Upgrade Your Tomato Garden With A Practical Trellis Idea

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Tomatoes may be one of the most common, easy-to-grow edible plants in the average garden, but even these easygoing plants need a little help for optimal growth. Tomato plants can get quite tall, which is one of the reasons you may want to use something other than cages to support them. A regular conical tomato cage usually isn't tall enough and crowds the plant a bit. One simple tomato-supporting method that's infinitely customizable also has a fun name: the Florida weave (sometimes called basket weave). 

This hack has nothing to do with hair extensions, but it does extend the height of a tomato plant compared to one that's un-staked and drooping toward the ground. The "weave" part of the name comes from weaving twine around tall stakes and alternately around each tomato plant in a row to contain and support them. Each line of string is woven around the right side of one plant, the left side of another, and so on, between stakes, and then repeats in the opposite direction in several vertical rows.

Just about any sturdy stake-worthy wood, rebar, or even old signposts could be used as stakes, provided they're at least 6 feet tall. If you're growing several tomato plants in each row, a metal stake, such as Everbilt 6-foot steel fence T-posts, will hold up better than thin wooden ones since it won't warp under the weight. As for twine, you'll want a good weather-resistant garden variety or material that can support the weight of tomatoes and that's easy to knot. 

Upgrade your current tomato-growing setup to a Florida weave while the plants are still under 2 feet tall. This way, new stakes won't penetrate their roots. Pound one stake securely into the ground at each end of your tomato-plant row, with no more than 10 feet between the stakes. If it's farther than 10 feet, put stakes after every second or third tomato plant, as needed. Tie some twine to an outer stake about 8 inches off the ground, then weave it on one side of one tomato plant, the other side of the next, and so on. Then, wrap it around the end post and go back the other way, wrapping twine on the other side of each plant. Create an additional row of twine about 8 inches above the first, repeating the process. Add more as needed as the plants grow. Inspect your vegetation every so often to manipulate it so the string supports the vines and keeps tomatoes off the ground.  

A design similar to a Florida weave can be used for raised-bed and container-garden plants, too. Space the tomato plants as far apart as recommended for their variety, typically 18 to 24 inches. For a single plant, just insert tall stakes on at least three sides of the container. Then, run lengths of twine around the stakes for several rows, ultimately supporting the tomato plant growing in the container. Manipulate stems of the plant as needed so the string supports them. 

For a variation, try Martha Stewart's must-try tip for growing tomatoes, which ties bamboo stakes in a tipi-style frame over plants. Twine goes around the frame on the diagonal, supporting the tomato vines. Her method also works whether you have an in-ground or raised-bed garden.