The need to provide physical support for tomato plants is a common question for new gardeners, and the answer depends on the plant’s natural growth pattern. While tomatoes are botanically considered vining plants, their ability to support themselves varies significantly across varieties. Planning for vertical growth through a support system, such as staking or caging, is a key step in proper tomato cultivation. This support promotes overall health and maximizes the harvest.
Decoding Tomato Growth Habits
The need for staking depends entirely on the specific variety planted, which falls into one of two major categories. Indeterminate tomatoes are true vining plants that continue to grow, flower, and produce fruit until stopped by frost or disease. These varieties can easily reach heights of six to twelve feet and require substantial, mandatory support to keep their heavy, sprawling vines off the ground.
Determinate tomatoes, often called “bush” varieties, grow to a predetermined height, typically between three and five feet, and then stop growing. The fruit tends to ripen all at once over a short period, making them popular for canning. While support is often optional for smaller determinate varieties, it is recommended to prevent the plant from collapsing under the weight of a heavy, simultaneous fruit load.
Reasons for Providing Support
Keeping tomato plants off the ground offers significant biological and practical advantages for the health and yield of the crop. A major benefit is the mitigation of disease and pests that thrive in humid ground-level conditions. When foliage and fruit touch the soil, they become susceptible to soil-borne pathogens, such as fungal diseases like blight and fruit rot.
Lifting the dense foliage allows for better air circulation throughout the plant canopy. Improved airflow reduces the humidity that collects around the leaves, which is the primary condition needed for the spread of mold and mildew. Well-ventilated plants are healthier because they dry out more quickly after rain or watering, preventing the establishment of common foliar diseases.
Support also directly affects the quality and quantity of usable fruit at harvest time. Fruit that hangs freely is less likely to suffer damage, splitting, or rot that occurs when resting on wet soil. Support also prevents the main stem and branches from breaking under the increasing weight of the developing tomatoes. This reduces stress on the plant and allows it to direct more energy toward fruit production.
Choosing the Right Support System
Selecting the correct support system is a practical decision based on the tomato variety and the available space. Staking involves driving a strong, vertical post, such as wood, metal rebar, or bamboo, into the ground near the plant. This method is best suited for limited spaces and is preferred for indeterminate varieties that are pruned to a single main stem. The stem is then tied loosely to the stake every six to eight inches as it grows.
Caging provides support on all sides and is excellent for bushy determinate varieties, which require less pruning and can sprawl within the structure. When selecting a cage, choose one that is tall and sturdy enough, as the small, flimsy conical cages commonly sold are often insufficient for a mature plant’s weight. Indeterminate varieties require much taller and stronger cages, often custom-built from heavy-gauge wire or livestock fencing, to accommodate their six-foot-plus height.
A third method, known as trellising or the Florida Weave, is effective for supporting multiple plants planted in a row. This system uses tall, sturdy posts driven into the ground at the ends of the row and every few plants in between. Strong twine is then woven horizontally between the posts, alternating in front of and behind each plant, creating a supportive “sandwich” that corrals the plants as they grow vertically.