Anyone know where online to get 6ft or 7ft sturdy garden stakes for a decent price?
No where here local to get them. My fig trees are starting to outgrowing their stakes.
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The cheapest are to make your own from sawmill cedar.
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My current favorites are metal fence posts … either the green painted sheet metal ones or the galvanized ones. They are not the cheapest but will last 10x longer than wood or bamboo or those piece-o-junk plastic coated round thin metal stakes. Get them at the local hardware store, I never found them any cheaper online. The only durable poles I found online were fiberglass ones, but they bend too much for my uses. The shipping for longer things has gotten a lot more expensive recently, I think that hurts the online prices for posts in general.
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6-7’ stakes of any kind shipped aren’t going to be “a decent price”
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A.M. Leonard. Check their site. At times they offer free shipping or lower priced shipping at different times. If you find them subscribe to their site and you can possibly get notices of discounts on shipping and product prices. I have bought a lot from them over the last few years. Nice quality products.
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If your looking for precut 5’ that is inexpensive this is 500 bamboo bundle for under $200 Bamboo Stakes — OrchardValleySupply.com or 6’ x 1/2" for $160 for 200 bundle Bamboo Stakes — OrchardValleySupply.com .Just use the drop down box to chose what you want.
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thanks for all the recommendations everyone. I really appreciate it
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10 ft half inch rebar at Lowes… less than 7 bucks.
You can cut them to length with a hack or jig saw. Last pretty much forever. I have some i use to stake and pull my in ground fig shoots.
I also use Tposts and Uposts for different needs… like constructing a trellis. I get those at TSC or Lowes.
For smaller stake needs… i use the fiberglass rods from TSC… think they are 3/8 inch x 4 ft… often used for electric fence posts… they are sharpened on one end. Work great for stake for raspberries or anything smaller. 2.19 each currently.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/sunguard-3-8-in-fiberglass-rod-post
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The cheapest thing to use that lasts is electric conduit pipes- you can always hammer the tips to a kind of point to make them easier to drive. Fence posts can be a pain if you plan to move them around- they tend to be heavy and the bill at the base hooks on rocks when trying to lift out of the ground. .
I’m surrounded by woods so use mostly saplings for plant stakes. I use conduit to straighten fruit trees in my nursery and rebar mostly to tie branches to for more horizontal positioning. Rebar uses up a lot of hack saw blades to cut to size, but lasts for decades.
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Good point. I have also used many of these. They are about the same price as the fence posts. I haven’t been able to find them recently, maybe there was a run on them at my Home Depot. I still prefer the fence posts myself as I have a deer army and when they run into the conduit it bends at the ground. For most uses they are good though, and they are usually something like 10-12’ long so are great for extra tall needs.
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One of my neighbors uses these… and they are cheap and handy.
Step in fence post… PVC and it has notches to tie things off that are handy.
Less than $3 each at most places like Lowes, HD, Tractor Supply… etc etc. they are made for electric fence and electric ribbon i think.
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PM me? Not sure where you are in WV but I’m ~30min from WV border.
Also, this goes for anyone else here on the fruit forum: You’re welcome to come cut bamboo or pick some off my ginormous pile of already cut bamboo.
My bamboo is not treated- the garden center stuff is treated (I think with borates) to be more rot resistant and it seems to make them a bit shiny at first- but some stakes I cut Dec 2021 are still completely fine. I also mostly have culms that have larger diameter 0.5"-2" than your picture, but I cut the end at a slant and use a big mallet or post pounder to put them in.
I could also ship for a nominal fee. Though it would be harder to ship 7foot stakes since total package dimensions need to be <108" length+girth or it gets really expensive.
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Your fig trees are in the pots. After initially stake each tree to make it grows upright, it really no need to stake anymore. The trunk will be able to support the tree. You may want your fig trees to branches out to get more sun and grow more figs. I assume you will move all the pots inside or sheltered outside, 6,7’ long stakes in a pot is not easy to move in and out. Keep it more spread and low will be easier and more productive
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3/8 x 4 ft fiberglass rods being uaed for raspberries. I tried them first last year and they work great. Support a single cane well… i tip mine once they get a bit taller than the fiberglass stake and they branch out with fruiting latterals… and those bear a lot of raspberries in the fall… and the next spring. No problem with cane or fruit load support. They are somewhat flexible so will sway in the wind but do not break.
Once the raspberry reaches the top… it is sort of like invisible support. That rod is hardly noticable from a distance… all you see is a nice neet erect raspberry cane. I like that.
You can get them in larger sizes… 1/2 inch… 4 5 6 7 ft for example (onlone). AM Lenord has them… says they make great tree stakes and they are not that expensive.
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I bought lots of bamboo sticks from Home Depot years ago and they are still here. I just couldn’t resist the price, it’s something like $1.76 for 6 sticks or more. If you only need them temporarily, don’t spend a lot of money.
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me too.
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I can tell y’all, from using them in electric fencing applications for years… those 3/8 inch fiberglass posts - unless they have some really nice UV-stabilized coating on them, will degrade to hazardous waste that will pierce your skin with slivers of fiberglass if you rub up against them, or try to pull them up and re-use them somewhere else.
That said, I still have some, purchased within the last 5 years, that I’m using for various plant-related applications.
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I agree with you about the fiberglass shards of fiberglass in your skin. Horrible to get. I got rid of all of mine. I hated when that happened.
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