How to trellis tomatoes...

Staking tomatoes is not necessary if you are canning and don't care what the tomatoes look like.  Staking does allow for adequate air circulation and ease of harvest.  In addition, you can cut limbs off for less cumbersome plants and by having fewer limbs devote the plants energy to the production of BIGGER fruit!

Place stakes with two plants in between.

How far apart to stake tomatoes? Every two plants.

Any further apart and the string will droop and not support the plants!

Tomatoes with staking and twine for support

Weave string in and out of plants as they grow.

I like to tie the string off between each set of stakes BECAUSE if a string breaks only a small portion of the tomatoes need line repair.




Resist the urge to run long runs of twine down several sets of stakes to avoid a lot of work later!

GMO-free tomato clips

You can use sisal twine, but if you are using overhead water, chances are it will break before the season is over.  If you are using drip you will be fine.


Last year I used clothesline which never broke and I bit the bullet and bought tomato clips.  I love the tomato clips and you can get them on biodegradable made from non-GMO corn if you don't want the work of removing them.