May 13, 2024

VIDEO: The Best Low-Cost Tomato Trellis for Polytunnels & Greenhouses


Tomatoes are my most valuable crop that I grow because of their versatility, flavour and amazing harvests that I relish every single summer. Due to my climate I grow tomatoes undercover to get the best results and that means I can also set up a semi-permanent setup that I can use for years. I share the dead-simple method I use every growing season when it comes to creating a simple tomato trellis system for the best possible results and easy to take down at the end of the season.

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Introduction 0:00
What are indeterminate tomatoes? 0:24
Why do we need to support tomatoes? 0:40
Why I grow tomatoes undercover 1:00
Installing the permanent overhead supports 1:36
Short-term alternative 3:34
What string to use 3:52
Attaching string to the wire 4:40
How to tie up tomato plants 5:30
A note on string tension 7:48
2 great benefits of this method 8:22
Plastic free tomato trellis 8:52
Final words 9:20

How to grow tomatoes, how to support tomatoes, tomato trellis support, the best tomato trellis, tomato trellis ideas, DIY tomato trellis, indeterminate tomatoes, growing tomatoes undercover, polytunnel tomatoes, greenhouse tomatoes

26 thoughts on “VIDEO: The Best Low-Cost Tomato Trellis for Polytunnels & Greenhouses

  1. I use this method, but with some alterations that I think improves it: I tie the string to the plant firstly and it does not need to be at the base, but is better higher up, since one takes leaves away at the bottom later anyway. Also I tie it to the wire with a knot that is easy to open up, makes it very easy to remove when autumn comes. If the string gets to tight as the plant grows, just remove the lowest leaves and gently pull the string upwards. Like this I have tended 4-500 plants in an organic garden. Your channel is so inspiring and lovely!!!

  2. From Germany: Another tip I always use for lots of different plants: strips of pantyhose. Tie a small strip tightly around the cord (it will not slip) then not so tightly around the stem. The pantyhose is soft, doesn't rot and expands with the plant. There are a million uses for pantyhose strips. You can tie securely just about anything and it is easy to remove at the end of the season. And it gives another use for pantyhose with ladders (if you are a woman, of course).

  3. I tried the single stalk method on my indeterminate cherry tomatoes last summer and it was the worst mistake ever. I barely got any harvest. This is a great method for large beefsteak varieties of indeterminate tomatoes but not the small cherry type used predominantly for salads.
    Hope this helps someone out there avoid making my mistake.

  4. All of mine are indiscriminate because I always lose the labels and can never remember which is which.
    I found some little green twisty things that you put into the greenhouse frame. Brilliant idea so you can hang things down like bits of string. Or you can take across depending on your frame. They cost pence. I then anchor the string with a tent peg. I can’t get it that taut but it does the job,

  5. I'm very jealous of your polytunnels! A few thoughts and questions: What spacing are you using for tomatoes in the tunnels (looks rather close, but it could be a trick of the camera as well)? Do you find your tomatoes outgrow the tunnel height-wise, and what do you do in that case? (I'm not sure what happened this year, but my tomatoes have decided to really flourish in our little greenhouse with many clusters of fruit sets but also getting close to the top of the enclosure already, with at least 2 more months of growth possible. I'm trying to think about how to keep them coming…… maybe strings / wires horizontally across the tops to the other side??) Also, being the lazy gardener that I am, I'm thinking why would you need to take off the jute string if you're going to grow tomatoes next year (why not leave the whole system intact? If you're going to plant in the same place, no fuss. If you're going to plant somewhere else, you've already got everything strung up and ready to go)? Thanks for all your sharing. I'm always learning.

  6. Love this method Huw, thanks for the video.
    We made a frame to go over our veg beds so we can use this method outside. We can move the frame to which ever bed we're planting but we used hay bale twine. I hated having to untwist this at the end of the season so will switch to jute from now on! Thanks for that tip.
    This also works for eggplants supporting the heavy fruit, but we encourage two leaders in a V shape

  7. Great video! Thank you so much! Please make more videos about poly tunnel growing/ gardening. I live in US at 7000ft. I basically have guaranteed only July and august with no snow. Really short season. So I just bought a small poly tunnel for my deck. I’m excited to learn tips and tricks from you.

  8. A further improvement might be to use so called tomato hooks, those give you the ability to lay down the tomatoes when they reached the roof of your greenhouse. You just have to remove the bottom most leaves then, give it some more string and you are good

  9. Hi Richard, thank you very much for that trick and all your other Videos and Informationen. I m very Interested in your greenhouse construction. Do you already have a Video about it? Greetings nico

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