Growing tomatoes and keeping your plants healthy can feel like an overwhelming task for both new and experienced gardeners. Tying up your tomato plant is one simple way to ensure the growth and success of your crop, but how do you tie the tomato plants, and what does tying do for tomatoes?
If you don’t know much (or anything) about tying tomatoes, then you’re in the right place!
Keep reading to learn more about choosing the best tomato twine and how to use it to increase the overall health and success of your crop.
Our Top Picks
Best Overall:
Irrigation-Mart 6300 FT Tomato Tying Garden Twine
Eco-Friendly Choice:
Luster Leaf Rapiclip Garden Tomato Twine
Multi-Use Choice:
VELCRO Brand 90648 ONE-WRAP
Why You Should Tie Your Tomatoes
Tying your tomato plant is crucial to support its long-term health. As your tomato plant grows, the weight of the fruits can cause stress to its branches. Using tomato twine helps to lighten this load, prevent any snapping of the limbs, and avoid damage to the crop.
What Makes a Good Tomato Twine
Making sure you use the best tomato twines is vital to your plant’s success. So how do you decide which tomato twines are best when there are so many options available?
The best tomato twines are both strong and sturdy. As grows taller, its strength is crucial for the plant to remain upright and flourish.
If the plant becomes too heavy and the twine can no longer support its weight, it will grow toward the ground, where it’s susceptible to disease. Besides the risk of disease, the quality of the fruit will be greatly impacted.
A good tomato twine also resists weathering. Whether it be from rain, wind, or the sun’s UV rays, your twine should last throughout the growing season.
Nylon is a synthetic material often favored by commercial growers. If you prefer to go the natural route, tomato twines made of hemp, flax, and organic cotton or wool are also great options.
How to Use Tomato Twine
Step 1. Establish a Strong Foundation
The first step in tying up your tomato plants is ensuring that your tomato twine has something it can attach to from above. To do this, you only need a few strong stakes of your choice. Push these stakes deep into the ground surrounding the area you plan to plant your tomatoes.
Next, attach an overhead frame to these stakes. This is so the twine can hang down to the plants from above, encouraging them to grow upwards. You can make this frame using a wood beam, airplane cables, PVC pipes, bamboo, etc. Anything long and sturdy will work great.
Alternatively, you can place one stake near each plant using bamboo, plastic, or wood stakes. This method works if you have limited tools or don’t want to make an overhead beam. However, it does require as many stakes as you have tomato plants.
Step 2. Prune Your Plant
This step is especially important for ensuring your plant is ready to grow on the twine. Using tomato twine works best when the tomato plant can grow upwards from a main stem rather than fruit forming from other branching stems.
To prune your tomato plant, use your hands or a pair of garden clippers to remove the extra stems, known as suckers. They usually grow in the area between the main stem and its branches. If not pruned, suckers may grow smaller fruits, crowd the plant and the space around it, and divert energy away from the main part of the tomato plant.
Step 3. Knot and Twist the Twine
If you use an overhead beam, fasten your twine to it with a loose knot, and let it hang down. Make sure the twine is long enough to reach the base of your plant. Then, tie a loose knot to the bottom of the stem, around six to twelve inches above the ground.
Gently grab the twine and wrap it around and up the plant’s stem like a spiral. This ensures the stem is secure and sturdy enough to continue growing upwards.
The Best Tomato Twines
If you’re overwhelmed by all the options available when choosing the best tomato twines, here are some of our favorite picks.
They come in various materials and quantities at affordable prices, so one of these is sure to be the right tomato twine for your gardening needs!
The Simple Tomato Twine
Irrigation-Mart 6300 FT Tomato Tying Garden Twine
This is a lightweight option with 6,300 feet of poly-twine. It provides heavy-duty strength while also being gentle on plant stems, making IRRIGATION-MART’s Tomato Tying Garden Twine a great choice.
You’ll have enough of this twine to tie tomatoes and other plants requiring support for many gardening seasons!
The Eco-Friendly Option
Luster Leaf Rapiclip Garden Tomato Twine
This twine is a great natural option. Luster Leaf’s Rapiclip Garden Tomato Twine comes in various lengths and colors, allowing you to customize it based on your preferences and gardening needs.
It’s also made of jute, making it eco-friendly and biodegradable.
The Multi-Use Choice
VELCRO Brand 90648 ONE-WRAP
If you’re a bit craftier and love getting the most use out of your tools, you might like this reusable and adjustable twine option. VELCRO’s ONE-WRAP is non-slip, weather-resistant, and can be cut to your desired length, making it customizable.
It’s also gentle on plant stems and has a multi-purpose use making it an excellent choice for the busy gardener.
Other Ways to Use Tomato Twine
Tomato Clips
An alternative to the knot and twist method is to use tomato clips. These are small and circular plastic tools that connect your twine to your plant.
To use these, place the string where the circular clip hinges and close the clip around the stem of the plant. Continue up the length of the stem to keep it attached to the twine.
This method provides a more secure connection between the twine and the tomato plant, making it preferable for some home growers.
DIY Trellises
This is a cheap and easy way to get more use out of your twine. Trellises help support vine crops and weaving vegetables.
There are several ways to make your own trellis. Start by creating an overhead cross beam between two stakes and tie a few long pieces of twine to it.
Secure your twine to the base of your soil or garden potter using a garden or landscape staple.
Then, loop the strings together in your desired pattern to create a webbed net your plants can climb. As the plants grow, add more twine
Dividing Your Plant Rows
Twine is a great tool for separating your garden plots and organizing your plants. By creating a horizontal grid along your garden, you separate your different crops.
While plotting, make sure you keep the parallel twines at least twelve inches apart and evenly spaced. Keeping your grid neat will make your gardening experience much easier and help optimize your space.
It may be helpful to measure out the area you plan to place your crops before securing the twine.
Wrapping Up Tomato Twines
With the right knowledge and tools, growing tomatoes in your garden can be a fun and rewarding project. Keeping your tomato plants healthy and thriving may seem daunting, but all it takes is a bit of twine and some stakes.
For more information on how to get started with planting, growing, and harvesting tomatoes at home, check out our Tomato Plants page. There you can find important tips on all things tomato gardening.