Supporting tomato plants is a widely adopted horticultural practice that significantly impacts fruit quality and yield. Allowing vines to sprawl on the ground exposes the fruit to soil pathogens and creates an environment where moisture is trapped, promoting fungal diseases like early blight. Vertical growth lifts the foliage and fruit away from the soil, improving air circulation around the plant canopy. This simple act of structural support ensures that the plant’s energy is directed toward developing healthier, blemish-free fruit rather than fighting off disease.
Choosing the Best Support Method
Selecting the appropriate support structure begins with understanding the plant’s growth habit. Tomato varieties are classified as either determinate or indeterminate, which dictates their size and fruiting pattern. Determinate types grow to a predetermined, bushy size, setting most of their fruit within a short period before ceasing growth. These varieties benefit most from sturdy caging, as the structure can handle the concentrated weight of the fruit load without constant re-tying or adjustments.
Indeterminate tomatoes grow as continuous vines throughout the entire season, constantly producing new foliage and blossoms until the first frost. This prolonged, upward growth requires intensive vertical support, usually provided by tall stakes or extensive trellising systems. Staking involves driving a single post next to the plant, while trellising uses a network of wires or strings to manage multiple plants in a row.
Step-by-Step Guide to Staking and Tying
Staking and tying is effective for managing the vigorous, continuous growth of indeterminate tomato plants. Stakes should be installed at the time of transplanting to prevent damage to the developing root system. If the plant is already established, the stake must be carefully driven into the ground at least six to eight inches away from the main stem, avoiding the root zone while providing adequate leverage. The stake should be sturdy, such as a metal T-post or a thick wooden dowel, capable of supporting a mature plant that may reach six feet or more in height.
Preventing physical damage to the stem requires choosing the right tying material. Thin wire, fishing line, or rough twine should be avoided because these materials can easily cut into the expanding plant tissue, a process known as girdling. Better choices include soft materials like strips of old cotton fabric, specialized plastic clips, or wide, flexible garden tape. The tie should be placed just beneath a leaf node, which provides a natural point of strength for the support.
The proper technique involves using a figure-eight loop, which crosses between the stem and the stake. This method creates a buffer, preventing the stem from rubbing directly against the hard stake during windy conditions and allowing room for the stem to thicken. The tie should be snug enough to support the plant but loose enough that a finger can easily fit between the loop and the stem. As the plant grows, new ties must be added every twelve to eighteen inches along the main stem, continuing the vertical ascent.
Managing Cages Trellises and Ongoing Plant Care
Caging
Caging offers an alternative strategy for managing plant structure, focusing on determinate varieties. Effective caging requires a minimum diameter of twenty-four inches and a height of at least five feet to accommodate the mature size of the plant. The base of the cage must be secured firmly into the soil, ideally with metal stakes, to anchor the structure against the heavy weight of the ripening fruit and strong winds. The cage’s open structure allows branches to lean against the wire mesh for support.
Trellising (Florida Weave)
Trellising often employs the Florida Weave method, which is highly efficient for supporting long rows of tomatoes. This technique uses a pair of sturdy stakes placed at the ends of a row, with heavy twine woven back and forth between the stakes on either side of the plants. As the plants grow, new layers of twine are added every eight to ten inches, cradling the foliage and preventing the plants from flopping over. This system provides lateral support for multiple plants simultaneously, minimizing the need for individual ties.
Suckering and Pruning
Managing plant structure also requires the practice of “suckering,” or pruning, especially for indeterminate varieties. Suckers are small shoots that emerge from the axil, the point where a leaf stem meets the main stem, and they will grow into secondary, fruit-bearing vines if left alone. Removing these suckers directs the plant’s energy into the main stem and existing fruit, reducing vegetative mass. This pruning lightens the plant’s load, helping the support system maintain vertical stability and improving air circulation.