In 2016 I took a cue from commercial tomato growers and started to stake my tomatoes with a string trellis. I was immediately won over by how cheap, easy and EFFECTIVE this method is for supporting a tomato plant.
There has to be a better way. There's always a better way. I say that little mantra with pretty much everything I do including growing tomatoes.
I've done cages, stakes, espaliering and the Florida Weave (which works well but still results in a big MESS of tomato plants.)
By the way, the post that talks about how to execute a Florida Weave is actually a post on how to identify and pinch off tomato suckers, so if you don't know how to do that read the post.
My search for the perfect way to support tomatoes ended when I discovered and tried the string method. It didn't even have a name back then. I called it string training.
Now it's referred to as a string trellis.
Table of Contents
QUICK GUIDE
- Create a support structure.
- Tie a string to the top of the structure.
- Pin the string to the ground with a garden staple.
- Plant tomato and wind the stem up the string.
- Continue to wind as the tomato gets taller.
That's it. You can leave the structure and strings in place year after year so you only need to do this once.
I can hear you now.
WHAT ABOUT CROP ROTATION???
For the most part I *do not* rotate my crops because I don't believe in it for a home garden. As long as you fertilize/add compost to your soil every year there will be no soil depletion. And moving your crops 20 feet to the left or right isn't going to confuse or deter any of the pests/disease you have.
How-to Video
String training is a method that up until recently was normally only seen in commercial greenhouses or the back fields of very astute hippie homesteaders.
I don't know this guy. This guy is just stringing up his tomatoes. Never met him. Good photo though.
Not only can you use this method for tomatoes, but you can use it for anything that has a stem you can wind upwards.
USE A STRING TRELLIS FOR GROWING CUCUMBERS
Here we go.
How to String Trellis Tomatoes
- Hammer T-posts into the ground 8' apart (or less). For added height, screw an 8' 2x2 into the side of each T-post. Add support across the top.
Screwing another 2x2 into the tops of your posts works well for a support bar, as does an old curtain rod. You just need something sturdy to hang a string from.
TIP: Before screwing your 2x2s into the T-Posts, drill a 3" deep hole into the top of the 2x2s. Wind a coat-hanger-type wire around your rod a couple of times making sure to leave 3" of the ends straight. Slip the looped wire off the rod and stick it into the top of the 2x2. Now you'll be able to slip the rods through the wires to hold them in place. You can see the visual demonstration of this in the video.
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- Tie a thick cotton string every 12"- 18" so it hangs down towards the soil.
- Secure the string to the soil using a garden staple aka landscape staple.
- Remove the lower leaves to help prevent blight and any suckers that have formed. You can read more about how to identify suckers in this post here.
- Plant the tomatoes in front of the string. Plant them quite deep (up to the new first leaf on the plant).
Removing a sucker. The shoot that grows between the main stem and leafy branch of tomatoes.
- Twirl your plants around the string once your tomato is around 12" high and is getting its first set of flowers.
6. Continue to remove suckers and twirl once a week until the end of summer.
This shows the very first time I tried the method. I only had polyester string so that's what I used. It worked but disintegrated after only one season plus the thin string cut into the tomato stems. This can cause wounds for disease to enter.
The first year I tried this method, I worked with what I had, which was stakes that were already planted in the ground every 18". I just ran a string across the top of them all and hung my string down from that.
Pruning
For a string trellis to be effective you have to keep your tomatoes to 1 or 2 leaders. This is known as the French Method.
- A tomato grows with 1 stem - to begin with. Then as it grows the tomato will create other "leaders". Leaders are the suckers that grow between the main stem of the tomato and a leaf.
- If the sucker/leader is allowed to grow it creates a whole new strong stem for the tomato.
- String trained tomatoes can have 1 leader (the main stem) or 2 leaders (the main stem, plus letting 1 sucker grow into another leader).
- To grow 2 leaders, allow the first sucker that develops on your tomato plant to grow. It will become another stem.
- Each stem will need their own string to climb up with a minimum of 12" between each string.
- Using 2 leaders instead of one will produce more tomatoes but they'll be smaller.
The French Pruning Method.
No suckers, no extra leaders. Only one stem with leaves coming off of it. (except now I see a sucker to the top right of the plant, lol) Oops.
Tomato varieties that work best
Heirloom tomatoes work best with string training because they get TALL. Those are the types of tomatoes you want to grow up a string.
Heirloom tomatoes are known as "indeterminate" which means their height is not predetermined. They will keep getting taller and taller until the end of the season when they die. Indeterminate tomatoes often get to be 10' high.
There are also some hybrid tomatoes that are indeterminate, but for the most part hybrid varieties are "determinate" - meaning their height is predetermined and they won't get any taller than their predetermined height - usually about 5'.
Why String Training is Better Than Staking or Caging.
- Strings can be left up from season to season.
- You can fit more tomato plants into a smaller space.
- Plants can grow as high as 8' or more.
- Keeping plants at one leader gives much better air circulation around the plants which helps keep them disease free.
- String training can also be applied to growing beans or cucumbers
Wanna see how the string method worked with a single tomato plant flat against a fence? It would work flat against a house too. The string method on a single tomato plant makes it look similar to an apple espalier.
String Trellis - Printable Instructions
Whether you're new to gardening or not you're probably constantly searching for the best way to stake tomatoes. THIS is it.
Materials
- Heavy string
- 3, 8' stakes (2x2s work well)
- tomato plants
Instructions
- Run a wire, pipe or stake between two 8′ high stakes. You can also use string in a pinch.*
- Tie a string every 12″- 18″ so it hangs down towards the soil. Plant your tomatoes at every string so they are also 12″-18″ apart.
- Secure the string to the soil at the base of your tomato with a garden pin by winding the string around the pin and shoving it in the soil. You can also wrap the string several time around the base of the tomato plant to secure it. (I use pins now, I used to just wind it around the base of the plant)
- Remove any suckers that have formed. You can read more about how to identify suckers in this post here.
- Twirl your plants around the string once your tomato is around 12″ high and is getting its first set of flowers.
- Continue to remove suckers and twirl once a week until the end of summer.
Notes
- You can use any string but synthetic string that doesn't stretch is best. It will also last for years.
- Biodegradable string like jute or twine can also be used as long as it's thick enough not to degrade and fall apart during the growing season. It should be replaced every year.
- Never prune off more than 25% of foliage at one time.
- You can allow your tomato plant to have either one or two leaders.
- *to give extra support to your stakes hammer in a metal t post right next to each stake in the ground, then screw them together. Once your stake rots at soil level in a couple of years, it'll stay in place looking nice because of the t post.
Cotton clothesline works the best and lasts for years. ¼u0022, 7/32u0022 or 3/16u0022 are the best options. It will last for years. Thinner string or rope will degrade too quickly and break.
Nope. Garden staples do work the best but you can also just pull the string tight to the ground and wind the tomato stem around it.
By the end of the summer you'll have straight, tall tomatoes which get a lot of air circulation and a lot of sun. They'll be bald at the bottom and producing healthy tomatoes at the top.
Hypothetically of course.
Because this is gardening and all hell could break loose at any moment. A wild band of twirling goats or screaming aphids could come barreling through your garden destroying everything in its wake.
You just don't know.
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What do you do about crop rotation? I've always tried to avoid planting tomatoes in the same spot two years in a row, but it seems like you never your string trellises in place. please let me know!
HI Cala. I have string training areas in 3 different spots in my garden. I do rotate because my garden has such terrible disease problems, but if you don't I don't believe that rotation is all that necessary. ~ karen!
Update: Well first of all my dog is a jerk. After I put up a flimsy structure to use to hang the strings, he had a good look at it, said "heavens that looks flimsy" and went over there and laid down on the strings and tomatoes to make his point. So I had to go build an a frame, which I got from a post from 1997 in Fine Gardening, and I will tell you the Fine Gardener was not also a student of physics since there was no cross brace and I added those in to prevent another castastrophy. When I build this one my dog said "Hrmph. Well I'll still probably go over there and lay down anyway" and then he went in the house.
Lol! Good. Here's hoping your dog continues to be intimidated by the Fine structure you've built. ~ karen!
Hi, at last!. I am trying this method in containers using the wicking bed method. I usually fail because of Bronze Wilt but hope success will come because of less foliage and better air circulation. I live in Subtropical Qld. Determined to succeed before I cark it.
You can do this Merrill! ~ karen
I put up one of these things after reading this post. I did it by screwing together two steaks from Home Depot until they are about 8 feet tall and stringing some weird metal thing I found in my garage between the two of them. My tomatoes were sitting there in their pot Cardi B swearing at me the whole time because they had the run of the place last year and didn’t like the looks of this. Wish me luck!
You have inspired me!
I removed some shrubs, stole some bamboo and built a vertical garden!
Shrubs are boring. Veggies are interesting.
My husband says my new suburban garden is ugly but it's not. He is...
LOL!! Good luck with the tomatoes. :) ~ karen!
I'm trying this method for the first time this year and love your post describing in such a good level of detail. They look so orderly and I'm exciting to watch them climb the string!
My only worry with it is that my garden pins are pretty easy to pull out of the ground and my string isn't very tight. In your experience, is it very important that it's tight, and have you had any pins pull out and plants come toppling over?
HI Gregg. You can also tie the string to the bottom of the tomato stem. The string should be pretty tight otherwise the tomato is flopping all over. If your pins keep falling out you can try just compressing the soil where you're sticking them in a bit. Just step on it. And when you put the garden pin in squeeze it a little bit as you're shoving it in the dirt. Then when you let go you've created a bit of tension on it that helps it stay stuck. ~ karen!
Thanks, Karen! On my way out to stake my tomato plants. I have a big garden this year, and a lot of it is thanks to your posts. Informative but more importantly, I was inspired by your efforts. As another Ontario gardener, I find your homegrown information, delivered with a good sense of humour, really hit the mark for me. Someday, when my plants are looking a little bigger and the garden fills out, I will take some photos and share them with you. Good luck with this year's garden. :)
I'd love to see it! ~ karen
For several years now I have used the string method. I have only a 10' wide by 20' foot long south facing veggie garden along the back of my house and going vertical maximises production. My neighbour helped me construct two 9' high A frames on which the strings are attached and they are placed forward on the garden strip so I can plant an early crop of pod peas interspersed with onion sets closer to the house. I rotate pole beans and tomatoes on the frames and by the time they are climbing up the strings the peas are done. I also find room for Swiss Chard, Coriander and Bush Beans. I grow mini cucumbers and zuchinni in large pots on the deck so I can water and feed them efficiently. In a shadier strip along the west side of the house I grow lettuces and spinach. Thanks for the Epsom Salt and Egg Shell PH ideas.
Karen,
I read your post to my wife, Linda, and she was aware of the string method, but we purchased circular cages. Next time I promise. I love the article and we are going to read it in more detail.
Thanks Gary
I have always read that you are not supposed to plant tomatoes in the same bed each year. Have you had any trouble by planting in the same beds?
I lived in England for a while and gardening took on a whole new dimension for me. Man, those people know what they're doing. Sarah Raven, one of their celebrity gardeners, grew her tomatoes that way and called it twizzling. You just twizzle the stem up the string. I've used it ever since, and you're right, after using every other damn thing in the world, twizzling a tomato plant up a string is the best way 😏
England and European sites are GREAT places for learning fantastic tips. France especially (which is where England stole most of their ideas from, lol) ~ karen!
Hello from Spain!!!
I was just thinking about you while I am checking my first-time-ever tomato mini garden. When I planted them, I remembered your article about the string and I decided to give it a try.
Well, I thank you so much for your wise advice. I've already got flowers, and although I don't know if I'll harvest any tomatoes at all, the rewarding image of my healthy mini orchard makes me happy enough.
I would like to send a picture, but I don't know how. 🤷🏻♀️🖼️
Hello Juana! And a belated Happy St. George's day! You can send photos to me at karen@theartofdoingstuff.com ~ karen!
If you have the space the broken off suckers can be grown on as cuttings, genetically identical to the parent, a bit behind the schedule but useful if you have a long growing season. Really late picked ones might keep until next year!
Yes, it's a great way to grow your crop. Heh. ~ karen!
I am sooooo late to the party. Thanks for this info. Buying string tomorrow. Right after I ferment some chicken feed! Love your blog Karen and especially jealous of your stylish chicken coop!
Cheers,
Jacque
Thanks Jacque! My coop is currently a bit of a disaster and need of a cleaning so don't be too jealous. ~karen!
So this comment is years late! I am planning to string tomatoes etc this year. You have stakes every 2 feet. How far apart COULD they be? And the people who made an A-frame: that looks hard. I’m a 55 year old little person!
Also, just to be clear, when I’m first putting my seedlings in the ground probably in a week or two, they have several sets of leaves) should I go ahead and make a big loop at the base now? The stem is only a couple mm wide) or wait this the stem is bigger?
I love your blog. I discovered you in a Farmers Almanac article. 🤗
Hi Karen! In the past few years I've used heavy duty garden staples (those long U shaped metal things that look like hair pins) to hold the string. I run the string straight down to the ground, wrap the string around the U portion of the staple several times and then stick it in the ground. It keeps the string a bit straighter and tighter. For now I'd just leave the tomato seedlings until they're getting taller and stronger stems. But you can start pinching out suckers at this point if they appear. You can plant as close as 1' apart, but if you want to have TWO leaders coming from each tomato I'd stick with at least 18". Hope that helps! ~ karen! (another person who is little, but not a little person) :)
Thank you! Johnny’s Seeds uses 9 gauge wire across the top and you use twine. Does twine have less tendency to sag with weight? Sisal? Hemp?
Hi Karen. I have changed my set up. I use metal poles across the top (they're actually old curtain rods) and the string I hang down is poly string so it doesn't degrade and I can use it year after year after year. ~ karen!
Me again! I feel like we’re friends now since I’ve asked you so many questions! Can you post a close up of how you attached the rods to the tops of the posts?
At the moment, I cannot. :/ All I've done is drill a hole into the tops of the 2x2s and then bent stiff wire into a circle leaving 2-3" ends that can be inserted into the drilled hole. This creates a circle you can run your rod through. If you zoom in you'll be able to see what I'm talking about. ~ karen!
Hey y'all. My wife and i took a class at the University of FL on hydro greenhouse farming and you would be proud to know they stole your ideas with a few twists. They stretched a cable 8 foot above the tomatoes. same exact pruning method is used. They also used a roller string (you can let string out or tighten up) and plastic clips to attach to the stem . The cool thing; they also trim the bottom up to the tomatoes and when the plant grows over 8, they simple slid the roller above down the cable. So basically you could have a 20 foot tomato plant or more. The naked stem would come out of your medium, then curve to the left (or right) Then curve back up to the cable. One girl ssid she does 2 crops a year and gets 20 foot plus plants. We are trying this technique in a greenhouse and already have some 9 foot plants in Feb! Can't wait to see what happens come spring😁
Oh, I'd love to go to that class! Keep me updated on your tomatoes in the greenhouse and send pictures! ~ karen
Any pics of this?
Why is everybody using string? String, especially when tightened, cuts tomato vines. I saved my old and run panty hose from working days, cut in strips, and use them as tomato ties. They are stretchy, and do not cut the vines.
That's fine, if you wear pantyhose. I don't, so string will be the go.
I'll try this method but without stripping out the suckers - burnt tomato is not my favourite crop.
Burnt tomato? You don't have to worry about having burnt tomatoes I don't think. I guess it would depend on on whether you live on the Equator, but generally speaking you should be good. It's how commercial growers grow their tomatoes and tomatoes thrive on the light that reaches them. It helps them ripen and come into colour more quickly. ~ karen!
I can't speak for anyone else, but I've personally never had a vine cut from the string. I've had the string break by the end of the season if it's cotton, but never cut off a tomato. I actually wouldn't want a stretchy string like you'd get from panty hose because I want the string to be tight not flexible. But I'm sure the panty hose works well if you aren't worried about that. Use what you have. ~ karen!
Thank you. I worked more than 50 years during a time when pantyhose or stockings were the norm in office environment, so will continue to use as long as I can grow tomatoes, cukes, squash — anything that needs to be tied.
Jan is describing how she ties off her tomato plants (to a stake) for a traditionally staked tomato plant. Karen's method is simply wrapping a string in a long spiral from the ground up the main stalk/leader to the top where the string is tied off to the horizontal support (pole, steel cable, heavy string, curtain rod, etc.). Particular attention is paid to wrapping the string under the "hand" of blossoms/tomatoes for max support. Two different methods.
Jan if you follow the directions I assure you no harm will come to the plants. The string is used to support the vine which will attach and continue to follow up. As the vine grows you wrap the vine around the string. They also sell clips that allow you to fasten the string and vine and still allow growth. At no point do you pull the string and strangle the vine. I have been utilizing this method for years and would never ever go back to cages or steaking and tying methods. Once you get the hang of it its a matter of pruning every 7-10 days. The only minor negative is switching over from conventional growing which involves a minimal cost and labor for the initial season only. I have transitioned many vegetables to vertical growing and it really makes you wonder why anyone would grow them any other way.
Hi Karen,
I really enjoy your blog with all of the diverse topics that you cover. Keep up the good work!
I’m trying this method on my tomatoes this year. I’ve only just put the tomatoes in the ground, so they’re still less than a foot tall right now. When do you suggest that I attach the string?
Hi Helen. You can attach the string as soon as the tomato is able to be wrapped. You can probably do it now, but it's fine to wait. ~ karen!
I love this idea! I hope you don’t mind, but I referenced this in my recent blog post. Please let me know if that’s alright with you.
I absolutely love your article and style of writing. You are genuinely funny.. I actually laughed out loud at all your jokes.
Thanks Adela. Now I'm going to have to go back and read this to see what you were laughing at, lol. ~ karen!
Dang, I'm an astute hippie homesteader!! So enjoy your blog Karen.