Over the years, I have tried many different methods to support my tomato plants. I can remember working with my father in his garden, pounding in the individual wooden stakes to support each plant. They would break or rot within a few years, and we would have to replace them. When I started planning for my garden, I knew there had to be a better way to support tomato plants.

One day, during my travels around central Pennsylvania, I noticed strings hanging from the ceiling of a greenhouse, so I stopped to ask why. That’s when I was introduced to the single-string tomato trellis, which was a game-changer for me.

This method uses a pully system to raise and lower the vines as needed while providing strong support to the plant.

You can find most of the items needed to construct this system at your local hardware store. Materials include a metal pipe (I use a 3/4-inch metal conduit), twine that can support a working load of at least 110 pounds, and tomato clips.

The number of plants, and the spacing between each, will determine how many sections of pipe and the length of twine you will need.

For example, if you have a 10-foot-long garden bed, you should expect to use a 10-foot piece of pipe. If your garden is shaped in an “H” or “U” layout, then you should purchase additional pipes and elbows to join the pipes together as needed.
After assembly:
– Stand the pipe up, center it over the plants, secure it to the ground, and tie twine horizontally between the base of the pipes at the root level.
– Attach a single strand of twine to the pipe above each plant and tie the other end to the twine at root level.
– As your plants grow, secure the stems to the vertical twine using circular clips.
– Continue adding clips as the plant grows, supporting the entire length of the vine.

Remove the clips at the end of the season and save them for the next growing season. Discard the twine and compost the plants. I leave the pipe in place year-round.

Happy gardening #70