Staking Will Improve Tomato Quality, Yields

A good case can be made for staking tomatoes. Tomatoes on staked plants are larger and ripen earlier than those on plants allowed to sprawl.

Good air circulation around leaves and fruit of upright tomato plants lessens disease problems. And fruits held high are free from dirt and slug bites. You will harvest less fruit from each staked plant, but because they can be as close as 18 inches, staking gives the best yields per square foot. This is especially important in small gardens.

Tomato varieties suitable for staking are called indeterminate types, which form fruit clusters at intervals along ever-lengthening stems. Seed catalogs and packets usually indicate whether a variety is indeterminate.

A tomato stake should be 6 to 8 feet high; if made of wood rather than metal, it should be at least 1 inch in diameter. “Plant” your stakes when you plant the tomatoes to avoid root damage later on. Pound the stake into the ground 3 inches from the plant and about 18 inches deep.

A tomato vine cannot support itself, so it needs to be tied to the stake. Material for ties should be strong enough to last the season and bulky enough so it won’t cut into the stems. Coarse twine or strips of cotton rags are good materials. First tie a knot tightly around the stake, then use the free ends of the rag or twine to tie a loose loop around the plant’s stem. Tie the growing stem to the stake every 12 to 18 inches.

Now for the pruning: Confine each plant to a single stem by removing all side shoots, ideally before they are an inch long. A side shoot is a shoot that grows from a bud where a leaf stalk meets the main stem of the plant. Go over your plants weekly, using your fingers to snap off each side shoot.

One final bit of pruning that some gardeners practice is to pinch out the growing tip of the plant when the stem reaches the top of the stake. Continue to remove any new leaves or flowers that form.

This is a little chancy, because good results depend on the age of a plant’s leaves and fruits. At worst, you reduce the yield to just a few clusters of fruit. But at best, your tomatoes are even earlier and larger. It may be worth a try on a couple of plants.