• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Somebody Feed Seb
  • Home
  • VEGANUARY
  • MAINS
    • MEAT & POULTRY
    • FISH & SEAFOOD
    • PASTA
    • RISOTTO
    • SALADS & BOWLS
    • SOUP
    • VEGETARIAN
    • VEGAN
    • BUDGET
  • SOURDOUGH
    • ACTIVE STARTER
    • DISCARD
  • DESSERTS & BAKES
    • CAKES & TORTES
    • TARTS & PIES
    • CHEESECAKE
    • COOKIES, BISCUITS, BARS
    • DESSERTS
    • SMALL BAKES
  • BREAKFAST
  • SIDE DISHES
menu icon
go to homepage
  • RECIPES
  • ABOUT ME
  • CONTACT
  • SUBSCRIBE
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • TikTok
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • RECIPES
    • ABOUT ME
    • CONTACT
    • SUBSCRIBE
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • TikTok
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » BLOG

    Supporting Tomato Plants with Bamboo Canes

    Published: June 8, 2021 · Updated: June 7, 2021 by Seb · This post may contain affiliate links · 2 Comments

    Supporting the tomato plants is a key aspect of growing tomatoes. As they grow, leaves become big and forming fruit weigh down the branches so they cannot support their own weight. We live in North Wales and the climate is too cold for tomatoes to produce sufficient harvest outside, we opted to grow cherry tomatoes in large pots in our conservatory which acts like a greenhouse. Our tomatoes are now very tall and still growing so we built a structure to support them!

    There are a few options that can be purchased to support tomato plants, however as we had ten plants we wanted to have something cost-effective, and didn’t mind spending some time to put the structures together. Supporting with just a vertical piece of string doesn’t seem as robust but would be very simple. The metal or plastic cages were certainly too expensive for us to justify and the design is very similar to this cane/string/wire construction.

    In this post, we wanted to share the approach we’ve used to support our cherry tomato plants in case it’s useful for our readers.

    Materials and Equipment

    Supporting Tomato Plants

    Once tomatoes are in their final destination and about 35 cm tall, they will need support. We potted up tomato plants to about 35cm deep 30cm diameter pots and used the following equipment to build a support structure.

    • 1.8m (6 ft) bamboo canes – 4 per plant
    • 1.2m (4 ft) bamboo canes – 2 per plant
    • Garden wire
    • Garden twine – e.g jute
    • Hand Saw – Ideally a higher number of teeth per inch (TPI) to avoid splintering
    • Longnose pliers
    • Tape measure
    • Scissors

    If you are in the UK, we found Wilko to have the best value bamboo canes, wire and twine.

    Method

    STEP 1:

    First, insert the central 1.8m bamboo cane around 3cm from the main stem being careful not to disrupt the roots too much. Although we started with an 80cm cane it would be best to start with the larger 1.8m cane from the start to save adding another later on. Add another three 1.8m bamboo canes around the outside as close as possible to the edge of the pot in a triangle formation.

    STEP 2

    Make the support triangles by cutting two 1.2m Bamboo Canes into a total of 3 x 40cm sections. Assemble by using the garden wire at each corner, tightening the wire by twisting the end using the pliers (see photos below). You will need two triangles per tomato plant (so two 1.2m canes per plant).

    STEP 3

    Attach the first triangle to the top of the three canes, again using wire and the same method. It can be temporally held with some tape or a helping hand. Loop the second triangle over the central cane and push down to about midway. This pushes the canes outwards and makes the attachment with wire easier.

    STEP 4

    Attach the central cane to the middle of the top triangle using string (see photo below).

    Supporting Tomato Plants

    STEP 5

    With the main frame fully assembled add the garden twine for supporting the tomato branches. Start at the bottom and make sure that the tomato stems are supported parallel to the main stem. Wrapping the twine around the stem to form a clove hitch keeps the twine from slipping down the bamboo canes.

    Supporting Tomato Plants

    STEP 6

    The frame structure is now complete and ready to support! It’s important to ensure the main stem is attached at regular intervals using a loose piece of twine together with ensuring leaves and stems are supported by the string as it grows larger.

    We also had our first flowers this weekend on all 10 of our plants, very exciting! Read more about it here. As always, any questions please feel free to reach out!

    Supporting Tomato Plants

    More BLOG

    • Active sourdough starter being poured into a silicone mould for freezing.
      How To Freeze Sourdough Starter? 
    • Placing sliced sourdough into a ziplock bag for storing in the freezer.
      How To Store Sourdough Bread? Best Ways To Keep It Fresh
    • Coil Fold of sourodugh in a metal bowl.
      Coil Folds For Sourdough Bread
    • Vanilla Cheesecake slices wrapped in plastic wrap ready for freezing.
      How To Store Cheesecake in The Fridge? And How To Freeze It?

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. km1423

      October 04, 2022 at 11:39 am

      What a good idea, giving them extra support. Thank you for sharing. I doing this next year.

      Reply
      • Ieva

        October 05, 2022 at 6:39 am

        Yes, this support system has worked brilliantly for tall cherry tomato plants!

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Author of the blog holding a fork with spaghetti on it.

    Hi, I am Ieva – the face behind this blog. I live in North Wales with my husband Seb and our golden retriever Sawyer. It’s safe to say that I live and breathe food: from researching and reading about food to creating new recipes and growing vegetables to use in my cooking.  The great thing is, Seb appreciates all the good meals that are also essential at his worst ‘hangry’ moments! Somebody HAS to feed Seb…

    More about me →

    Seasonal Recipes

    • A stack of pumpkin oatmeal pancakes with butter on top on a small brown plate.
      Pumpkin Oat Pancakes (Gluten-Free)
    • Cream being poured onto apple and blueberry crumble.
      Apple and Blueberry Crumble
    • Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust decorated with torched Swiss meringue.
      Pumpkin Cheesecake With Gingersnap Crust
    • A slice of apple crumble cheesecake on a small brown plate.
      Apple Crumble Cheesecake

    Trending Recipes

    • lithuanian pink soup in a brown bowl in a saucer on a wooden table.
      Lithuanian Cold Beetroot Soup a.k.a Pink Soup
    • Tenderstem Broccoli with garlic in a frying pan garnished with slices of lemon.
      Fried Tenderstem Broccoli with Garlic and Lemon (Garlic Broccolini)
    • The first slice coming out of the no-bake biscoff cheesecake decorated with llotus biscoff biscuits.
      Irresistible No-Bake Biscoff Cheesecake (6 Ingredients)
    • Crispy Chicken Filled Steamed Bao Buns on a black tray on a rustic wooden table.
      Sticky Crispy Chicken Bao Buns
    Featured in image with brand names and websites Somebody Feed Seb has been featured in.

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2023 Somebody Feed Seb