Tomato Support & Trellising Methods—Which is Best?

Supporting and trellising your tomatoes is essential—especially for indeterminate varieties, which can grow quite tall and heavy.

Even determinate (bush) tomatoes benefit from some support to keep fruit off the ground and reduce disease. Here’s a breakdown of the most popular support methods, including pros and cons for each:

Personally, I rarely prune our tomato plants. Generally, the summer is our busiest season on the ranch. But I’ve found that using a trellis is incredibly helpful in keeping our tomato jungle a little less chaotic and so I rely on cattle panel trellises for our tomatoes.

In this post, I want to break down some of the most common and popular tomato supports & methods to help you make the best decision for your garden.

So, let’s dive in…

Tomato Support & Trellising Methods

✨Tip: Look for heavy-duty or homemade cages using concrete reinforcement wire (CRW) for sturdier support.

✨Tip: Use soft ties or stretchy garden tape to avoid damaging stems.

✨Tip: Start weaving when plants are 12–18″ tall, and add new layers of twine every 6–8″.

✨Popular system: String trellis: run strong twine from an overhead bar or frame, then train tomatoes upward with clips or twists.

What is the best support method?

✂️ Pros & Cons of Pruning Tomatoes

Now let’s chat a bit about the pros/cons of pruning tomatoes. Do you even need to prune your tomatoes? The short answer is — it depends.

As I’ve mentioned above, I don’t always prune ours. But when I do, we use cattle panels as our trellis method (see pictures above.

So when determining which is best for you, there are some things to consider before you make this decision.

What the pros of pruning?

1. Improved Airflow and Disease Prevention

• Removing excess foliage improves air circulation, reducing the risk of fungal diseases like blight and powdery mildew.
• Keeps leaves off the soil, where pathogens live.

2. Better Light Penetration

• More sunlight reaches the interior of the plant and ripening fruit.
• Helps lower fruit ripen faster and more evenly.

3. Larger, Healthier Fruit

• Pruning redirects the plant’s energy from growing excessive leaves to producing bigger, better fruit.

4. More Manageable Plants

• Prevents indeterminate tomatoes from becoming a tangled, sprawling mess.
• Makes it easier to trellis, stake, harvest, and monitor for pests.

5. Encourages Early Ripening

• Fewer branches mean fewer flowers and fruit—so the plant can mature its fruit faster. Helpful in shorter growing seasons.

6. Supports Vertical Growing

• Especially important in tight spaces or raised beds where vertical growth is essential.

And what about the cons of pruning?

1. Reduced Total Yield (Sometimes)

• Pruning reduces the number of flowers, which can lead to fewer overall tomatoes—especially with determinate varieties.
• If you’re aiming for quantity over size, less pruning may be better.

2. Labor Intensive

• Requires regular attention throughout the season—checking for suckers every few days.
• Takes time and consistency to do correctly.

3. Potential for Sunscald

• Removing too many leaves too quickly can expose fruit to intense sun, causing sunscald (pale or blistered patches).

4. Not Ideal for Determinate Varieties

• Determinate tomatoes grow to a set size and produce all their fruit in a short window.
• Pruning can reduce your harvest since these varieties don’t keep producing new fruit.

5. Stress on the Plant (if overdone)

• Aggressive or late-season pruning can stress the plant, especially during heat or drought.
• Always use clean, sharp tools to avoid damaging the plant or introducing disease.

What are tomato pruning best practices?

• Focus pruning on indeterminate tomatoes for best results.
• Remove suckers (the small shoots that grow between the main stem and a leaf branch) early while they’re small.
• Avoid pruning during wet conditions to prevent spreading disease.
• Leave enough leaves to protect fruit and support photosynthesis.
• Remove lower leaves touching the ground to reduce disease.