How do I stake up my tomato plants in this little kiddy pool?
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If you don't have access to tomato cages, you can try making a teepee frame out of three yardsticks and twine. This works best for small plants such as determinate tomatoes. The trick is to make sure you have 8 inches depth for the sticks and a second pair of hands to help. Water the soil first, to make it firmer. Put in the sticks at 3 intervals along the edge. Bring them together at the top and have someone hold them. Now tie a tight knot in the twine and tie it tight to the top of one stick (or staple it), then wind the twine around each stick twice as you make 5 circles toward the bottom. Once there, cut off and tie the twine to a stick to secure it.
Gently place the stems along the twine in a fashion to best support the main stem.
I hope I'm not making it sound harder than it is! :-) Good luck.
How deep is your pool?
Did you put several drain holes in the bottom before you filled with soil?
It looks like your tomato plants are already too large for tomato cages, but you could still try.
If your pool is only 12 inches tall it will be difficult to make a cage sturdy enough to hold up a heavy tomato plant.
I'm not sure if you can make any kind of stake sturdy enough to hold large size tomato plants in a shallow kiddie pool as usually only small cherry tomato plants are recommended.
It is usually recommended that stakes/cages be driven into the ground at least 16" but preferably 24".
You can try using 4-5 foot wooden stakes or PVC and try placing the stakes close to the tomato stalk - maybe one on each side of the stalk and use twine to tie the stalk to the stakes at several intervals.
This will be tricky as there is just not enough soil to stabilize the plants and keep them upright.
A teepee might work, but I believe your plants may be too large and your pool too small to make this a successful project at this point. You may have to settle for vine tomatoes this year.
Metal tomato cages seem to be the best way to stake tomatoes. Also using bamboo stakes & tying the tomatoes to them loosely w/ twine is another method. Something else to consider: Growing tomatoes without stakes/cages allows for more of an abundant harvest. One plant will give you a production equivalent to three staked tomatoes. This may be of interest & offers a good tutorial regarding growing tomatoes in a kiddie pool:
I got a product a few years ago called an Ultimato. It consists of green poles that you stick in the soil and then has crossbeams that can be clipped at any height. You just need to make sure you have them the right distance. As the tomato grows, you can move the crossbeams up or add to them.
Use whatever stakes you have on hand, but be sure that they're at least 4 feet high. You need to tie the plant up over the course of the season, but it is cheap.
Use tripods / tuteurs.
Lash one end of three 8-foot sticks together,
spread the untied ends about 3 feet apart and equidistant from each other in a triangle over the tomato plant, but outside the swimming pool,
You can also string a length of twine from the top and (loosely) tie it to the base of the plant as an added trellis.
If you want something more decorative use Rainbow Spiral Supports
www.gardeners.com/
It will brighten up your lawn.
You can use bamboo stakes. I buy mine from Lowes.
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