A Look at the Different Plant Supports
 (Read 50+ times)
By Agnes Farside
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My father would use wire cages and wooden plant stakes for propping up his tomato plants, while a neighbor made his own cages out of one inch by one-inch wooden strips. I prefer to use plastic coated steel stakes. All gardeners have their favorite, and all try to convince other gardeners that their choice is the best one to use. Even though I prefer the steel stakes, I am always looking at the old, the new, and the improved devices for plant support, and there are many out there.
Stakes of various materials have been used for years in gardens. There are steel and wooden ones, that I mentioned above and those made from bamboo (another type of wood). Anywhere from three to six feet tall, bamboo stakes are sturdy making them excellent plant supports. They come directly from nature and most are naturally dyed green to blend in with the foliage.
Like the bamboo stakes, steel stakes which are coated in a green vinyl, blend in with the natural foliage. This vinyl coating also helps protect the stake from developing rust while the ridges on the vinyl coating serves two purposes. First, these ridges allow the vine to attach itself easier to the stake. Second, if having to tie the plant vine or branch to the stake it will help prevent the twine or tape from sliding down. Wooden and steel stakes come in the same lengths as bamboo stakes.
If using plant stakes, you will need a way to fasten the vine or branch to it, and twine or stretch tie tape works great. I prefer to use twine, even though many of my gardening friends tell me, I need to step into the twenty-first century and use the tape. The tape is good in that it is green, stretches as the plant grows, and easy to use.
Another type of plant support that is also made from bamboo is trellis. The more common ones, at least the more common ones that I have seen, are the U-shaped ones. These are excellent for training vines and climbing plants.
Trellis netting is another excellent plant support. I have used this in the past and it worked great. I did not use twine to attach my plant vines to it, but used large, plastic coated paper clips instead. These also worked very well. I opened them up and used them as hooks.
Wire or wooden cages also make good plant supports. Wire cages are usually round and are often used for tomato plants. Wooden cages are square and as noted above, made out of one-inch square stakes. The only downside I see to either of these is the wire cages bend easily and the wooden ones, although very strong in the beginning, rot and break on the ends (part stuck in the ground), over time.
No matter which plant support you use, make sure it does not hamper your plants growth.
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Author Bio Box: Agnes Farside
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http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/110407/agnes_farside.html
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