7 Ways to Support and Prune Tomato Plants: Cages, Trellises, String and More

By Deanna Talerico updated Apr. 8th, 2026, published May. 10th, 2022
Wood raised garden beds with wood A-frame trellises and stakes, with tomato plants growing up them.
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Tomato plants need support and maintenance as they grow. They’re naturally tall, bendy, and usually can’t stand upright on their own – especially once they’re heavy with fruit! So let’s explore 7 different ways to support tomato plants, plus tips on how to prune them.

This article will cover the pros and cons of using cages, stakes, trellises, string, the Florida weave, lower and lean system, and more – with tips and photos on how to execute each method! 

The best method for YOU simply depends on your personal preference, garden size, tomato varieties, and how intensely you want to prune them. I’ve utilized a many tomato support systems over the years; my current favorite is our DIY tomato trellis.

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RELATED: Be sure to check out the best practices on planting tomatoes here, or visit our more comprehensive guide on how to grow tomatoes from seed to table for more tips.


Determinate vs Indeterminate Tomatoes 


First, are you growing determinate (D) or indeterminate (ID) tomato varieties? (Read the plant description to see.) The plants grow quite differently, so they’ll need different types of support or pruning! There are also semi-determinate varieties which have characteristics of both.

Determinate tomatoes, also known as bush tomatoes, stay far smaller in size (growing up to three or four feet tall). They have a shorter lifespan and bear all of their fruit over a shorter window of time. Determinate tomatoes don’t like to be pruned, which will hinder their production. It’s best to support determinate tomatoes with a modest cage, the Florida weave, or stakes (but not pruned to a “single leader”). 

On the other hand, indeterminate tomatoes grow well over 6 feet (often taller) and produce fruit over a long growing season. They’re more common among home gardeners, and take well to pruning (though you don’t have to). Without adequate support, indeterminate tomatoes will sprawl out on the ground an/or break. You can use any of the tomato support options in this post for indeterminate varieties.


DeannaCat is holding a wooden bowl of freshly harvest Sungold cherry tomatoes. Beyond, Aaron is amongst a jungle of tomato plants, looking for more fruit. The tomatoes are set against the house and are growing towards the top of the roof. Support tomatoes on a flat trellis when growing against houses, fences or when space is tight.
What can happen when a large indeterminate variety goes un-pruned. That giant bush/vine in the background is one Sungold cherry tomato plant. Several of its leaders are being held up by a trellis and stakes, while other limbs are sprawled out all around it. It was a bit of a jungle, but we got SO much delicious fruit from it.

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How to Prune Tomatoes: Removing Suckers


Several of the tomato support systems described below require some level of pruning, so here’s how to do so:

  • Pruning tomato plants involves removing excess side branches – also known as “suckers”. Suckers always grow out from the main stem just above a leaf branch, as shown in the diagram below. (Don’t confuse it with a flower bract, which grows slightly higher on the stem!)

  • To remove tomato suckers, simply pinch and snap them off. Or, use a clean pair of pruning snips for larger suckers. It’s best to remove suckers when they’re still nice and small – before they start drawing energy from the rest of the plant. (They’re called suckers for a reason!) 

  • Do NOT top the plant or cut the main stem (the terminal growing tip), and avoid removing flower or fruit bracts.

  • As the season goes on, I also like to cut off unproductive lower leaf branches as they begin to yellow and fade. 


Diligently removing all the suckers will result in a single long tomato vine. Removing all but one sucker will leave you with two “leaders”. Or, you can remove just some of the suckers, resulting in several leaders but an overall more manageable plant.


An image showing the anatomy of a tomato plant, from the growing tip, stem, sucker, flower cluster, axil, and leaves.
Anatomy of a tomato plant. Source: Bonnie Plants


Pros and Cons of Pruning Tomatoes


If you don’t prune tomatoes, each sucker will become a large secondary vine, producing more and more new branches, flower bracts, and suckers of their own. The result is a much bushier tomato plant, and yes, a greater number of fruit per plant! However, the plants quickly become unruly and the fruit may be smaller or inferior in quality compared to a tomato plant that was pruned.

On the other hand, pruned tomato plants can focus all their energy into growing fewer but higher-quality fruit instead. They may also ripen sooner! Pruning tomato plants takes more effort, yet the plants are generally more tidy, easy to manage, allows for closer plant spacing, and may reduce disease and pest pressure.

I prefer to do somewhere in between: I lightly prune by tomatoes but allow several suckers to grow too.


The top of a small tomato plant is shown, the difference between a main stem and the sucker or second leader is illustrated by the words being superimposed onto the image, next to the part of the plant that it describes.
A young tomato plant with two leaders. Since we’re using a combination of stakes and the Florida weave in this bed, we’ll let each plant grow two or three leaders, but prune off the rest of the suckers.


7 Ways to Support Tomato Plants


1) Cages


Cages are a classic way to support tomatoes. They also happen to be the most simple and low-maintenance option!

To grow tomatoes in a cage, you can essentially let your tomato plants grow au natural; no pruning required. The only task you’ll need to do is occasionally (and gently) tuck branches in and up to keep them inside the cage as much as possible. I like to provide a stake in the center of the cage to support the main stem too.

Finding good, functional tomato cages can be a bit of a challenge. Most pre-made tomato cages are fairly small and flimsy, sufficient for determinate bush tomatoes (or peppers, eggplant, or tomatillos) but do not adequately support big heavy indeterminate tomato plants.

I make my own DIY tomato cages and re-use them year after year. They’re large, affordable, durable, and super-sturdy! Follow this step-by-step tutorial, or check out the video below.


Two garden beds with two tomatoes inside of cages inside of each bed are shown. The tomatoes are already reaching up and out of the top of the cage. A garden hose is at the feet of one of the tomato plants.
Tomato cages are a simple, effective way to support both determine and indeterminate tomatoes.
DeannaCat is standing inside a tomato cage made of two remesh sheets attached to each other to create a large cage. Support tomatoes with a sturdy cage is a tried and true approach.
Sometimes we make extra-tall, double-decker DIY tomato cages for our indeterminate tomatoes.
The bottom portion of a tomato plant that is growing in a cage. There are many yellow tomatoes and green tomatoes mixed amongst the foliage.


2) Single Stake or String Method


Another popular option is to train tomatoes up a single tall stake, or up a string connected to an overhead beam.

This method is works best to support vining or indeterminate tomatoes, and requires heavy pruning. Most (if not all) side branches or “suckers” are removed as they emerge, resulting in only one leader stem (maybe two). As the tomato grows taller, secure the main vine to the stake or string with ties or tomato clips. I like to use this soft coated garden wire. 

This method is also great for small spaces, or to grow many tomato plants in a single garden bed. Keeping the plants well-pruned means you can space them much closer together: only a foot or so apart instead of several feet.

The one drawback of pruning tomatoes to a single vine is that each plant will produce fewer tomatoes (albeit better quality). Lacking excess foliage, the fruit may also be more susceptible to sunburn or scalding. 

Warning: Because the plants are focusing all their energy on growing up rather than out, tomatoes that are pruned and trained to a single leader can grow very, very tall – easily upwards of 10 feet or more – so be prepared! Therefore, choose sturdy stakes that will extend at least 6 feet above ground once installed (such as 8 foot stakes). The lower and lean system is one way to deal with excessively tall tomatoes, explained next. 


A small tomato seedling is attached to a single green plant stake. A single stake may be used for tomato supports if they are smaller determinate varieties.
With the suckers removed, this tomato will grow a main single vine (the “leader”) which we’ll tie to the tall stake.
A raised garden bed with many tomato plants planted tightly in a single row. Each tomato has a string running behind it which will be used as the support. The twine is attached to a wooden structure with T posts on each end connect in the middle with a piece of wood over the top of the structure.
The string method in my friend Karen’s garden plot (The Art of Doing Stuff). She created a simple wood structure supported by t-posts, and then trained each vine up natural twine. This same type of structure could be used for the lower and lean system too.


3) Lower and Lean 


The “lower and lean” system is a great way to train and support tall indeterminate tomato plants, and keep the fruit in reach! This method is common in commercial greenhouse settings, but gaining popularity among home gardeners as well.

Similar to the single stake/string method described above, the tomato are diligently pruned to just a single leader and spaced close together. Each tomato vine is trained up a vertical string – either with tomato clips, or by gently winding the string around the stem. 

Suspended from some sort of horizontal support above (such as a wood beam, A-frame, pipe, electrical conduit, or other clever DIY solution), each string is connected to a tomato below – usually gently tied around the base of the plant. Each string also has has several feet of extra slack at the top, either dangling free or kept tight in a spool. Use any type of natural twine or garden string. These specialized tomato spool hooks are made just for the lower and lean system!

As the tomatoes grow taller and taller, let slack out of the line from the top to literally lower and lean the plants down and out. That way, you don’t have to worry about your tomatoes growing taller than their support system! Remove leaf branches from the bottom portion of the vines as they’re lowered and possibly end up laying along the ground.

Check out this video from Johnny’s Seeds to see the tomato lower and lean system in action.


Tomato plants growing in a raised bed amongst onions and nasturtium flowers, with a blue trellis pole system over the plants and rows of vertical twine to support the tomatoes.
This Freyr trellis from Seattle Urban Farm Co. is sturdy, easy to assemble, adjustable (up to 8 feet long and 7 feet high) and comes in a variety of colors. You can use it to support tomatoes with our stake/weave combo system (just add stakes), the lower and lean system, string alone, add a netting trellis to it, for other climbing plants like beans, cucumber or peas… the options are endless!
Tomato plants being leaned with twine as they grow larger. Some smaller red fruit are visible amongst the green leaves.
Leaning tomatoes. The lower branches have all been stripped from the vines. Source: SARE


4) The Florida Weave


The Florida Weave is a fantastic way to train many tomato plants growing in a row. The goal is to essentially sandwich the plants between layers of string, holding them upright and supporting heavy branches of fruit. You may also hear it referred to as “basket weaving” tomatoes.

Since it offers support for the leaders as well as side branches, the Florida weave requires less intensive pruning than the single stake or lower and lean methods. You can choose how heavy or light you wish to prune the plants. The more you prune them, the closer you can space the plants – ranging from 1 foot to several feet apart. 

The Florida weave is great for both determinate, semi-determinate, and indeterminate tomatoes alike. It also takes up less space than providing cages for every plant.


How to Use the Florida Weave

  • Insert tall sturdy stakes or t-posts between every plant (or every other plant). A stake may also be provided at the base of each tomato for additional support.
  • Next, weave horizontal rows of garden string or natural twine between the stakes, spaced about a foot or so apart going up the stakes. Tie and secure the string at each stake as you go. Some gardeners put up all their rows of string right from the start; we often start with just the lower few and then add more above as the plants grow taller.
  • As the plants grow, gently tuck the branches up and between the rows of twine. This requires checking on the plants at least once per week to do so. See the diagram below. 


An image of top view and side view of the Florida Weave tomato support system. It illustrates that the tomato plants are being held in place with twine on both sides of the plants which helps hold them upright.
Florida Weave Trellis
A close up image of a Florida Weave system set up with wooden stakes and twine running horizontally, attaching to each stake with small tomato plants growing in the ground below.
The Florida Weave. This gardener added all their string in advance (probably the most wise) while some choose to add new layers of string as they go.


5) Our Weave + Stake Hybrid Tomato Trellis


In my garden, we use our own tomato trellis and training system. It’s like a hybrid between the Florida weave and single leader method – combining the best aspects of both! It’s sturdy, tidy, effective, and looks great in the garden.

See my complete guide and YouTube video on how to make a DIY tomato trellis here.

The design is versatile and can be made with a variety of materials, or applied in various garden settings. It’s also compact, leaving plenty of space in the garden beds for companion plants too. Moderate pruning keeps the plants manageable, but is less work to maintain than a single leader.


Two raised garden beds have two separate A frame supports sitting on the top of each bed. They are secured along the way with a green stake at each tomato plant which is also secured to the crossbeam of the support with twin. Support tomatoes in a number of ways to best fit your garden and tomato variety.
Our newest A-frame tomato support system, using a combination of the single stake method plus The Florida Weave. One tomato is planted at the base of each stake (4 in this 4×8′ bed) plus a spare stake on each end for twine and support.
A close up of a tomato support system, a tomato is attached to a large stake with sections of twine running horizontally every 8-10 inches attached to each of the many stakes lined up. A main sucker is being touched to show that it is being trained in between each section of twine for support.
We secure each main leader to a stake with garden ties, but also allow each plant to grow 4-6 additional leaders/suckers (while removing more than half the suckers still). The additional leaders are then tucked in between the layers of horizontal twine for support rather than staked.
Two raised beds each have a large A-frame tomato trellis support structure sitting on the top of the beds. Green plants stakes are spaced evenly and in a vertical fashion with a plant at each stake. The tomato plants have almost reached the top of the 7 foot support structure. Basil plants and zinnia are planted in the foreground of the tomatoes.
Fast forward a few months. This combination of Florida weave + center stakes for support has performed beautifully. Check the plants weekly to tuck, tie, or prune branches as needed.


6) Flat Trellis


It’s quite easy to train tomatoes up a vertical flat trellis. You can use a small trellis to support a single tomato or two, a larger trellis behind a row of many tomato plants, or even plant tomatoes along both sides of a trellis (but offset from one another).

As the plants grow, secure the branches to the trellis using twine, soft plant ties or clips. Tomatoes will NOT naturally cling to structures on their own like peas or beans do!

Like the Florida Weave, you can prune the tomatoes as much or little as you please. The trellis can function similarly to the single stake method, supporting many closely-spaced tomatoes with only one or two leaders per plant. Or, give the plants a little more space and allow most of the suckers to grow, pinning those back to the trellis too.

When things got bushy and unruly, I’ve also strung twine horizontally across the front of the trellis to keep the plants pulled back, similar to a Florida weave. 

Looking for trellis ideas? See how I make a simple, inexpensive, and sturdy DIY trellis here from panels of remesh wire. We use them for pole beans, peas, passionfruit, cucumbers, and more! Hog and cattle panel are also popular options to create a homemade trellis. Nylon mesh netting strung between stakes is another affordable, lightweight trellis option.


A two part image collage, the first image shows four raised beds formed into the shape of a large U. There are smaller tomato plants along the backside of the beds, backed up against the side of a house. There is a flat trellis along the backside that is held in place with stakes. The second image shows the same garden area after the tomatoes have grown in. They are now growing towards the roofline of the house, many bright red tomatoes are popping through against the dark green foliage of the plants. Support tomatoes in various ways to work in your space.
Early vs late season with our flat DIY tomato trellis. We started out with a single panel of remesh in each bed (on its side, about 4 ft tall by 7 feet wide) secured to stakes, and then added an additional panel to the top as the plants grew taller. We also like to build nice wood trellis frames around remesh wire for more durable, permanent installations!


7) Arched Trellis


One final option is to grow tomatoes over an arched trellis. The idea is essentially the same as the flat trellis method we just explored, but with even more drama and flair! Who doesn’t love a good arched garden trellis, and especially one dripping with ripe homegrown tomatoes?!

This style is best to support indeterminate tomatoes, as determinate varieties are too short and bushy to extend over the arch. You can use plant ties to secure branches in place, as well as gently tuck and weave the vines through openings in the trellis. 

We buy our pre-made arched trellises at a local nursery, but you can also make them from hog or cattle panel!


A pathway between six raised garden beds with large pavers spaced evenly in between the beds to create a pathway amongst the gravel. There are two metal arches that cover the pathway with a side of each arch in a bed on the opposite sides of the path. Peas are growing up both sides of the closest arch.
This year we’re growing pole beans, snap peas, and cucamelons up our arched trellises, but I plant to put tomatoes up them next summer as part of our crop rotation efforts.
A wall of tomato plants with green plant stakes running vertically and brown twine running horizontally to keep the tomato plants flat and upright. There are a few red and yellow ripe tomatoes on the plants with a number of green ones as well. Basil plants are in the foreground.


And that concludes this round-up of tomato support methods


Well friends, I hope this guide gave you ample information, inspiration and ideas on how to prune and support your tomatoes. As you can see, there are SO many options – even more than we covered today! You can get creative and combine various styles like we do, or get crafty and build other unique support structures of your own.

Please share your favorite tomato training styles in the comments below, and feel free to ask any questions! If you found this article to be valuable, please consider sharing or pinning this post. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We wish you a very fruitful tomato season ahead!


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29 Comments

  • Leticia Anaya

    March 22, 2025 at 9:52 pm Reply

    Hello Deanna and Aaron! Thank you again for such wonderful instructions. My partner and I will be attempting a modified version of your Floridaweave. I do have a question about trellis. I’ve made a few trellis from your DIY. That’s 7 feet high and 3.5 feet wide. I’ve been growing one tomato per trellis, and only leaving a couple of suckers. Is that overkill? Should I be growing two tomatoes on these trellis?

    I’m also thinking of doing stacking these trellis like you did which would be 8 feet wide and 7 feet tall. Would you say for these I’d be able to grow about three tomatoes and let 2 to 3 suckers grow per tomato?

    • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

      March 23, 2025 at 8:54 am Reply

      Hi Leticia, thank you so much for the kind words and I think you are on the right track in regards to spacing on your trellises if you are leaving only a couple suckers per plant. We trellis four tomatoes in our 8 foot long raised beds while only leaving 3-5 suckers per plant (depending on variety), I think we usually space each tomato 20-22″ or so, we usually leave less space in between the tomatoes on the end and the edge of the raised bed.

      Are you using trellises made of concrete remesh? If you line up two of them side by side it may be closer to 7 feet wide but either way, there should be more than enough room for three tomato plants. If you were able to make 8 feet of trellis width happen, you can likely squeeze in one more plant and grow four along the trellises. Hope that helps and have fun growing!

      • Leticia Anaya

        March 23, 2025 at 10:50 am Reply

        Hi Aaron, thank you so much for answering my questions. I am using concrete rewire mesh and thinking of stacking them horizontally which is how I get to the 8ft measurement. 4 tomatoes would be great!

  • Debra

    April 15, 2024 at 12:05 pm Reply

    Thank you for this excellent and very helpful information. I’m in Nova Scotia, Canada so the growing season is different but that doesn’t matter. New to gardening and your info is appreciated.

    • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

      April 16, 2024 at 7:20 am Reply

      You are very welcome Debra, you will find some tomato varieties will grow better for you than others depending on your climate so hopefully you have access to varieties that will do well for you in Nova Scotia, have fun growing!

  • Hamid Sheikhi

    July 11, 2023 at 11:24 am Reply

    Hello,

    Do you have a direct link or video on how you installed the arch trellis with cattle panels? In your pictures, I don’t see T-posts to hold the trellis so was wondering how you managed to anchored them into the garden beds without damaging the hardware cloth at the bottom of the bed? And what materials were used? Did you install the trellis before or after filling the beds with soil? Thank you very much!

    • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

      July 11, 2023 at 12:09 pm Reply

      Hi Hamid, while our trellises resemble cattle panels, they are actually pre-made metal trellises with two metal legs on each end of the trellis. We secured them in our raised beds after we had filled the bed with soil, we placed the trellis inside the raised bed where we wanted it, then we drove in 18 inch rebar alongside each of the legs on the sides of the trellis, we then use pipe clamps to secure the trellis to the rebar and it anchors really well. We may have poked through our hardware cloth at the bottom slightly but the hole created should only be wide enough for the rebar that went through it.

      In the past, we have secured trellises directly to the sides of a raised bed before we filled it with soil, to do this we just used used a length of galvanized hanger strap to secure each leg of the trellis to the raised bed with screws. This time around we didn’t want to drill directly into the beds so we went with the method that was previously described. Check out our article on How to Build a Trellis: Inexpensive & Easy Designs as we have a brief description on this method among some other ideas you may find useful. Hope that helps and reach out if you have any other questions.

    • Hamid Sheikhi

      July 11, 2023 at 2:19 pm Reply

      Greatly appreciate your quick response! Great information, thank you for sharing!

      Where would I be able to purchase the pre-made metal trellises that you have used? Available online?

      Thank you again!

      • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

        July 11, 2023 at 3:08 pm Reply

        Hi Hamid, the trellises are actually made locally and offered at our local Ace Hardware stores in their nursery section. You could do the same thing using cattle panels although they are typically around 48-50 inches wide so it would depend on the width of your raised beds and where you want to add the trellis. Maybe a trellis like this would work for you although shopping locally may be the best in acquiring a trellis depending on what is available in your area. Hope that helps and good luck!

        • Hamid Sheikhi

          July 12, 2023 at 6:57 am Reply

          Thank you! My garden beds are exactly like yours dimension wise! Built them following your step by step process and they turned out great! 🙂

          Sounds good, I’ll look around at our local stores.

          Cheers!

          • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

            July 12, 2023 at 8:15 am

            That’s good to hear Hamid and so glad your raised beds turned out so well! Good luck on finding a trellis and just get your exact measurement for where you want the trellis inside your beds and compare to the trellises that you may be able to find locally. Also take note of the spacing between beds if you wanted the arch trellis to span the distance between them, hope that helps and good luck!

  • TJ

    May 8, 2023 at 7:43 am Reply

    Great post. I prefer to let “suckers” get to be about 3″-4″ inches long before clipping them off. This gives the best odds of rooting that clipped branch in water to clone the mother.

  • Stephanie Owen

    March 29, 2023 at 7:42 am Reply

    For your redwood 2×2’s, how long are those? Will you make a tutorial or parts list for the one you created at the new place?

    • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

      March 29, 2023 at 8:43 am Reply

      Hi Stephanie, we do want to make a tutorial for the new tomato training system we used last year and hope to do that soon. I can’t remember off hand how long the 2×2’s were but they needed to be long enough to reach the 8 foot stake that we used to secure the two end piece 2×2’s. Sorry we couldn’t provide more detail at the moment but hope to have more information coming soon.

  • Carrie

    August 11, 2022 at 10:18 am Reply

    I remember seeing the Florida weave on your Instagram and was interested in learning more about that, but I got so much more out of it! I have a small space, but my tomatoes are killing it this summer and getting super tall (much too tall for their cages). Although this probably doesn’t help for this year, I plan on implementing either the weave or the single stake method. I didn’t expect my tomatoes to get so big, but I am certainly happy about it :-). Thank you for always providing such great resources. Appreciate you two!

  • Monica

    June 13, 2022 at 4:30 pm Reply

    Thanks so much for the wonderful tomtao support tips! It’s my 1st time growing them- in large deck pots, and I intuitively went with the cage method- so far , so good! Loved your anatomy of a tomao plant- really helps to keep them in shape!

  • April

    May 13, 2022 at 2:39 pm Reply

    This is such a great article Deanna! Thank
    You for sharing your practices and techniques. These are all great options🧡

      • Mitch denner

        July 14, 2022 at 8:42 pm Reply

        Does anyone know if indeterminate cherry tomato’s are affected by lights at night. Not sure if they swich to a flowering cycle 12/ 12 as daylite changes. I have plants on my back deck temporarily till my raised bed is done and there are very bright hid/led lights that come on and off at dusk and dawn. I was wondering if they would affect the plants light cycles? Out of caution i have turned them off while the plants are on the deck. Also due to sunlight restrictions the raised bed though not too close will have some light cast on it at night. Will this affect anything? Thanks
        Mitch

        • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

          July 15, 2022 at 9:40 am Reply

          Hi Mitch, I think keeping the lights off while your tomatoes are on the deck is a good idea as tomatoes should get at least 6-8 hours of darkness. Although, I don’t think I would be too worried about the light once you get the tomatoes in the raised beds. Hope that helps and good luck!

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