Setting up Straw bales to grow tomatoes.

I bought six staw bales today and laid them out at the very top of my driveway. Actually on the driveway but leaving plenty of room to get into the garage. The cars never go into the garage, its too old and small. It just holds all my gardening gear.

Then I wet them, not that it did too much good as the water just runs off. Plus I watered with with a nice strong solution of Netunes Seaweed Fertilizer to get it cooking. I guess I will go out and wet them frequently and just alittle to get them to start to absorb water.

I want to plant tomatoes. I read here on the forum not to use tomato cages and just let them sprawl. Should I try the cages? I have the triange kind of coated wire ones. Not sure if they would push into the bales, I haven't tried it. But I think they woulld.

I laid the bales strings down as suggested here. How many tomato plants should I put?

Thanks!

Rita: cages will work for a time, but as the bales soften up the cages won't stay anchored in the bales. You will have to secure the cages in some way.

Plant 2 - 3 tomatoes/bale.

Kent

Ah, I had not thought about the fact that the straw would soften up. Thanks.

If you go to a farm and ranch supply store you will find that they sell something called "stock panels".
They are 16 ft. long and about 52" high. You will need access to some good bolt cutters. You can make
excellent tomato cages of any desired size. They will be strong and last for many years. They are better
than concrete reinforcing wire (IMO) since they are straight and do not rust so badly.

These can be fixed in freestanding rectangles "around" the bales. You will need to find a way to anchor
them.

This message was edited Apr 20, 2010 1:40 AM

I love the "cattle panels" or "stock panels" for my tomato trellis!!

Jeanette promoted these babies from day 1!

Mine are about $20 per 16 ft section at Tractor Supply.

The concrete wire is a pain (literal and figurative) to deal with. Rusts. Welds break easily.

Kent

Well, the cages from the cattle panels sound really other than the fact that I can't figure a way to anchor them and it seems like they would be pretty expensive. I make mine into a hoophouse with the bales lining the inside of the hoop on both sides (2 string bales) and then you can fasten the tomatoes to the hoop.

I guess I am paying the same amount for the "cages", however I am not cutting them up and I have anchored them. What I mean by the advantage of not cutting them up, is that if you decide later you would like to use them for something else you have a whole cattle panel.

I think Kent has done his a different way. Right Kent? Didn't you put in posts and run the panel along the side of your bales? That way you can tie the plants to the panel and have the wide open space to access your plants from, rather than reaching thru holes in the panel (cage).

Even driving the spade or T posts into the bale and ground in a way to maybe form a cage using just twine or hemp? LOL, just my imagination running wild.

HOWEVER, I hope you move your bales to a permanent place before you put any more water etc. on them Rita. Those bales are going to be pretty heavy if you don't.

What perment place? The driveway is the perment place, at least for this year. Not goin to be setting up any cattle guards either.

I usually have my tomatoes inground. Next year will have them inground again. Just can't use the area this year for other reasons.

Some folks have made frames (cages) for their tomatoes using the plastic PVC pipe. You could do that and have it fit around the bale since you are gardening on the driveway this year.. There are all sorts of plans out there if you google tomato cages that show the use of PVC pipe. That might help to support them fairly well. These folks slip the bottom under the bale ( or those self-watering containers) so that the framework is anchored down and won't fall over. There is also a thread here on container gardening that shows a lot of ideas that you could translate into what you are doing. Some of them are building wooden frameworks. Check it out, you will get some great ideas. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1085914/

nini, speaking of using pvc, why couldn't you use rebar for stakes to anchor and slip the pvc over it.

It would work if you are over dirt, but newyorkrita sounds like she is on a hardened surface and re-bar would not be an option.. hence, setting the bale on the frame for stability or making a wooden frame as one of the container gardeners have done.

Yes, they are sitting on my asphalt driveway.

I hope that link might provide you with some ideas that will help you deal with supporting the plants in your bales.

Actually, tomatoes are one of the best crops for 'vertical' gardening. If you have a wall of your home/garage that gets lots of sun, create a trellis against that wall and let the tomatoes climb (fastening this as they grow - old stockings, cloth strips or something that won't cut them is good for this) They'll benefit greatly from the heat of the wall and ripen quicker than your neighbor's 'maters! And, like Jeanette says, use epsom salts on the bales you plant your tomatoes in- it'll really help them.

Don't have any wall space to use although it is a good idea.