A question about tomatillos
 

I am growing them for the first time this year, do they need to be staked and supported like tomatoes, or can you just let them sprawl to their own devices.

In their "natural" habitat they are left to run around the corn field. I suppose you could stake or cage them if you wanted to. I ran out of room for mine in the main garden but have a rose I need to pull up down below here. (A "rose" sent to me as a bday gift last fall from a rather spendy catalog company they turned out to be a nearly unrooted cutting - died of course.) Since there is a fence there, I'll probably put the tomatillos that have survived there and tie them up to the fence. Depends on how much room you have I guess.

Last year, I grew my tomatillos in 12 gallon Easi-Lift Grow bags with tall lightweight tomato cages. This method worked fine. My grandmother, who grew tomatillos most of her life, was really suprised at how easy it was to harvest the tomatillos this way.

I grew several varieties last year. Two of them were OK when left to their own devices. The other, Cisineros I believe, formed very large sprawling bushes. The vines were rather brittle, something like a pumpkin vine. You can let them sprawl, but it made it difficult for me to get to the ripe fruit. If you do stake them, do it while the vines are still flexible. I found that the vines could grow very fast, making it harder to keep them in check if you don't keep an eye on them.

Tomatillos are huge sprawlers and I agree...when staking them you have to be careful as the branches are not nearly as tough as those of a tomato. I use 8' "T" posts, pounded 1 foot in the ground. I use yarn to tie the tillos with as string or twine cuts into the branches. I rake under my plants frequently as many drop due to wind or other factors. They will re-seed like crazy so either you have to keep the fallen fruit picked up or plant them in an area where re-seeding is not a problem. My plants get at least 5 foot tall.