Sturdy trellis

[b54red]

Since I live in a very hot and humid area prone to diseases I have finally settled on how to support my tomatoes that allows them to spread and allows airflow so the leaves will dry quickly each morning. I've tried everything from Texas tomato cages to fences and all manner of stakes and this system of trellis works best for me.
I buy scrap conduit 1/2" or 3/4" and hold it all together with cable ties from Harbor Freight. The pictures are self explanatory. They are adaptable to any size or garden area; all you need is a tubing cutter and some time. I then use cheap sisel twine to make simple ties to control and support the tomato and pepper plants.
I also put in soaker hoses and cover them with mulch or landscaping cloth. Make sure to put down the hoses and landscaping cloth before building the trellis or planting the tomatoes. You can plant and lay the hoses first if using regular mulch. This year I have over 100 plants supported this way. It did take some time to build them all and it has taken me years to get all the pipe; because each year I have added another trellis or two.
I build mine as tall as I can reach easily but there is nothing stopping you from making it taller and using a step stool or ladder.

[ssi912]

cool design. i let mine just sprawl. side by side comparison, caged vs. sprawled, sprawled will go untouched by disease much longer than caged. i use bamboo every 2-3 foot in the tomato row. seems to really keep them dry. keep me informed how the tomatoes fend off disease. i am always trying to figure out a new trellising system.

[VORTREKER]

BILL,

YOUR GARDEN LOOKS GREAT

[veggie babe]

great looking plants and I like the trellis.........in the south with the heat and humidity you have to do what you can to keep the plants healthy.

Neva

[amideutch]

Tie wraps, I love them. From securing my containers to the fence, making tomato cages out of wire mesh or giving branches loaded with tomatoes support so they don't break off.
Red, you can also attach twine from the top conduit to the base of each plant and use tomato clips to support your plants as they grow. I use this method in my open greenhouse. I don't know how sturdy the supports are but you could attach plastic, like they sell to make greenhouses out of, to the top of your frame and make a roof to keep the rain off your plants thus helping keep disease from the plants. Here's a couple pictures of my green house with just a top and the the only thing supporting the plants is the twine suspended from the ceiling and tomato clips. Good Job. Ami

[b54red]

Originally Posted by veggie babe

great looking plants and I like the trellis.........in the south with the heat and humidity you have to do what you can to keep the plants healthy.

Neva

Sending this picture for you Neva; thanks for the Kosovo seed. So far little disease and the first fruit cluster has 7 large toms. I picked that blushing one on the backside today and it was a little larger than a softball and there are bigger ones yet to pick. Thanks again for the seed. Bill

[veggie babe]

You are welcome, glad they have done well for you. They were one of my best last year, I have Kosovo plants with first true leaves I will planting later. Maybe we both will have toms for Christmas.

Neva

[kath]

Thanks, b54red, for the great trellising idea. I've bookmarked this page and hope to try this out for some of my raised beds next year. I could even hang trellis netting to help melons and cukes climb. Your garden looks terrific. Hope you have a disease-free season!

[b54red]

I've had both melons and cucumbers run up mine. I didn't use netting. I just took a piece of twine and looped it over the first horizontal and around the vine and let it run up to the conduit.

[kath]

Originally Posted by b54red

I didn't use netting. I just took a piece of twine and looped it over the first horizontal and around the vine and let it run up to the conduit.

Even better-easier and cheaper!

[Timmah!]

The rate @ which these Brandywines are growing, I'm prolly gonna have to add some extensions. What a terrible problem to have. =)

[b54red]

I had that problem with about a dozen plants and have no good solution for plants that get 3 feet above a 7 foot tall trellis. Before you let them get that big make sure to start pruning before they get totally overgrown like some of mine did. They look awesome for a week or so but then start falling over and breaking and just making a mess that you can't control.

[Timmah!]

What I was thinking of doing is: Place additional vertical poles about 9 feet out & tie another horizontal bar between it & the top of the trellis. Only an extra $4 for each plant that needs it, & I can remove those @ the end of the season & repurpose them. =)

[b54red]

I didn't have room to go out from my trellis because of the trellis in the next bed. I did what you are suggesting last year on a few of them but my plants were forking and putting out too many suckers up top and it just made a nice shady spot and some really small tomatoes. If you do it I would suggest cutting back the number of stems and only letting the strongest one or two grow out on the extension. It seems that good tomato production really drops off once you get around 8 or more feet from the base. I think much of that is due to the food and moisture source being too diffuse to give the new toms enough nutrients to get to a decent size.
Last year on some of my fall tomatoes I pruned to only two main stems and didn't let any suckers grow and cut off one fork every time the stems forked and was able to grow some fairly large toms a long way from the base. I let too many of my plants get too many stems through mid summer because I was unable to get out and prune them like they needed in June. Now it is too late to get them back under control. I'm afraid to do any heavy pruning under the stressful conditions that are now prevailing.
I did keep my Neves Azorean Red pruned fairly good this year and am still getting some toms over a pound 7 feet off the ground and nearly 10 feet from the base.

[Timmah!]

Thanks for the advice; I will prune accordingly. Perhaps the next trellis I build I will use 3/4" instead af 1/2" for the verticals; you think that will make it easier to attach 1/2" verticals as extensions? Have you tried this?