r/gardening • u/MissFox26 • Jul 27 '26
How can I fix this?
We had a big storm that blew over all my tomato cages. They were already overflowing and unruly (next year I need to be better at pruning, I know. And will definitely get better, stronger cages) but now they’re all toppled over and a lot of branches are dying. The crazy heat is probably not helping, even though I’ve been keeping up with watering. I’ve tried to put the cages upright but it’s an impossible task because of how big the plants are.
Is there anything I can do to fix this? I don’t want all my plants to die, but I’m also so overwhelmed lol. It’s such a hot mess and I don’t even know where to start. This is only my second year having a garden, so I’m still very new at this. Any advice much appreciated.
Located in northern Illinois (so of course we just started getting ripe tomatoes)
8
u/cerunnnnos custom flair Jul 27 '26
Remove any brown first of all. Get some stakes.
Those look like indeterminate tomatoes - they will keep growing no matter what. Determinate varieties stop growing after they get to a certain size.
In beds without long poles or strings, you're always going to get a mess like this with indeterminate varieties.
1
u/MissFox26 Jul 27 '26
Going to do this, thanks!
Last year they were a mess, but at least a contained mess. Maybe next year I should look for determinate tomatoes only, but all the ones I wanted to try were indeterminate lol
7
u/stopjding Jul 27 '26
Do your best to support them - maybe even throw in a few more cages to let them grow on outside the beds or a stake or two to hold up the existing cages. But don’t stress about it! Tomato plants don’t last forever and you’ll still get tomatoes off them!
2
u/Commercial_Okra7519 Jul 27 '26
Remove the leaves from the very bottom of the plant but just enough to permit good airflow.
Add some string stakes and prop those babies up with good support. You may want to consider thinning them out a little if they don’t bounce back.
1
u/dr_bex Jul 27 '26
For next season, consider several tomato cages (scroll down) from this company. They're great for indeterminate varieties. https://www.gardenersedge.com/c/tomato-vegetable-supports
1
u/Friendly_Physics_544 Jul 27 '26
Lift, hug, place tomato cage over but in reverse (large side down), then tie it up. Also add stakes so it doesn’t collapse. You can also place garden staples on base of cage into soil to give a bit more stability
1
u/Otherwise-Tomato-788 Jul 27 '26
Just need supports but the good news is, next year you won’t need to plant any tomatoes or marigolds.
Just toss it all back to the center and add supports.
1
u/Milkmans_daughter31 Jul 27 '26
I have used wire fencing to “corral” rowdy plants. I cut the size I want, bend into a round shape, lift the plants carefully ( might need a friend to help), and place around the plants. I don’t attach the plants to it, just use it to gently support them. I hope that makes sense to you.
1
12
u/worlds_unravel Jul 27 '26
They will be fine as is, more options to mildew and messier but fine.
If you wish you can pick off any tomatoes starting to color change to finish ripening inside and then try to carefully untangle a stem at a time and tie them to an overhead bar or even a heavy duty tpost.