage that I can not monitor, and the fruit on top gets sunscalded and rots. I lose most of them.

Can you tell I don't like sprawling?

Having said that people in your area (from what I have read here) let their plants sprawl all the time without enduring all the problems I encounter so I would not attempt to raise them. They are a pain to pick on the ground but you should not have the total loss I get.
gonefishin
16 years ago
They may already be too big to do anything with except let them sprawl. You might want to put some hay or straw under them by gently raising them enough to get it in place. That would keep them from touching the ground and help some, and depending on your pest population might give them a place to hide. I have never had problems with pest in mulch however.
Good luck with harvesting a good tomato crop.
Bill P.
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nygardener
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks! I'll keep an eye on them, and learned a couple of lessons for next year.
backyardmama
16 years ago
When that has happened to me, I put tomato cages on the outside of the plants then drape the sprawling plants on the cages. I also have some 3 ft. sections of left over mesh fencing that comes on a roll. The openings are about 2x3". Since the pieces were cut off the roll there are sharp ends to stick into the soil. I position the pieces of fencing so that the wire is about 6 " off the ground and under the tomato branches.
nygardener
Original Author
16 years ago
That's a good idea! I have some leftover fencing material that I can cut into sections and gently drape the branches over it.
sunsi
16 years ago
I'd let 'em sprawl, no harm. One of my plants which is about 5-6 feet (and the only one I staked) wasn't tied up securely enough and fell over and is in a sprawling mode right now. I'll leave it there because tomato plant stems are too easily snapped in two from movement especially with fruit attached.

Tuck some hay/straw under them and be extra vigilant for problems so that you can pick nearly ripe fruit before insects/critters get them. Good luck. :)
cushman350
16 years ago
I have used bamboo pushed into the ground then used panty hose cut into rings to tie up the vines from the touching the ground. Good temporary fix.

cushman

Too old to cage, too young to pick

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farkee

gonefishin

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Too old to cage, too young to pick

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farkee

gonefishin

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