The Best Tomato Trellis
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
- The best tomato trellis is easy to make. I really believe this is the best trellis for tomatoes. Using a cattle panel, cut it to 14 feet long, bend it into shape and anchor it in your bed to create a trellis strong enough to hold the heaviest tomato plants.
Look at this video to see how the plants are trellised on the twine: "How to Trellis Tomatoes" • How to Trellis Tomatoe...
This is a good book for learning about tomatoes:
"Epic Tomatoes: How to Select and Grow the Best Varieties of All Time" amzn.to/37cgH37
"The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table: Recipes, Portraits, and the History of the World's Most Beautiful Fruit" amzn.to/2r2EXnu
As an Amazon affiliate I benefit from qualified purchases.
I've had many viewers ask about how I use the twine hanging from this trellis. To see a few different methods for trellising tomatoes vertically, please check out my other video: ua-cam.com/video/JHaGjxeV6wo/v-deo.html
Gardener Scott
Last year I grew some rather lovely .. hemp.. plants. And I read about Molasses , any good for tomatoes ?
Molasses can be beneficial for many plants. Tomatoes are notorious for needing calcium and molasses contains calcium. It also contains magnesium which is beneficial for tomatoes too. It is best used in conjunction with another organic fertilizer. It only takes a couple tablespoons of molasses to a gallon of liquid fertilizer, like worm tea, liquid kelp, or comfrey tea like I use.
Gardener Scott
Lovely stuff, thanks a lot. Yes I had used it with kelp and a Guano and worm casting organic fertiliser.
Gardener Scott you can also cut the panel in two at 7’, then bend the vertical points of the one side into a loop around the horizontal potion of the other side to make a simple hinge, which lets you fold the panel completely flat for storage or carry. The triangle will still be extremely strong, if not stronger than the bent hoop shape.
@@Combat_Pyro Sounds like too much work! I am a "lazy" gardener!!
This guy sounds like the Bob Ross of gardening. Love him!
I've used that exact term to describe him to others.
Actually I was thinking Red Green. Lol But actually smart!
Yes! And SelfSufficientMe (Mark) is the Steve Irwin of Gardening! 😁
OMG, sooo funny! I just posted that, before reading comments. Great minds . . .
Omg yessssss
Hey Gardener Scott! I've come up with the same concept for a trellis to bend over my shed so I can grow climbing roses. Worked out perfectly! Great minds think alike! Enjoyed your video. Acoustics were clear. Camera was steady. Directions were to the point with no wasted breath. You're a natural! Keep it going!
For added safety, you can bend the panels into the height and shape you want before you cut the ends. That will reduce the chance of injury from the pointed tips .
I paused the video to come down here and say that very thing.
You don't need to cut ... Just wet soil and push in
I am homesteading this year and adding this video to my new Homestead playlist. Thanks!
You're very welcome. I expect you'll like the trellis as much as I do.
I used six of these last year in a couple different beds. They work fantastic. I'm skipping the strings and using 4' bamboo to hold them up when they are seedlings. I single stem the plants and poke the plant through the panel so it grows on the outside. This makes harvest even easier, allows for more air flow between the plants, easier access for pollinators, and more sun for the plants. I just bought three more and will be growing a million tomatoes this season!
Bamboo is a nice option. Enjoy your great harvests.
I love you gardener Scott. I just giggle every time you say “hi. I’m gardener Scott!” I am a fellow Colorado gardener and truly appreciate all your insight and teaching! Thank you!
So glad that you are showing the measurements in metric as well. Thank you as I am from Australia we only use the metric system. Thank you for sharing this user friendly video.
Gardening is universal and I don't like the idea that some might miss out on good ideas due to differences in the way we measure. So glad I could help and I apologize in advance if I miss adding metric measurements in some of my videos.
Chantal Tulliez
any suggestions where to buy cattle panels in Australia
Omg. I just so got the Marty Stouffer vibe from Wild America. Pretty cool
Dad used to use the metal that was used in concrete work. Looks the same. He would make big circular cages for the tomatoes. What's nice about these cattle fences is the fact that the openings are so large. It's easy to get your hands inside for the harvest. This is my first time watching your video. I'm subscribing and seeing how you have your garden set up.
The concrete lattice looks the same but is a lighter gauge metal and not as strong. They do work very well as a circular cage and are much easier to bend into that shape than cattle panels. I agree about the openings. That's another reason I like them, because I can prune, harvest, and tie them to the trellis just by reaching in. Thanks for subscribing.
My father also made cages of the concrete reinforcing wire and I still have them after 15 years. But it gets rusty. Are the cattle panels made of material that won't rust?
@@Ritty109 that is one of the best things about these cattle panels. They're galvanized steel and WILL NOT rust. Our state university recommends the concrete wire, but you can't even buy it without already being rusty. The cattle panels start clean and stay clean and they're a lot stronger than the concrete wire.
My suggestion is I built a 8-foot tall chain link frame hung the cattle panel from the top and strung strings down to the base of the Tomato which I wound around the string until it got tall enough to reach the hanging panels. I pull all the suckers off and only let the main tomato Vine grow. Beautiful tomatoes I don't have to hunt for them and are very productive as a tomatoes are planted only 18in apart. Happy Garden glad to see somebody else use those panels
48" tall = 122 cM (much more than 40 cM). I have used cattle and hog panels for years and find them very useful. I also have dozens of pieces of #2 rebar that I use as stakes. A very useful for tying rebar and cattle panels together is the wire used by concrete workers to tie rebar together. They are just pieces of wire with a loop at each end. An inexpensive tool can twist those wires around rebar or the #8 wire in a panel very securely in just a matter of seconds. That same tool will also remove those wires just as quickly.
Yep they call the tool a chicken dic@ 🤣🐓
Very nice ..thank you for sharing...
All you need to know is in the picture. I love that intro. It reminds me of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
Thanks!
@@GardenerScott loved it!
If more people were like Mister Rogers, Bob Ross, and Gardener Scott, world would be kinder, less dramatic, focused on things that truly matter. Great channel @Gardener Scott
This is my 1st year growing tomatoes.
I've been using food grade buckets with tomato cages fromH.D.
That's a very smart idea.
Great I agree, this year it is a cattle panel trellis, thanks,
Fantastic idea.
My mom and I both used this in our gardens. While it worked great for her beans, it didn't work well for my tomatoes. I think because my growing season is longer, my indeterminate tomatoes far exceeded the height of the panels (I still have tomatoes growing now in October). They grew 6 feet higher than the cattle panel height. I also felt the panel was a bit wobbly in comparison to my normal EMT hoops. I will do away with the panels as a trellis for next year, but I have to admit they made superior diy tomato cages for my determinate tomatoes.
I zip tied 2 of the the slightly heaver, taller cone shaped tomato cages (with 4 rings instead of 3) together to make one tall cage. I bent the top ends outward. I can easily find 10' - 12' bamboo that grows here to cut, the spent ones are already dry and not difficult to cut with a pruning hand saw. They make a fine center support. It is thicker than the bamboo stakes sold in stores, but that is good, as the indeterminates are so very tall!
Brilliant 👏👏👏👏👏
Here in Northern Minnesota my tomatoes would laugh at me. "You think I'm gonna climb that?".
Thank you
you can get very sharp precision bends using a pipe wrench to do the bends, i used this method to make square shapes (for a dog enclosure)
This is ideal, someday, for now enjoying my 5 gal. bucket system.
What a great idea!!
Good idea ! Thank you !
A safety tip from a guy who uses these panels: find where you need to bend the panels and bend them before you cut the end pieces. Less chance of a poked eye or deep scratch. Again, good idea....
Thanks for that great safety tip. It was something I hadn't considered, but completely agree with now.
If you cut every other wire at the bend point it will bend easier and will bend in the right place
Thanks for the suggestion.
@stillnessbetween Ex concrete worker here. Whenever we cut our wire the pointed ends would always be trimmed off. No chance of being cut or stabbed.
@@kge420 That's great advice. I like having the points to anchor in the soil, but for anyone concerned about their safety they can be trimmed off.
The tomato cages that you buy at the big-box store are good for peppers and that's about it. Cattle panels rock for so many garden supports.
Agreed, also useful for small eggplants too. The Giant Marconi Hybrid peppers that I grow are often too big for the cages, even the more sturdy ones, but that is a good problem to have!
Cover that in clear plastic and turn it into a green house. Geat idea.
Thanks, Robert. I have another video that shows exactly that, but using shorter hoops.
That is so funny that you said that. I didn't have a way to transport 16 ft panels, so I purchased 8 ft panels. We bent the tops so that we could arch them. I have gardened for years and had been wanting to try these panels for the past two years. I'm anxious to see how our tomatoes do on them.
I'm also thinking of using one as a sort of "lean to" trellis for my cucumbers.
I got side tracked. Any way, my better half told me "Do Not Even Think about covering them in plastic for a greenhouse." Lol
Oh! Great idea!
Great idea Scott !
Thanks 👍
I love to work a garden to
Enjoy with garden 🙏
Thanks for sharing, you are the smartest gardener I have had the pleasure of following and your explanations are so well done that it motivates me into action. Love your videos!
I used your method on a big bed of tomatoes, 22x10 with 18’ cattle panels and it’s working great. Thanks for the advice!
Shalom! Thank you so much for sharing how to construct and build a tomato trellis. I will try this in garden this spring. Blessings!
Shalom! Thank you for your kind words. Best wishes in your garden.
Am in Kenya east Africa, I love the way Scott explains how to take care of tomatoes. keep it up. I will always follow your way.
THAT'S A GOOD IDEA FOR CUCUMBERS AND CANTALOUPE 😀😃 THANKS FOR SHARING
It is! I grow cucumbers on these and let the fruit hang on the inside. The grow perfectly straight hanging down. :)
This is an outstanding garden-changing video. I have 8-10 of the flat panel tomato cages and I never thought they could be improved on. Now I’ll find out.
I’m also going to raise my existing raised beds by adding a second 10” row of cedar planks the same way you did.
Thanks for a great video.
Fold it before cutting for the tips
Excellent Video!!! Please Make MORE!!!!
Thank you. I am making more every week and have almost 100 on my Gardener Scott UA-cam channel.
Very easy, thank you for detailed instructions.
You're welcome.
AHHHH!!! Thank You!!! Learned tomatoes from my grandfather from toddlerhood from 1960. Of all the folks I know who struggle with making tomatoes survive - MY trouble was how stakes, and even 5-ft. reinforcement-wire cages, well - my plants would grown 6-ft. and then cascade over and grow another 3-4 ft towards the ground! I don't grow my plants in the same section every year - I rotate beds - so any permanently-built supports would be no good. I gotta move 'em every year! YOUR idea flipped my light-bulb! Thanks!
So glad to help. 🙂
We have these all over our community garden too. They are great!
Glad to hear that Valerie. It's hard to argue with a good idea.
best idea guys
Great idea. I am going to use this in the garden this year. Thank you.
So glad to hear that. Enjoy!
We use cattle panels all over our garden. They make great trellises for anything that will climb. We bend ours in a hoop and create a tunnel for cucumbers and squash to climb on. All you do to harvest is walk through the tunnel and gather your produce. I have not used them for tomatoes but am going to this year. Thanks for all the great info my friend.
So simple and practical. I can't wait to put this knowledge to work!
I'm glad to hear that, Robert. Enjoy it!
Helpful. Looks like the hardest part would be getting something 16 feet long and 50 inches wide home.
You can rent a truck for this purpose or even a van which might even be cheaper anyway. Or see if the store can deliver it, you never know
It comes in roll people
Back for a review
Thanks Gardner Scott
You're welcome, Steve.
good job, uncle scott
Love the trellis
Thanks.
Thank you for your videos I enjoy them greatly my farmer friend would use cattle panels in a circle and use rebar to hold em down and he swore they were the best that way roughly six feet round
Awesome, I will definitely use this method. Thank you for sharing.🌸
That's great! Thanks.
I borrowed my son's angle grinder and put on the cutting disc - tonight I cut the cattle panel to the size I needed for my tomato trellis and the cut off section of panel is a sturdy cucumber trellis this year. Next project is building a frame using furniture grade PVC pipe I already have to attach a shade cloth to overhead. Once I get done I will figure out how to email you a picture - my (futile) hope is the deer will not want to enter into a canopied area...I need whirligigs like yours next Scott!
Thank you for sharing your expertise!
You're welcome. Thanks for the comment.
Hi. Thank you for the good video's about mulching and growing tomatoes. In this video you mention that the best way to let your tomatoplants grow is the use of a trellis. I have to make a remark on this. In my country - the Netherlands - there are periods in every summer when it rains for a longer period, two, maybe three weeks. The humidity is very high, causing diseases like Phytopthera very often. The way to deal with it is use a glass house or something simular. I used a construction using thin foil above the plants. But maybe this is only required in klimates like in the Netherlands where it can rain for longer periods.
This is an awesome thing to try , I have grown tomatoes in my flower bed and this would be so nice to have them grow vertically since the tomato cages work best with tiny lights on them at Christmas time to add "trees" to my backyard garden!
I like the idea of lights, Catherine. Thanks for that suggestion. In a flower bed you can also have vining flowers like nasturtiums growing alongside the tomatoes. Vertical is definitely advantageous.
YES! LIGHTS! Great idea. That may be the only thing those "tomato cages" are good for. Lol.😀
I love your pacing. Very educational.
Wow such a simple technique, thank you so much for sharing. I'll definitely be using your method. Why didn't I think of it, 😁
Those flimsy "tomato" cages. Make an excellent green pepper cage.
Good idea.
Roy Madison p
Thank you for all the free videos. I'm a new at home gardener. Every video has helped
Great tip. This would work well for vertical gardening of cucumber, squash, and eggplant too. It could even be really nice for a wisteria trellis.
Thanks, Derek. Yes, it would work for any long vine you want to grow verticalyy. I grew luffa gourds on it and the gourds hung down the middle, making them perfectly straight.
@k johnson why do you think its a mistake? Just wondering about your thoughts. Thanks.
I grow my cucumber and bean plants up the corn stalks or even the sunflowers
Top Job Scott, the answer to my dilemma, thanks heaps
Thanks. I'm glad it was helpful.
Why not prune the tomatoes to a single leader and train the leader up the vertical wires of the trellis using tomato clips? That would eliminate the need for the separate strings and also allow for more airflow and control of the growing tomatoes? Thanks for this video. I plan to use these arched cattle panel trellises for pole beans this year, but will leave them at full length.
Thanks, Thomas. You raise good points and I do exactly as you suggest, pruning to a primary leader and using tomato clips. I have another video where I show how I do that ( ua-cam.com/video/JHaGjxeV6wo/v-deo.html ). I prefer to trellis the leader vertically up the twine and then allowing the side branches to grow through the metal of the trellis. Because the sides of the trellis are angled toward the dome at the top they don't provide a vertical growing surface for the leader, but they do provide great support for the weight of the full plant. My other video on pruning tomatoes ( ua-cam.com/video/Vz9VmI0tTSk/v-deo.html ) discusses pruning to increase airflow and control, as you suggest. I've had great success using these trellises for pole beans, but I also use twine in the middle so the beans have something to grab onto. The bean plants close to the trellis can grow up it with no problem, but there's a lot of space under the top and the plants in the middle need a little help.
I do practice companion planting like the basil and nasturtiums I show in this video. In some beds I plant dill, chives, garlic, or thyme -- all for their effectiveness with insects. Many plants, including mint, require direct sunlight to grow best and when the tomato plants are fully grown they fully shade the interior. I prefer to put the other plants outside the center so they receive more sun.
Nice Trellis
i bet this would work great for cucumbers too!
It absolutely does, Mike. I'll be doing another video in a few weeks showing how I trellis cucumbers. It's very similar, but instead of cutting a few feet off of the cattle panels to make a tall trellis, I cut the panels in half to make two medium trellises. They work great.
Looks like a great idea
At Tracter Supply these are called "feedlot panel, cattle". 😉
Thank you! I was on the site and couldn’t find it.
Very cool
These are around $25 each at Tractor Supply depending on where you live
Lauren, Do you know if they are 8 gauge? The ones I'm seeing available at Tractor Supply are 16 feet by 50 inches but are 4 gauge which is much thicker than 8 gauge and I know I won't be able to bend a 4 gauge panel. Have you seen the 8 gauge at Tractor Supply? It could just be a local problem here in northern california. thanks for the info. John
just did this on my 3 foot high 8 ft long 3 foot wide 21 inch deep Raised garden bed . PERFECT!!!!!!
Would be awesome for pole beans also.
Yes, absolutely, David. They're also great for plants like gourds and squash.
Well, this settles what method I’ll be using! Thank you Gardener Scott!
When bending, place a plank across the middle where you are bending, and stand on it..
Thanks for the suggestion. That works and I did that when I bent my first trellises. After making many of them I found it quicker for me to just use my feet, but a plank is definitely a good option.
Used this last year along with your method of pruning for tomatoes. I got the best harvest of mortgage lifters ever! Thanks for the videos.
How do you anchor the bottom of the strings? Do you tie it to the bottom of the plants and then wind the main stem around the string as it grows?
Alicia, I do tie the bottom of the strings to the main stem and train the plant up it. I don't wrap it tightly around the stem, just a loose loop knot at the base. I also use plastic clips to hold the stem to the twine. I have another video on that process to help explain it: ua-cam.com/video/JHaGjxeV6wo/v-deo.html
Winderfull idea, had some almost the same but this is better, so i will change my garden beds i have, thank you
Thanks. Glad to be of help.
Cover with plastic and you have quick greenhouse.
Absolutely. I have another video where I do that with shorter hoops made from cattle panels. Plastic over these tomato trellises would make a great high hoop greenhouse.
Then I could go ahead and put my plants out early. Good idea
@@judyhowell7075 not if it's getting too cold in the morning!
We are currently averaging in the 60’s and 70’s should I wait a bit? TY
@@judyhowell7075 wow that's warm Judy, where are you?
Ingenious!
Thanks!
Thank you ! Brilliant idea! 👍😀
bend the panels Keep it going!
Gosh, mathematically this method, although convenient and easy, is extremely inefficient in terms of space usage. Two of your panels (approx $40) accommodates 8 plants - two plants on each 'end' of the panel. However, when a panel is placed horizontally on t-posts, utilizing a full 16' capacity, 14 plants can be planted ... on each side! That's 28 plants for ONE panel (approx $20). Not only that, the first 2' of the plant is wasted use of the panel. They can be staked with small bamboo until reaching the trellis that is situated 2' above the soil level and therefore providing close to 7' of height. Additionally, exterior planting on both sides allows ACCESS for pruning. The thick and crowded interior planting is extremely difficult in terms of disease, air flow and pruning. What the archway trellising is wonderful for are things that dangle on their vine - beans, melon, squash - where a beautiful walk through version makes harvesting easier.
Hi, Debbie. The primary reasons for this trellis are for strong, stable support in smaller beds and for the ability to move them to other beds in future years. A panel placed between T-posts does work very well, but it is more permanent (and don't forget the cost of the T-posts and bamboo) and it requires a bed that is at least 16' long. Also, the 4' pieces I cut off the panels also become trellises for small beds. I do use these hoop trellises for beans, melons, gourds, and squash and the mobility allows me to move them where I need them for the different uses. Because they are virtually indestructible, they last forever and the cost is pro-rated over many, many years. I prune the lower branches off tomatoes and select the suckers that grow, so I've had very little issue with a crowded interior leading to disease. I fully support the use of full-panel trellises on T-posts, but this method works best for me and the size of my beds. Thanks for your comment.
@@GardenerScott Yep, totally agree on the amazing quality of a cattle panel. And love the mobility aspect. That said, I just took mine down to relocate, all of 2-3 minutes to do that, even as a 60 year old, and scootch them around as needed. You're correct on requiring a 16' bed, I understand completely that can be a challenge. I am like your idea and contemplating those for a vining flower bed I'm planning. I do love the idea.
@Morley Knight Holy cow (pun intended) $70 for one cattle panel? Making this calculation even more unreasonable. I trust you've shopped any farm & fleet outlet near you?
@Morley Knight Very creative!! I've seen for the first time string trellis's in the store and wonder how they are. A friend here scored a bunch of chain link fencing that someone was getting rid of, it worked beautifully. There's a lot of options. Perhaps even 4x4 or 4x2 mesh fencing would work well. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BZ8FXS/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_8?smid=A3VZKFNMHAPZBO&psc=1
Debbie, those string trellises can work very well, depending on the plants. I tried a nylon trellis like in your link for beans and they did fine. At the end of the season when I cleaned up the bed, the bean tendrils were so imbedded in the mesh that I had to leave many of them. Not a big problem, but when I rolled it up for storage over the winter it made it a little more difficult to set up the next spring.
Wow, really hot production!
he must be special. he says two or three people. really? what ever dude. good idea though.
Love the video. I’m a new gardener and I planted lots of tomatoes. I sure will benefit from following you.
Wonderful!
Love this!
Is it just me or does anyone else like watching Gardner Scott while trying to sleep..
Great video! 👍
game changer. thank you
Took a full size panel, bent it into a circle to place around fruit trees to help keep deer away, Used a T-post to secure for wind. I use a Saz-all to cut my panels when needed.
That's a great idea, Chuck. I use wire fencing around my trees to keep deer away too, but the higher gauge type. I haven't used my reciprocating saw to cut the panels because I'm used to the bolt cutters now, but it's a great option if one doesn't have a sawz-all.
Wow...great idea....
Thanks!
Good going Scott. TY.
Thanks for the nice comment, Dean.
athnks a lot its a very good idia stay safe from canada.
I incorporated this last year and absolutely loved it! This year...my tomatoes need to move to a different bed - and the panels with it.
Dear, I think this one is the best model I ever seen. For this will be more expensive here in India. Best of luck to your channel. I am Davis C. Antony from Kerala , INDIA.
What would it cost in India?
Bet you nailed it and I will try this Sir Thanks
Cattle panels are the best. Wind is an issue where I live, weight of panel keeps them in place. Early is growing season, drape shade cloth of panels til newly planted tomatos are established.
LOVE THIS! Gratitude 🙏🏽
Dam good im gonna do this on mine.
I loved this video - thank you! Now, how to get a 16' panel home... 😂
Genius. I am doing this
Thanks for the content Scott
I use concrete reinforcement mesh in the same way
Works a treat and lasts for years 👍