Do you want to have a vegetable garden, but you have a small backyard? This A-frame plant support trellis allows you to grow tomatoes vertically in a small area. Plus it’s cheap!
Tomatoes are one of the most popular edibles to grow for backyard gardeners. They are easy to grow, fresh-grown tomatoes taste great and you you can use them in all sorts of dishes.
However, these plants can grow fairly large. They can easily take over a garden bed and sometimes look like a mess. If you have a small yard or patio, you may not want a wandering tomato plant taking over the space.
Some homeowners opt for what is called a “patio tomato”, which is a more compact grower. The plant stays somewhat small, while producing fruit in compact clusters. This can be a great solution, but as far as I’ve seen, there is only one variety.
Going vertical seems like the next obvious step, right?
Well, yes and no. Sure, vertical gardening conserves space – but tomato plants have long limbs and tend to sprawl. This does not make them an ideal candidate for something like a pallet garden.
So how do we solve this?
Easy – we treat the tomato like a vining plant, like the pea for example. Set up a vertical trellis-like system and then train the tomato plant to grow up it. The structure will give the limbs the support they need – while giving you the extra space you need.
More good news.
Some more good news is that you can still grow your tomato plant in the ground or a raised bed if you want to. You also have the option of using a pot or other planter. There is no need to buy or build a fancy vertical planter.
More tomatoes?
Vertical tomato gardening is also an effective way to give the fruit the space it needs to grow. Many times, the plant can receive more sunlight and air circulation, which results in more fruit.
No longer is the plant confined to a cage, and the tomatoes become easier to see, reach and harvest. (If you get a sore back from bending over all the time in your vegetable garden – you’ll really appreciate a vertical vegetable garden.
Go figure. There’s a kit for that.
And guess what? There are kits for vertical tomato gardens! You probably already figured as much.
One option is the Frame-It-All Veggie Wall Expandable Stainless Steel Trellis System. It provides a durable stainless steel frame (measures: 96 x 2 x 72 inches), get it weighs less than 6 lbs.
The frame is designed to be used in conjunction with a raised bed – or you can stake it directly in the ground. The design of the frame makes it sturdy enough to be freestanding, but you can also position it against a wall or fence, if that is where your garden is.
As you’ve probably already noticed, you can grow than just tomatoes on the Frame-It-All. In fact, people have used it to grow beans, cucumbers and even squash. (It frees up over 48 square feet of garden!).
Another option is the DIY way.
Build a simple frame with lumber from your local home improvement store, get a sheet of plastic mesh trellis netting and use a staple gun to attach it to your frame.
Quality mesh is durable enough to be reused season after season, but it is also conveniently cheap. =) Watch the video below to see how to build an inexpensive frame using mesh, bamboo stakes and zip ties.
Click here for more info on vertical vegetable gardens
The Gronomics vertical garden
My point is that the Gronomics is sold in some stores for over $300. Sheesh. That’s not cheap.
