Two Ways I’m Trellising Tomatoes This Year
Hi all! Today we’re talking trellising tomatoes. There are loads of ways to trellis tomatoes. They all have pros and cons, in my opinion. This post covers the two ways I’m supporting my tomatoes as they grow this year and why I like both!
First, we’ll talk about trellising determinate tomatoes. These tomato varieties are smaller and bushier, requiring less vertical support. Then we’ll talk about trellising indeterminate tomatoes and how I like to maximize vertical space to support these. So let’s jump in!
A-frame trellises
I really like using these a-frame trellises for supporting determinate tomatoes. The company Best Nest sent me these early last year, so they have been through two growing seasons. I absolutely love them. They are durable and highly versatile!
As you can see in the first two pics below, I used some for growing cucumbers last year. Unlike the circular tomato cages a lot of people use, these are great for supporting a variety of veggies. I used them for determinate and indeterminate tomatoes last year. I loved them for determinate tomatoes and decided to use them again this year—not so much for determinate tomatoes.
That’s because determinate tomatoes will just keep growing and growing and growing. As is usually the case in early August, I fell behind on garden maintenance and tomato pruning. The indeterminate tomatoes quickly completely overwhelmed the a-frame trellises I had lined up and just became a giant bush (bottom pic below). Sure, I picked a lot of tom
So for my determinate Roma tomatoes this year, I added the trellises when the plants were still quite small so I could position the branches as the tomato plants grew. They have filled out quite well as of late July!
Because determinate tomato varieties are shorter and bushier, these trellises work great. For the odd branch that sticks out and needs a bit more support, I just pop a stake in the bed or in the ground by the bed and tie the stem up.
Bamboo poles
The second method I’m using is a traditional pole method. We cut down a bunch of bamboo culms from my uncle’s house. Then I cured them using a propane torch. You don’t have to do this—you could just let them air dry.
But I want to try to have these last for longer, so I opted to cure a bunch. Curing brings the resins in the bamboo up to the surface, drying it out quickly and sealing it. I have a whole post and video about this process if you’re interested in trying it. It was fun!
This method is pretty straightforward. You put the bamboo pole in the ground deep enough to be secure. My poles sway a bit, but they have been through a couple of vicious storms without falling or sustaining any damage.
This method is great for indeterminate tomatoes because they just keep growing and growing. My bamboo poles are between 8 and 10 feet tall depending on the pole. So I’ve ended up needing a little step stool to manage the tomatoes as they get near the top of the pole!
To attach the tomatoes to the poles, I just use a bit of twine. I tie it loosely around the pole and double knot it. I started this as soon as the plants got tall enough to start flopping over a bit and add more twine every 12 to 18 inches or so.
Pruning for this method
I generally don’t prune my determinate tomatoes much. I just kind of let them go wild. But for indeterminate tomatoes I am growing up poles…well, pruning is really the biggest downside of this method. That’s because you need to remove ALL of the plant’s suckers as it grows up the pole.
That’s because the suckers will create new fruiting branches that will then create more fruiting branches and so on. This makes the plant very unruly. And if that’s what you are going for, that’s great! You don’t have to prune your indeterminate tomato plants.
The first photo on the left below shows what I mean by a sucker. It’s the diagonal growth between the main vertical stem on the right and the leaf emerging at a 90-degree angle on the left. Just twist this off. If you don’t remove them, they will start to grow into their own fruiting branches (see pic on the right!).
Despite this extra pruning work, keeping a plant growing with a single stem helps to keep things tidy, enhance air flow, and make picking easy. You may get a bit less fruit, but you can manage what you have a bit better. And I like how you can grow straight up and really maximize vertical space.
It frees up plenty of space under the plants for basil, marigolds, and other things I like to add for companion planting benefits! I also have some bush beans and Swiss chard growing under my pole tomatoes.
Pruning to two stems
You may choose to let some of your plants have two main stems instead of one. I’ll probably do this next year to hopefully pack some more indeterminate plants into one bed. To do this, you keep ONE sucker and just let it grow. This creates a “Y” shape from the base of the plant.
I actually did this by accident with one of my plants 🙂 So I added a second pole. I really like this approach because it essentially gives me two plants for the price of one without needing much more space. You just have to tie up two poles…and remove suckers from two stems!
And what about when the plant outgrows the poles? Well, as of late July, I have one cherry tomato plant that is about to reach the top of its 10-ft pole. I ended up letting one of the suckers near the top go, too, so the plant has a big “Y” shape.
I’m planning to tie each of these stems up to the top of the pole and then let the rest of the branches and fruits that grow hang down. This will be an experiment. For other plants, I might chop the top and let some of the suckers below the top of the bamboo pole grow.
It’s basically a free-for-all in the garden come mid-August. Whatever works, works. We’re all just so hot and eaten up by mosquitos that we’re starting to look forward to our fall gardens! 🙂
I’ll definitely be reusing these bamboo poles again next year. Highly recommend jumping onto Facebook marketplace and seeing if you can find someone who has bamboo on their property! I’d never recommend planting it…but if you can find someone who already has it and needs help cutting it down every year, that’s a gardening win for you!
