3 DIY Tomato Trellis Ideas, Perfect for ANY Budget 🍅

[@epicgardening]

What 🍅 vids do you wanna see this year? Lemme know below...I'm growing A TON 😂😅😂

[@alexrottb]

Tomatoes in containers, please!

[@thesilentone4024]

Its it ok if we see you do 2 different things bolth need 5 pots. First have 2 seeds in each pot but have a stone fruit of your choice. Citrus then some kind of tropical then berry then vine. Second is try mixing vegetables seeds around tomatoes with vines or beans with melon whatever no care in what goes in pots. For me bolth work well.

[@wookeejedi5962]

@@alexrottb Same, Tomatoes in containers please

[@merriegiles5922]

Subtleties of shade cloth... how often, when to put on, when to take off (and now I'm going to go look and see if you did this already. lol)

[@Cereal_Ki11er]

Tomato care video?

[@chaosengine4597]

if you use a bit thicker, biodegradable string for the tomato hooks, you just wind the plant around the string and can compost everything in autumn without the need to figgle all those plastic clips out (+ they might break after a summer of sun and you have plastic parts all over your garden).

[@vilieto]

I put a wooden stick (2x2cm) in the pot/ground, then tie the tomato plant to it as it grows up. That's pretty much universal from around Europe from the places I've visited. If the tomato grows really big and heavy, you just use a bigger stick and stronger twine. Doesn't get more simple than that.

[@iReturnToFreedom]

Thank u for the simple solution! That doesn’t cost a bunch of money.

[@Randoplants]

I did that last year, and I found it works very well. See a new branch off the main plant, tie it up. It was simple and pretty easy to keep up with.

[@nenemaria-cornfieldsgarden]

Yep, I'm in the UK and I (and everyone I know) just use tall, study bamboo canes. They cost next to nothing.

[@thesilentone4024]

I just use 3 sunflowers that grows 12 feet or more they keep him growing up

[@wildmik-wk2iq]

Wow, thanks for this! This is the solution I was looking for!

[@melissasullivan1658]

I would love to see regular updates on which method is helping produce the best and which method has caused more work for less results. If you’re feeling generous with your time. 😉

[@epicgardening]

For sure!

[@glumGlumm]

Catle panel is the way to it las forever.

[@jmtyndall]

@@epicgardening did you ever post an update on which method gave the best yields? I do remember seeing the video about the giant tomato you had caged. Im on limited space so i did vertical strings with plants at 1 foot centers. This year I'm considering trialing a florida weave instead

[@KDOGGER11]

Any update?

[@melissasullivan1658]

@@jmtyndall I just snuck into his insta and he has a couple of posts where you can see them but I don’t know that he did a straight up ‘this method was such a waste of effort’ post. Still something to check out while you’re waiting. :)

[@daviddurbano5986]

My Italian grandfather used hockey sticks, broom sticks, wood and then tied it to that. It worked

[@Nuttyirishman85]

I wouldn’t do it with modern day hockey sticks, too many chemicals

[@sammiedog4]

Big wip

[@rachelanderson6929]

I kind of did the conduit method. But I used some old t-posts with some fencing wire tied across the top (I had it on hand from some chicken projects. It'sprobably not actually fencing wire, but it's thick amd that's what I used it for, so that's what I'm calling it) and cotton twine coming down. I buried the twine when I planted the tomatoes. The whole set up is about an inch above my eyebrows, and I keep smacking into it, lol. But the tomatoes are doing great! I also planted a line of pole beans about 2 feet out from the toms, and I'm going to run lines from my tomato trellis to the beans for them to climb. Now to figure out what low maintenence plant to put in the soon to be shaded area under the beans :) I'm really enjoying my free trellis with scrounged materials from the garage that my husband said I'd never use.

[@wendyburston3132]

This sounds awesome. You are so creative. Would love to see a picture of this. I might try a variation of this since I can't seem to think of where to put my beans... Not much sunny space.

[@anthonyshea5946]

Awsome vid. Something that I’ve ran into is the stakes pulling out. If you “plant” the twine with the tomato in top of the end- it won’t pull out. That’s a trick I’ve learned from other tomato gardeners.

[@epicgardening]

Smart!

[@sleepyheadsymphonies2640]

The lower and lean method looks wild!

[@GoodTimesHomestead]

Yay! I can't wait for my blight free tomato season! Woo!

[@jameswoodgate6477]

Hi how are you doing today?

[@theresaanndiaz3179]

This was the most helpful tomato trellis video that I've seen. If you are doing a lot of tee posts, I suggest getting a tee post pounder. So much easier than using a hammer especially if you are like me and can't get a good swing going. I use short tee posts to grow squash off the ground. You can use it to pound in the rebar too.

[@epicgardening]

Yeah I def need one!

[@g00fysmiley]

I have a lot of bamboo as a natural fence on my property lines. I just as I cut it back annually keep some stalks ~10-12 feet tall and tie a string to the top of each one then to a landscape staple at the bottom. Wind around the tomato as it gets bigger

[@charles5398]

One of the best and more comprehensive trellising vids ever. Maybe a little shy on some detail, but pick the one you want and do a little more research. Using a very similar lower and lean on one bed and a hog panel for my other setup.

[@AnyKeyLady]

I love this video as it shows a variety of methods of controlling vertical climbing plants. Thank you for showing us this! Whilst renovating our house, we broke up our UK ex council house crazy paving patio and built a bedding area, probably 3 or so deep and i guess 9 feet long. It's against a fence so will see how i can incorporate this framework method. For historical context, the paving slabs they used in these houses were broken up pavement/ walkway slabs that were repurposed for driveways and patios for government houses. They are at least 2- 2.5 inches thick. A lot of the houses were built on previously bombed areas in the 50's and not green areas, so the soil was mainly clay based. If the previous abode wasn't knocked down or destroyed, they would first put in small rubble as drainage and then add excess soils. I used a metal detector and found many children's toys, coins, old style ring pulls and even motor/scooter parts amongst other things. Currently using your wormery crate method along side our composter. We as in my hubby learnt why we don't put conifer tree branches in a composter.. This year our composter is looking more lively. We fished out a lot of red wrigglers we found and are now staying in the 5* worm spa. So much fun for our son to learn about worms. It's been a couple of months now but it was so cool to see eggs and baby worms, not to mention the adult gatherings! lol I spoil them by blizting the food scraps in the food processor before adding it. We have some earth worms/night crawlers and i found some tiger worms. Going to wait until its warm enough for the veg to out and renew their home. I'm using Garrotta in the main big composter so would be interesting to see the difference.

[@sillyjellyfish2421]

Meanwhile there's me just taking home whatever sticks my dog happened to find on our walk that were long and straight enough and just tying my tomatoes to those with lose bows using a cotton string :D

[@randomverse1110]

I've been addicted to your vids lately. I started my own garden and have been applying you tips. It's great so far. Thank you so much!

[@kathyengland3534]

intrigued with the Florida weave. I want to try it this year! Thank you, Kevin.

[@csn583]

I think the "constrictor" knot is a clove hitch if I'm remembering correctly. Everybody should know how to do a bowline. It's the safest, most dependable knot out there for tying off to anything. Add some sort of slider (like a Prussic) for tensioning, and you've got 98% of situations covered.

[@kencharm2909]

You are correct. The clove hitch works great for anything with constant pressure on it. If the pressure goes on and off, it will untie itself. You can add to the knot in specific ways to prevent this, but generally the clove hitch has pretty limited uses. A bowline is fine if you're not worried about the line moving across whatever you're tying it to. So, in the video, a bowline could move along the conduit. For some, that would be very handy. For others, not so much.

[@AmericaFirstNow]

The constrictor hitch is very much like a clove hitch. Just one little twist. Watch again.

[@czermeno2014]

I have tried all these methods and they work great. The one I feel works best for me is the lower and lean, but I built my trellis with 18" Ts going across the vertical to allow me to lower and lean around both sides of my trellis. Also allows me to plant more in a smaller amount of space since I grow my tomatoes with a single leader.

[@epicgardening]

Yup it's so good for that use case!

[@laelwhite1275]

We use a 6' rebar pounded into the ground, and tie the tomato with soft string or cloth strips. One year I used red cloth strips, and kept mistaking them for tomatoes. Not doing that again. We trim off all of the side shoots. This makes the tomatoes easy to see, and easy to pick.

[@TheFragrantBunch]

I LOVE the titan tomato cage! I used it last summer and had amazing results 🍅 I also planted cucumbers near the cage to save space 😊

[@leowells5124]

Srsly I started setting up some tomato seeds and you post this the moment I started setting things up (17h ago) like you are magic

[@shamancarmichael5305]

So looking forward to seeing the new Epic Homestead gardens in their full glory!

[@fatsquid90]

I want to do parallel raised beds with cattle panels arched between the two. Grow the tomatoes on the panels and the rest of the salsa garden on the "outside" of the raised beds.

[@wendyburston3132]

Sounds awesome. I wanted two three foot beds joined with cattle panels but we ended up with a 4x8 cause it looks like there's no more wood available here that's any good.

[@fatsquid90]

@@wendyburston3132 I am going to see if I can find horse troughs for my raised beds. Old ones with rust damage that cant hold water should be cheep. Clean the rust then cover with rustolium.

[@revandenburg]

He knows just the thing to say to get gardeners to hit the 'like' button! Better hit the like, don't want the blight!!

[@wingmok122]

Thank you for showing the variety of support systems. Will want to see how you prune the plants when they get higher.

[@spygracearts]

Talk about timing!! I'm looking for trellis ideas for my balcony tomato plants that are a good feet height already! Thanks so much for sharing!!

[@olivergarcia2459]

Thanks for the tips Kevin and I will use these ideas this year to grow my tomatoes. Thanks for every video and keep on growing.

[@dorisgreenberg2811]

How I used the cylinder Al cage was to put two t posts in and attach the cylinder cage over weave inches up with easy wire. I also used one year some hog wire the full length of the garden and tied the tomatoes to it with an old sheet torn into strips. Worked great.

[@ritalr15]

The PVC T size is 1 1/4 to fit the 7ft T-Post so it sits snuggly on top. I used my old galvanized pipes from my house to go thru the T's.

[@gotagreengardening8387]

Cheers mate. I stake and tie mine. Worked well for my toms in Melbourne this year. Just picking the last ones as we speak as we are in Autumn and the weather is cooling down!

[@pershop4950]

I like that constrictor knot. Very nice!

[@dinacasey7034]

Awesome video! I'm using the conduit system for the first time this year. So cool to see you do a video on it!! From MO

[@TheBourneHomestead]

LOVE the conduit trellis!!!! Very creative and I love the modern look. The tomahook is awesome too. ❤️

[@Mrs.TJTaylor]

I use conduit trellises with concrete reinforcing wire mesh attached. I clip the vines to the wire. It’s a permanent structure. No messing around with strings and I use them for cucumbers, green beans, Malabar spinach et. al.

[@marlocasabar3065]

Just bought my TPosts from Tractor Supply Company. They were 8' posts. I got home and realized that there was no way I could use a hammer to properly set the TPost. I had to go back and get a TPost Driver. I'm pretty excited about this year's crop. Using your video with 18" spacing, where I normally only put 3 tomato plants, I was able to put in 7.

[@tommann5187]

Do these t posts have another name...cause i can't find an equivalent in the UK

[@SoCalKevin]

I can confirm that a 1/2” EMT conduit trellis that is almost 10’ wide can support ~30 lbs of tomatoes at once.

[@epicgardening]

Confirmed! 💯

[@chrisallmond9372]

$70 isn't cheap for those clamps. One 10ft 1/2inch conduit is $5 at home Depot.

[@SoCalKevin]

@@chrisallmond9372 Yes, those Maker Pipe fittings are expensive, but easy to use so that anyone can put something together. I used conduit couplings and a conduit bender. Cost of hardware per trellis then becomes only $1.10 + conduit.

[@geegershmeegs]

I do a variation of this. I have a raised bed and had some spare 6' fence slats, so I secured them to either side of the bed, then screwed a couple of 1" dowels between them for my twine. Granted, with the price of wood right now, if you don't already have the materials, you might as well get the conduit.

[@ameliafonseca8377]

@@geegershmeegs h

[@sammi-joreviews1135]

COMMENT: Thank You! I’ve seen the last type with wire piece wrap that keeps twine so you can lean the tomato vines as they grow has been explained online & here on KZbin many times; however, I haven’t quite understood it until I run across this video. Thank you for clearing that up for me.

[@searchthescripturesdaily]

This is my first year growing indeterminates. I'm going to go with the first one. The taller posts are a little hard to find around me. I found 6.5 ft posts. If I want them to grow taller later in the season, I might try extending the height of it. Our wind is so terrible here in the Midwest and it's looking like we're going to have a drought again, so it might be another bad year for home gardening.

[@Riverrockphotos]

We just use 4 inch fencing and cut them to make a big round grow cage. Works great use rebar in the ground to hold them up.

[@Tonia.lynn2411]

I can't wait to get to your level of gardening 🧑‍🌾 ❤️

[@PatriciasPrimerJardin]

I’m grateful for this video. It’s a blessing 🙏

[@celticlass8573]

It was interesting to see the 4 varieties he highlighted, and which ones would work in my climate. The last two would never survive the summer thunderstorms that we get, but the ones with the Florida weave would (that's what I use). The one with the hooks would for sure separate in the storms here, and the tall light one would also fall over unless it has very long tines. The only modification I would make to the Florida weave ones, is that mine would need to be a tri-pod, not just one stake, because our storms don't just come from one direction--sometimes they're from the west, sometimes northwest, and the worst ones are from the south or south-west. I've never had a tomato plant go down, which is actually pretty amazing. Who knew the least expensive options would work best? Just goes to show you. :)

[@thekingoffailure9967]

Hey Kevin, I love the beats you use in your videos. Do you happen to have a playlist you can share?

[@epicgardening]

I get it all from epidemic sounds!

[@ryanissa3353]

the conduit trellis is so cool!

[@charmainemuscat6938]

You're a gem!!! Thanks for all the effort in helping us get in the know.

[@1MzSyd1]

I planted 60 tomatoes so far and still need to plant some in hanging baskets and regular pots! I really need to learn to can. I have a lot of shade, so i only grow cherry, grape and currant tomatoes. I did tee-post and metal fencing (maybe rabbit fencing? It is just big enough to get hand through lol)

[@MrSBGames]

if you plant the tomatoes diagonally, it has even more stem to root from, giving you stronger plants

[@deineadam2240]

Just showed my husband. We had tomato curl disease so for next year

[@palmsandboars]

What a great instructional video! And thanks for all the links. I was having trouble finding the connectors on Gardener Supply and then I saw your link.

[@marcuspowell2510]

I’m trying the lean and lower method with my grow bag tomato using a tomahook and 3 tall bamboo stakes lashed together at the top.

[@trrealityafterchemotv8295]

Tks for sharing this tutorial with us

[@johnwickham]

Huge huge blessing.

[@starfire8314]

I'm not crazy about the conduit trellising. We have bad storms and lightning storms here. I fear that this metal conduit would be a conductor for the lightning.

[@zmavrick]

I also live in an area with lots of lightning and use a conduit method. It is only a hazard if there is nothing taller in the vicinity (trees, buildings, etc). Had a couple trees get hit, but never my conduit that only sticks out of the ground 8 feet (2 feet in ground).

[@ourv9603]

Of course we love home grown tomatoes. We also love summertime corn. HOWEVER, we have noticed that when the grocery had big piles of fresh corn when we bring it home and cook it it is never quite as sweet as our homegrown corn. My wife stumbled upon a secret. At the grocery, in the frozen section you will find trays with 4 short cut ears. These are field frozen. Take some home & cook them & you will find these ARE as sweet as your homegrown corn PLUS it is available year round. SWEET!!!! !

[@Pamsies]

I would love to see a video for gardening in zone 4 and 5. I live in the suburbs of Montreal and i'll start gardening soon! And yes.. it gets pretty cold in here :P

[@jameswoodgate6477]

Hi how are you doing today?

[@anarres1400]

Easy Italian pro tomato fields. Just a hard line over point A to B about 1,8 2 meters high. A and B can be poles,trees anything strong enough to sustain your plants. hardline can be metalwire anything strong enough to sustain plants. Then plant rope or dental floss from hardline to ground plus 1,5 meter.in this way can fix plant while grows and when become big to top move on side 1,5 meter more to adapts all plants on the line.fix plant just rounding rope 3 Times...quick and easy to manage a whole field with thousands plants

[@ronanajerablog6262]

Very nice and informative. Thank you for sharing....new subscriber from Philippines...

[@jackiehorsley9263]

Cool thanks for that video I think the question I asked about tomato trellising in your video about growing peas answered my question I will definitely try one of the three ideas

[@Arkyncrest]

Whoa...I was JUST searching "Epic Gardening tomato trellis" last night. Serendipitous!

[@footballnow123]

Same

[@epicgardening]

Got you covered!

[@MarkWaffensmith]

Have you tried using a tomato cage with four tomato plants planted in a square around the cage clipped to the outside? I feel like that's how they were supposed to be used, but we all just planted one tomato in the middle. Haven't tried it, just something I was thinking about just now watching this video.

[@IgnorantGravity]

I've never heard of a constrictor knot, but looks like a self securing version of a clove hitch.

[@epicgardening]

Sounds right!

[@pa.fishpreacher6166]

For the conduit trellis, I think an easier one is inch and a 1/4 schedule 40 elbows which fit right over the T post, and I am using 10ft sections of sched. 40 pipe which is cheaper than metal conduit. The rest is the same as yours, the string and tomato clips and staple into the ground. Just my opinion

[@susmithajangiti8447]

Very useful video.....thank you so much

[@avah4455]

How do I live in Florida and never heard of the Florida weave 😕

[@jellyrun1]

I use the dry hazelnut sprouts that i cut in early spring , every spring.

[@shelaghjackson9577]

Great video, thanks. I wasn’t sure what I would get from seeds I bought at the beginning of the pandemic last year, as there was not much in the shops then. They turned out to grow over 9 feet tall and were completely unmanageable!😱 This year I’m growing shorter Bush varieties! Too much work last year!

[@clashofphish]

So what do you do when your tomatoes get too tall for the Florida Weave stakes? And/or advice for when a tomato stalk gets too heavy and wants to fold over?

[@mamajan99]

If you don't actually "weave" the plants but use the plastic tomato clips you can easily drop and lean. For several years I have grown small, but tasty, indeterminate tomatoes all winter in a spare bedroom under LED lighting. When they reach the 8' ceiling I lean and drop. The vines eventually make about a 20 feet long coil by spring. My 3 plants (cloned from volunteers found in the yard!) have already made several hundred tomatoes since fall!

[@PepperplacewithShawna]

Nice ideas!

[@gbbthrift7931]

Perfect timing. 😊

[@tombloxam4411]

Hi Kevin, found your video on building the tomato trellis. Watched several times and I realized when you put the trellis up, you added a support. Any chance you can give me the dumb down version of how to do that? Thanks a bunch, SueB

[@cynb.347]

Most already know a stick, piece of wood, bamboo, but not these other options which are a bit nicer. Plus much neater, for me, anyway.

[@miss.dannitiger]

This is an awesome guide😍😍🍅🍅

[@Gardeningnature768]

Very nice ❤

[@maxrocks00]

what time of day do the seed trays restock on weekdays?? i literally cant get my hands on them and i want them so bad 😭😭😭 much love kev u the best

[@maxrocks00]

nvm i just bought some lets gooo i feel like i just won a yeezy drop

[@samlewis9026]

The most valuable tool a gardener uses is a nail clipper

[@andreahorsch286]

Charles Dowding plants his tomatoes on top of the twine🤯

[@epicgardening]

Elegant solution!

[@theheidiberryable]

I can't quite picture that; I'll have watch the video -- could you possibly post a link? Everything Charles Dowding does is brilliant!

[@theheidiberryable]

Oh wait-- I get it!!! Thanks Andrea Horsch!

[@user-dm1tv6nl2e]

Think that constrictor knot is a clove hitch

[@neimayasen6359]

I. Will

[@deonnadaniels3461]

This was so helpful! Thank you❤

[@baloghmartin5878]

Hello! Do you have a video about pine trees?

[@mp3ata]

Hi from Macedonia. I have a fertilising question. I transplanted tomato seedlings two days ago in the garden. I have spread around about 10 pounds of sheep manure (composted) on a 18x22 ft. Area and tilled it in. Made holes, put one full hand of the manure at the bottom, placed the seedling and then put another full hand of the manure on top. Should i add some other fertiliser and when?

[@thephreak2151]

Is it possible to use baskets and the weave? Our plants always grow above our cages and then we try to do our best to keep them from breaking limbs.

[@meganray4614]

I know this video was specifically tomato trellis but would similar trellising options work for peppers, beans, and cucumbers?

[@tribeoftravis1338]

Random, but Im curious if you know there is a ranch tool that drives those posts in very quickly and securely without needing a ladder. Relatively inexpensive and completely worth it. Google T-post driver.

[@sjames8883]

Maybe a silly question but how would you trellis a determinate tomato? Especially a slicer that will likely end up with heavy arms...

[@whitneyloraine7502]

Thank you for sharing! We plan on doing FL weave in our raised bed garden. What did you mulch with around your tomatoes?

[@carolynlacelle-drouin4675]

Do you think the Florida weave would work with beans? I want to make a bean shade wall in my yard because I literally gave no shade and I'm looking for the best trellis on a budget!

[@wendyburston3132]

Great idea

[@Lily-ip7ee]

This is very helpful tips

[@haplo_84]

What about just good oldfashion (bamboo or willow) sticks/branches? You can build great tomato and bean trellis with those and they cost you (almost) nothing and they usually last a few years. (Do take them apart and put them indoors in a shed or something like that in winter) I believe all the fancy gadgets will work fine for sure, but one of the reasons I garden is also bc I want to lower my impact on the environment and buying all that stuff doesn't make sense to me bc of that. And also I like a challenge of keeping it cheap, so whenever I can I use second hand or repurpose things and don't buy new stuff. Ofcourse everyone makes their own choices in this, which is totally fine, I just wanted to give some extra imput.

[@Diane56ful]

Rest info. Thank you!

[@nysigal]

I have a ton of invasive bamboo. Guess what I'm using!

[@michelleduenez2167]

Thanks for the great video. Can tomatoes be planted in a 1-foot-deep raised bed?

[@hollynelson543]

I had never scene the conduit style before... interesting

[@joshnagenmurugiah4531]

You have a huge garden. Are there anyone helping you?

[@RisingPhoenix111]

Can you also grow mushrooms? Just curious how it would look if you did it.

[@myacrylicjourney624]

I’m wondering if the Florida weave would work for raspberries?

[@lauramartin7883]

What did you use to drive the T-stake into the ground?

[@tonyaspain29]

@EpicGardening I live in western South Dakota. We get days with REALLY strong winds quite often (50 mph+ gusts). I have an outdoor raised garden along our privacy fence. Do you think the Florida Weave would help? I usually plant some variety of slicing tomato and a variety of cherry tomato, so plants that get fairly tall. Any advice would be appreciated.

[@tamboliyatamboliya2815]

I'm worried the twine would be too abrasive and would scratch my plants as the slide up it when growing or when brushing against it when windy. This I fear would cause wounds/damage from the scratches. This in turn would make it more susceptible to diseases and pests. Cotton string would be softer but fear it'd become mildewy/moldy from retaining water and be too heavy from the water weight. What would be the safest string/twine/tape, etc. to use then? Help!

[@squashit339]

I'm doing the Florida weave and also a cattle panel that connects two beds, sort of like Mark's gourd tunnel on Self Sufficient me. My first time trying this so I'm excited to see how it turns out. Do you shade yours? I'm above Fallbrook (Winchester) and it gets so hot. Last year I shaded mine and it helped a lot, but it was a different setup, so I'm trying to figure out how to shade them this year. You could do a video on that. How would you shade that setup you have for tomatoes? Maybe a companion planting, or what not to plant together would be a good video. I had no idea that beans and anything in the onion family, marigolds and peppers are a no go when planting together.

[@epicgardening]

I'd prob drape over the top

[@DayDreamsofGreenDesign]

Tell me you were a boy scout without saying you were a boy scout. Knots! I love it, thanks 😆