what varieties do you have? determinates set a truss of flowers every two nodes and indeterminates set them every third node. determinates tend to be heavy flushes of tomatoes in a week or two period but being determinate doesn't limit them to only one heavy flush of tomatoes...think how romas or other pastes bear, lots of tomatoes for a canning marathon..
I do not use cages. I did when I was growing the toms outside....but in the greenhouse, I tie them in onto bamboo sticks. You must have seen them on my piccies.
I used the poles and cages but didn't like the cages last year. This year i'm using the poles and bamboo that I found on the side of the road...I'm actually trying to mimic the large growers and string them up using garden wire cross way from pole to pole, then from the wire use strips of pantyhose or twine to "hang them up" so to speak...a few are already too tall for my tallest pole, unless i put them on the floor of the patio, then that may present a whole different set of problems.
Carolyn, that is the most concise, clear, and useful description of indeterminates vs. determinates that I've ever seen! I took the liberty of copying your post and adding it to my gardening bookmarks. Hummer, I have a cherry tomato that grows to about 10', and I bend the top down, tie it to the wire, and it still bears heavily.Tomatoes don't seem to have much of a sense of up or down.
oh.. well thank you Jane. I am glad it was helpful. I was a bit worried your thread was getting hijacked from the original topic.
Hummer--I have used only strings and twined them around it to keep them upright and that worked fine for me. There are spiralled metal or plastic "sticks" that one can buy in the garden centres that mimic the string twining idea.
Carolyn, don't worry about a post getting hijacked--people need to discuss what they need to discuss, and one thought leads to another. Hummer, I've seen the Florida weave, but I have never been that adept at any sort of craft. I'm afraid if I attempted the weave, I'd end up with strangled tomatoes!
LOL..Marlingardener!!! I'm trying it but heck they have outgrown the crosswires already. I might have to use the laying down/tie to trellis method as you do. I think that they are able to bend..except the Galina's Tomato. It is a potato leaf tomato and has a somewhat woody stem, so no bending for it.
