Spanish moss makes for good tomato tie up material, I use it on occasion when I’m out of sisal twine. Spanish Moss isn’t something that everyone has that hanging off their trees, but maybe some of y’all do. Gentle on delicate tomato stems. Got to kind of work with it a little to form a good enough line. Definitely compost pile worthy once the season is over. The moss isn’t bad as a mulch either. Clumps of fresh moss are good for cleaning off plant containers or just to wipe soil off tools. Cows love it as forage, old timers around here would cut down a tree loaded with spanish moss in the winter to help the herd survive a hard winter. If you have it in your yard, put your nose to it and take a deep breath, smells great.

The cheapest string is baler twine from the farm store. Unfortunately it is synthetic and just about never goes away. Sisal would be my choice, because it biodegrades.

I've been using handcuffs because when I tie them up, they always get away, lol.
I don't tie tomato plants up anymore I just support with a center support inside their cages but I used to use strips of bed sheets, just tear a strip.

Hey Sqwib, You were never a boy scout were ya? Next time try a reef knot: Left over right and under, right over left and under .

Linda

"Right over left, left over right, makes a knot neat, tidy and tight!" Girl Scouts!!

I use butcher's twine.

I use the green stretchy plastic garden tape. I reuse them every year unless they break. This has the advantage of being already cut to length so I don't need to mess with cutting every year. Plus it keeps the stuff out of the landfills.

I use shoe laces some that are at least 20 years old, from every pair this family has worn, if the shoes were deemed too frayed to donate or give away. The lengths work perfectly for me & if not I can cut them or tie 2 together. I love them cuz they're soft yet sturdy.

I use rubber hose for stakes, and clips for lower-and-lean. Both are reusable.

I've been using this soft stretchy hollow rubber stuff. Works well so far, surprisingly soft.

Yarn from goodwill.

I used clips like shown above as I run mine up a string on roller hooks.
Pic from last year

Jute

Just picked up a roll of jute today from the corner store. Looks thicker than the stuff we used at the farm, it should bear lots of weight.

I use tomato clips to attatch my plants to my trellis

Bower wrote: ↑Fri Jun 19, 2020 5:07 pm Just picked up a roll of jute today from the corner store. Looks thicker than the stuff we used at the farm, it should bear lots of weight.

I ran out today. Need to pick some up.

That plastic barrier tape , nice ,wide and soft to the plant but rather stretchy and if you dont tie it the correct way the plant collapses if you have ample fruits . i now knot it to the stake first and then to the plant that way it supports the weight of the fruit , to a certain extent mindyou.
In previouse years caging was my prefered method as just let the plant do its own thing but more prone to pests n diseases due to lack of air circulation come the warmer months or so i am thinking ..

Soft coated wire (called Flexible Tie) from the dollar store, 16.5 ft for $1 plus tax. Bright enough green and easy to undo, so I reuse it from year to year. Gentle on the canes, but strong, can spiral around the stem or do a figure8.
Added: it's available only in the spring, so it makes sense to stock up ahead of time. By this time of the year, it seems like I need more! I've already used up all of last year's, plus 3 packages from this year.
It's fun to use and much easier than tying thinner materials.

I just wind the string around the plant stem and use Roman blind spring clips as the tensioner for the string. Very easy to loosen string , wrap around the new growth then re-tension. Top tip, a blob of petroleum jelly rubber on the spring clip stops any ingress of water to rust the spring.

I use Velcro ties to connect early tomato seedlings to stakes. Later use the nylon straw bale strings from used Bales to keep plants held up. Most are planted in bales alone a 6 ft fence. Have had to add tall poles to either side of some bales as some varieties are getting mush taller than the fence and have to be prevented from flopping over. When I run out of bale string resort to black electric wire I once bought in 90 ft spools From Radio Shack. Tying up is a constant daily activity at this time of year!