We planted some heritage type this year and they did OK. Big, good flavor but ugly.
Celebrity variety is my go-to. Determinate and well mannered producing well shaped consistent and tasty tomatoes.
I made some cages this year out of field fence. They are taller and smaller straight diameter compared to the commercial funnels. They can be wrapped around the growing plant like a clam shell then wired shut. They provide really good support. I wire the cage to a section of cattle panel held up by T-posts.
My cousin has a farm market and the visitors from eastern Europe always choose the ugly tomatoes because they have more flavor.
I made round wire cages some years ago out of the wire panels used for reinforcing concrete and at the time, I thought they were the solution to my tomato ‘cage’ issue - the old ‘funnel’ variety cages just weren’t working very well. The round ones have been used for at least 5 years until this year, when I cut 2 of them up & I’m using the ‘half round’ pieces as support for tying up my Celebrities. So far so good - really happy with the arrangement. I saw this article & took the idea of trying a not-round cage from it:
https://oldworldgardenfarms.com/2020/05/10/stake-tomato-plants/
The issues I had with the round cages were two-fold:
- Although I constantly pulled tomato branches through/out of the round cylinder, I still ended up with a ‘column’ of dense growth inside the cage ... too thick to be healthy.
- The branches that were sticking out of the cage got heavy & then would bend over the wire. The bends were sharp & cut off the nutrition to the branch below the bend.
My tomatoes are grown for my folks since I am “allergic” to nightshades. I have cut back this year to 2 Celebrities & 1 Sungold so we’re not overrun with produce. I used to have about 8 plants & I canned tomatoes & made a lot of salsa for gifts. I guess I’ve gotten lazy & this year in particular, was a terribly late start due to knee injury/surgery so the garden is very limited.