Supports for bush tomatoes?

[ken]

I thought I'd get in early with this one. Mostly I grow cordon tomatoes, but I also grow the very early bush variety Latah (recommended!). However, I'd welcome ideas on the best way to support bush tomatoes, to keep the fruit off the ground, etc.

[Tigger]

They don't usually need any but a short cane will do the trick if they're toppling over.

[richard p]

i usually use 3ft canes with a few horizontal strings, if they do collapse in wet weather you can end up with a mouldy wet rotting mess. prevention is better than cure.

[Beryl]

I don't find they need support but a good thick mulch and then some straw to keep the fruits clean is an advantage.
Red Alert is my variety and early to ripen to.

Beryl.

[John]

Hello Ken
Like Beryl I use straw and find this works very well - in fact its just like growing strawberries. The straw keeps the fruits clean and I think it helps ripening as well. I sprinkle slug pellets around before putting down the straw and also mark the position of the plants with a stick. It helps a lot with watering later on if you have marked the planting place of each tom - you can water and feed in the right place.

John

[Mike Vogel]

My experience with bush toms is that even with a good straw mulch they get rapidly slug-eaten if there is rain and the straw gets wet.

I therefore intend to use short Y-shaped twigs such as apple-tree prunings to hold the tomato stems off the ground; with luck that will keep the fruit off the ground and allow rain to drain off them.
mike

[Johnboy]

Hi Mike,
Now that there is a type of slug pellet that carries organic accreditation surely they are worth a try. Instead of faffing about!
JB.

[ken]

Thanks, everyone. In the past, I've staked them and then had multiple strings holding up the various branches, but it has never been 100% satisfactory. Prhaps I should go and get some straw - and what I don't use to mulch the tomatoes I can mix with the grass cuttings on the compost heap (to pick up on an earlier discussion).

[Mike Vogel]

Quite right, JB, but I never remember to bring the slug pellets with me whenI go to the plot, and there are quite a few twigs about because I use them for peasticks. One day it will occur to me to get another tin of slug pellets and keep it there.
mike