Canes or String - What's Best for Supporting Tomato Plants?
Our gardening expert Chris takes us through the best methods for supporting heavy tomato plants before a late summer harvest…
May and early June sees a huge change in my greenhouse, veggie and flower plants are off out to there planting areas, brassicas are being sown for winter supplies and all the accumulated non horticultural stuff that seems to end up in the greenhouse such as outdoor tables and chairs and things to paint are being evicted to make way for the summer crops! Â
There is then is a mad panic to wash the glass and get the tomatoes and cucumbers in. To help this, I pre-plan so I know how many plants of each variety to grow and locate them according to habit and height with some of the more vigorous tomatoes such as Super Sweet 100 and Flamingo being located in the highest part of the greenhouse.Â
Since the floor of my greenhouse is pea gravel and all the summer crops are grown in Tomato Rings, it is quite easy to lay out exactly to plan. Gravel though presents a problem as you can’t really insert any form of structure to grow the tomatoes up as you could if the floor was a soil bed.
I support all the summer crops with a combination of strings and canes. Two support wires which are attached to the greenhouse structure form the attachment points for the strings which support the crops. I also tie in a cane to these wires which runs in line with the roof so the vertical cane which supports the middle row can be tied to.    The reason for this layout is quite simple, I changed the layout from two rows a few years ago to the current layout to allow much better access to the plants and never got round to drilling the frame for a third wire!Â
It was also because I did not want to increase the loading on the roof structure, the vertical cane now supports the full weight of the plants in the middle row, and it is just merely tied into the roof for stability. A big benefit of canes is that they are self- supporting, whereas the greenhouse structure carries all the weight of a string supported crop.  Â
For my greenhouse a six- foot cane is a snug fit for the middle row, I place it just on the gravel, offset from the centre of the ring and plant.
The plants are just simply tied to it every foot or so as they grow. The biggest disadvantage of canes is that the plants cannot be layered so when they touch the greenhouse roof, they will need to be stopped to prevent further growth.Â
String supports on the other hand provide the option to layer the plants if the string is used in combination with a string bobbin. The string is simply tied around the base of the plant and twisted around the stem as it grows and once the plant hits the roof the string on the bobbin can be unwound, the plant de-leafed on the base and layered. This allows cropping to continue over a longer period of time as the top of the plant always has room to grow. Â
For me though, both systems work perfectly in combination with my layout for easy access and ring culture. They provide a quick and easy way to support the plants and in terms of yield there is no difference.  Â
Chris Jones
Based in Shropshire Chris has many years experience both in growing projects of his own and passing on his expert outdoor knowledge to others through growing and gardening societies. Keep an eye on our blog posts and newsletters for his seasonal articles to keep you well informed on all things outdoors. Â
About Elixir Gardens
For over 30 years Elixir Garden Supplies have been providing gardeners with all the essentials they need to achieve growing.
Our online store makes sure that all our customers have access to the information they need to make the right decisions when choosing the products they need for their gardens. We know from experience that gardening means many different things to our customers. Whether you have a balcony, patio, lawn or allotment, Elixir Gardens are proud to supply both amateur and professional gardeners alike.
We regularly use our many years of experience to developed our exclusive formulations in specialist fertilisers. Many of these have stood the test of time and have become firm favourites with amateurs and professionals alike.  In fact our knowledge of fertilisers, feeds and garden care is well known within gardening circles. But don’t just take our word for it, why not check out the thousands of fantastic reviews on Trust Pilot.
