How to Florida Weave Tomato Plants

Tomato plants can grow tall and some types ramble widely. To keep your plants and their ripening fruit supported, a trellising system called a Florida weave is effective in keeping tomato plants off the ground and contained in the area where you want to keep them tidy. This method works well for long rows of tomatoes, but you can also use it for just a few tomato plants in a smaller garden.

Things You'll Need

T-posts
Wooden stakes
T-post pounder or hammer

Plastic tomato twine or baling twine
PVC pipe (optional)

Instructions

- 1
  Pound one metal T-post into the soil at each end of a row of tomatoes. If you will be using multiple T-posts, use a T-post pounder to ensure that you securely drive these stakes into the ground. If you have only one row of tomatoes you will be using only two T-posts; pound them into the ground using a hammer.
- 2
  Drive 2-by-2-inch wooden stakes into the soil between your tomato plants, about every three or four feet. Use a T-post pounder or a hammer.
- 3
  Tie twine about 8 inches from the ground on one T-post and then weave it around each young tomato plant in a figure eight until it reaches the first wooden post. Wind the twine around the post several times, pull it tight and then continue weaving the twine around the next tomato plant or plants until you reach the next wooden post. Repeat the procedure until you reach the end of the row and then securely tie the twine to the final T-post.
- 4
  Add more twine as your tomato plants grow taller. Tie twine about 8 inches above the first line of twine on the T-post and weave it around your tomato plants, securing it to each wooden post until you reach the T-post at the far end of your row.
- 5
  Tie more twine to the T-post every 8 inches and weave it through all tomato plants as your plants grow taller.

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