One popular method of growing tomatoes in a greenhouse has them growing up a string suspended from the roof, but how do you do this? Let's jump in and have a look.
How to grow tomatoes up a string
Growing tomatoes up a string is not a new idea but it is one that is seemingly growing in popularity. If you want to find out how exactly to do it then you have come to the right place. I have just set up some new raised beds in my greenhouse and included some strings for my tomatoes to grow up, let me show you how I did it.
Step 1 - Into the soil or not?
The first decision you will need to make is are you running your string into the soil and below the surface or not? If you are creating a new bed like me then this is easily done and I would highly advise you do it as this adds a lot of tension and strength to the string.
If you don't want to have to dig your bed up in order to do this then you can just leave the string loose and dangling from the ceiling.
If you just dangle the string then simply tie it to the base of your tomato plant once it has got large and started needed support.
Another method is to simply bury the string that is dangling under the root ball of your tomatoes when you plant them up. The root ball then holds the string in your soil.
*If you are going to do this then don't use twine like I did! Use a plastic string as the twine rotted after a couple of months!
Step 2 - Under the soil support
How do you get your string to stay under the soil and stay taut? Well, this is what I did.
I screwed one of the below hooks into a small piece of flat timber. I then placed this at the bottom of my raised bed under all of the soil
I attached the string to the hook and left it just hanging over the side of the raised bed before adding any soil.
It is important to get these into the position you want before adding soil. As soon as you start piling some soil on top they get very tough to move.
Step 3 - Attach to ceiling
Now you just need to figure out a way of attaching the string to the ceiling of your greenhouse. Now this will obviously depend on the design of your greenhouse and I can only show you how I did it. It may be that you have something you can simply tie your string to which would make this really simple.
I did not have anything to tie my string to so had to make something. I used an old piece of guttering I found on my allotment, reduce, reuse, recycle and all that.
I spanned this across the top of my greenhouse before screwing some of the same hooks into it and fastening the string on.
Step 4 - Plant your tomatoes
Now you need to fill or refill your beds or whatever growing setup you have. Once done you can plant your tomatoes next to the string.
Step 5 - Tieing your tomatoes in
Now you need to tie your tomatoes into the string as they grow. You should twist the tomatoes around the plant as they grow and tie them in for extra support.
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