Bondage at the Stake makes for big safe tomatoes. I use 8 ft end cuts trimmed from cedar fencing boards for tripod construction. I sharpen the bottom to make it easier to push each stake at least a foot away from the base of the plant. To secure the top i use a double wrap of haywire loosely connected, then scrunched by pliers to hold firm the three sticks together (easy to unwrap the wire for reuse each year). Tomato branches now have three vertical supports to tie with jute twine (decomposes easily). Now air can flow easily through plant, bottom leaves can be removed, and tomato fruit is supported far from ground.
As the plant gets taller the branches get tight nearing the top of the tripod and in the late fall act as a "toque" to stop frost falling inside the plant.
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