Benefits Of Using A Tomato Stake

The tomato stake is no architectural miracle. At first glance, it is a simple structure - a stick placed in the ground next to a tomato plant. Boom! You're done. Sit back and watch your plant grow. Although it is true that the tomato stake garden structure is simple, the benefits are much more sophisticated.

Tomato plants are fragile things and oftentimes do not grow perfectly straight into the air. They also hold pieces of fruit that are heavier than the plants are designed to hold. The fruit reaches bloom before the actual plant is grown to full height, so things can get uneven in the world of the tomato.

That's where the tomato stake comes in. It is important to take the stake and firmly bury it at least four or five inches into the ground to give the stake a good base. You should place it along the side that the tomato plant is leaning towards for support. Another good method is to tie the tomato plant to the stake with a piece of yarn. On a healthy plant, this avoids the tomato from resting on the ground, which causes fungus and makes the tomatoes unsafe to eat. The tomato plant will also dry faster after a rain, helping avoid a fungus called leaf blight that can ruin a plant.

Many people wonder why someone would pay money for a tomato stake bought from a store. After all, it's just a stick, right? Well, while it is a stick, store-bought tomato stakes are high-quality sticks that have been treated with a lacquer or some form of weather-protection chemicals. Without those chemicals, the wood could rot, and the rot might transfer to the tomato plant. If you'd like to try your hand at making your own stakes, the task isn't difficult. Just find a piece of wood and paint it with lacquer or weather protector. Otherwise, you can use a broom handle as a substitute.

While it's hard to improve upon perfection, there is a variation of the tomato stake that might work better for you. It's a circular fence that rests around the tomato plant, called a tomato cage. Tomato cages are a bit more expensive but require less work. The metal of the cage won't rot and supports the tomato plant even better than a stake. But, whichever variety of tomato plant support you choose, the benefits are spectacular and will no doubt aid your tomatoes in producing delicious fruit.