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From cages to the Florida Weave and everything in between, we’ve worked hard to find a tomato trellis that worked. Everything always came up short. That is until we discovered this simple, reasonably inexpensive, way to trellis our tomato plants.
Growing tomatoes is easy and a staple crop in any self-sufficient garden. But most of us are growing indeterminate varieties and a plain tomato cage just won’t cut it. Finding a tomato trellis that works can be a task.
A tomato trellis is just a freestanding support system to keep your tomatoes off the ground and help promote good air circulation, which improves the health of your plants.
Trellising Determinate VS Indeterminate Tomatoes
Essential if you want healthy, productive plants, the type of support you use depends on the type of tomato you are growing. While there are hundreds of varieties, there are only two types.
Determinate tomatoes are the first type. Most of us aren’t growing these types in the home garden, but sometimes they are used if you have a small space. Determinate varieties are set to grow to a certain height, set fruit all at once and then they’re done.
These types of tomatoes can be caged since they typically don’t get very large. They’re great for limited space and container gardening. Again, they set their fruit all at once.
Indeterminate tomatoes are the other type. This is what most of us are typically growing in a backyard garden. These tomatoes will continue to grow and set fruit until the conditions no longer allow them to. This is generally until the first fall frost.
Indeterminate tomato varieties need trellising as they will quickly outgrow a tomato cage and become too bushy inside of a typical cage often succumbing to fungal issues.
Benefits of Trellising Tomatoes
Health. Tomatoes are very susceptible to fungal diseases and other issues. This is especially true if you allow them to vine across the ground. Trellising them can help with better airflow so the foliage stays dryer, providing adequate disease control.
Easier access. Since the tomato plants are upright, it’s easier to find the fruit to pick than if they’re laying on the ground (or shoved into a cage that is far too small). It’s also easier to find and pick off tomato hornworms since they’re more accessible this way.
More space. Since the plants are grown upright, you can plant them slightly closer together, meaning even more tomato plants will fit in your garden.
Higher yields. The healthier plants with easier to harvest fruits mean your yields will likely be higher. The fruit won’t be on the ground rotting, the plant won’t be as susceptible to fungal diseases, and you’ll be able to find the fruit. All winning scenarios when it comes to harvesting tomatoes.
The Best Trellis for Tomatoes
We wanted something simple, inexpensive, and easy to maintain for our tomato supports. We also needed something that we could use in limited space so we could increase what we can plant in our garden. While our vegetable garden is quite large at around 2,200 square feet, we still like to fit as much as we can in there, tomatoes are no exception.
Over the years we’ve tried different tomato trellis ideas to keep our indeterminate plants off the ground and nothing ever worked quite right. We’ve used tomato cages before, but those are only suited for determinate tomatoes.
We’ve tried the Florida weave method using string and bamboo poles, but I found the plants needed additional support. A couple of years ago we tried a tomato string trellis, and it worked ok, but it was still lacking something.
Last year, we tried cattle panels and while I was incredibly skeptical at first, I will never go back. They’re fairly inexpensive, they’re long-lasting, and provide some strong support for your plants. They’re also easy to move if we need to change the garden layout in the future.
Easy DIY Tomato Trellis
Supplies:
- Cattle Panel (we used 16-foot panels, but you can use 8-foot, or cut a 16-foot in half with bolt cutters)
- 3 metal posts (we used 6-foot steel t-posts)
- T-Post Wire Clips or Zip Ties
- Tomato Vine Clips
- T-post Driver
Begin by choosing a spot in your garden. I’ve put these wire panels in our 8-foot raised bed, but this year they’re all in the ground. You just need a sunny spot.
After you choose a spot, choose where you’ll put your end post, leaving a 6″ square of your cattle panel to hang off the end. Then, measure out just shy of 8 feet from that post, this is where you’ll put the second post. The third post you’ll place so that again, a 6″ section hangs off the end of the row.
Drive the t-posts into the ground. This will require a little bit of work, I highly recommend using a post driver.
This part will require at least two people if you’re using the 16-foot cattle panels. You’ll want to lift the fence panel up 18″-20″ off of the ground. Using the fence clips or zip ties (zip ties are so much easier to deal with) fix the cattle panels to the to posts in at least three places. The top of the cattle panel will likely be above the top of the t-posts if you used 6-foot posts, that’s ok.
Once you have your cattle panels fixed to the three to four t posts, you can plant your tomato seedlings underneath the panel.
Once your row of tomatoes grows up to the bottom row on the cattle panel, use the tomato vine clips to fix the main stem to the panel. Continue clipping the tomato vines, following the growth of the plant, wherever you need to. I recommend pruning the base of the plant up to the bottom of the cattle panel to improve air circulation.
That’s it. Nothing too fancy or involved. Just a simple DIY tomato trellis that really works and is really easy to install. If you want to, you can remove everything at the end of the season, or you can just remove the plants and leave the trellis as-is and move it in the spring to allow for proper crop rotation.
How much does this tomato trellis cost?
All and all, if you purchase all new equipment one trellis will cost you approximately $70 including 200 tomato vine clips and a package of t-post wire clips or some zip ties. Six-foot t-posts run around $5.50 and a 16 foot section of cattle panel will cost around $30 so the actual trellis would be around $45 new, but it will last a long time.
Personally, we purchased used t-posts for less than half the price and bought cattle panels on sale. Sometimes people sell those cheap as well. Another option would be to use wooden posts and fix the cattle panels to them with zip ties. However, it will not last as long, but it could work if you’re looking to save a few extra dollars.
Regardless, it’s well worth the investment in the long run as these will last a very long time, are easy to move, and are a great way to keep those tomatoes trellised. Much better than buying tomato cages that the plants bust out of in three weeks.
