This easy pvc tomato trellis meets the high performance garden characteristic #10, Utilizes All Space Available. I use this pvc tomato trellis for growing my cucumbers as well with fantastic results. It is also a wonderful preventive measure against having your tomatoes rot on the ground because they are out of sight. This is the easiest trellis to make. It is also the framework I use as a simple plant protector that I can place a cover over if you assemble at two levels. In the high performance garden training video we will build the tomato trellis together. Included in this post are the shopping list, step by step instructions and instructions for maintaining your trellis so that you can pvc tomato trellis like a professional!
Easy PVC Tomato Trellis Supply List
Here is your shopping list. If you ask real nice, the person at the store will even cut the pieces of pipe to size for you. This will make one trellis or plant protector. It will measure approximately 32 inches wide by 46 inches long and 15 to 60 inches tall. Make sure you get the correct pipe schedule (thickness of the side walls) or this will not fit together correctly. There is no need to glue anything together. Just push the parts together and at the end of the season, you can pull it apart for storage.
- 4- 1 ¼ inch by 18 inch schedule 40 PVC pipe
- 6- 1 inch by 30 ½ inch schedule 40 PVC pipe
- 6- 1 inch by 44 inch schedule 40 PVC pipe
- 4 – 1 inch slip couplers schedule 40 PVC
- 4 – 1 inch 90 degree elbow with a side outlet schedule 40 PVC
- 4- 1 ¼ caps schedule 40 PVC (optional)
Instructions
- First, make sure you have gathered all your parts.
- Pre-assemble the top. Find 4- one inch 90 degree elbow with side outlet. Put one on each end of two of the one inch by 30 ½ in pieces. Point all the side outlets down.
- Next, put two of the 1 inch by 44 inch long pieces into the 90 degree elbows to make a rectangle.
- Take the preassembled top and push it slightly into the soil, where you want your trellis to go, to make a print of where to put the base pieces in to hold up the trellis.
- Next, put the base pieces into the soil. The base pipes are the 4 – 1 ¼ inch by 18 inch PVC pieces. You will need to push down the base piece 15 inches into the soil. If you are in a cinderblock bed with the secret soil mix, you can just push the pieces in with your hands. Then pull the pipe out gently and empty the soil out of the pipe. Then replace the base piece back into the hole. Do this for all 4 base pieces. If you are in hard garden soil. You will need to dig the hole out then put in your base piece and fill the hole in around the base.
- Next, drop a 1 inch by 30 ½ inch piece into each base.
- If you are making a plant protector then you can now put your top on and cover with plastic or cloth depending on what you want to protect the plants from. If you want a taller plant protector then put the 44 inch pieces in instead of the 30 ½ inch pieces.
- If you want the trellis at full height then put a coupler on to each 30 ½ inch legs then add the 44 inch piece to each leg.
- Place your top on and give all the joints a good shove to make the unit tight. You are now done.
- If you live in a windy area you can tether the trellis to the ground if needed.
Helpful Hint: At the end of the season, when it is time to take down your plants, you can put the 1 ¼ inch end caps on your base pieces to keep the soil out of the holes. Store your pieces in a clean dry place out of the sun for next year!
Send me the pictures of your gardens! I would love to see how this pvc tomato trellis fits into your garden. Gardening season is upon us, are you in a high performance garden system this year? If not do you plan to begin creating yours this year? It’s completely possible! Our latest ebook release has the blueprint of a high performance garden so that you can begin creating your own. And if you are serious about gardening our online comprehensive Abundance Garden Course will teach you all the skills you need to have a high performance garden this season. I would recommend learning how to get started on your high performance garden today with our high performance garden education. Your garden will never be the same once you are through!
I look forward to teaching you how to train your tomato plants on this unique pvc tomato trellis next week!
Lynn Gillespie
Email Lynn any questions you might have about your easy trellis.
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of any widgets I could add
to my blog that automatically tweet my newest twitter updates.
I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and
was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this.
Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy
reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.
We don’t use plugins for our Twitter feed. We connect our Facebook account with our Twitter account. Every time we post something on Facebook, it gets posted on Twitter. Check out these 2 sites for ideas: https://code.tutsplus.com/tutorials/10-best-wordpress-twitter-widgets–cms-27127 and https://revive.social/best-wordpress-plugins-social-media-auto-posting/
I finally found the 1 inch 90 degree elbows with a side outlet on Amazon. A company called Formufit carries them in sets of four – perfect!
Thank you for this video. It is very helpful. I am planning on planting cucumbers this year. Is this trellis good for cucumbers too?
Hi Angelina,
It is great for cucumbers!!
Thanks,
Ashia-Office Manager at The Living Farm
I can’t believe the hours I have poured into researching organic gardening and planning my garden, and here you are! Complete with trellis instructions. Thank you so much! Off to the hardware store tomorrow before finishing the raised beds.
Have you used this type of trellis on spaghetti squash? I’m wondering if it can hold the weight. I would love to use cattle panels, but don’t have a way to transport them. Also, it would be difficult for me to manage on my own.
Hi Sherri,
Hope your raised beds are going well. We do trellis with spaghetti squash. Thank you so much for your kind words. If you would like to sponsor the show please consider a donation. We will be having an extra special grand prize drawing 4/23-29. https://highperformancegardening.mykajabi.com/sponsorship-program
Thank you!
Ashia-Office Manager at The Living Farm
Thank you SO much for these detail instructions. I was trying to do the figuring out by myself and with much trial and error! I found your site. I’m headed to my box store now for that pvc pipe!!
Great idea!
What do i do when tomatoes grow to the top of the trellis?
Hi Suzy,
I’m so excited that you are thinking about your tomatoes getting so big! When ours reach the top we start trellising them along the top, or off to the side. Let us know if you have any other questions.
Thanks,
Ashia-Office Manager at The Living Farm
Would you please elaborate on how you “start trellising them along the top, or off to the side”? Lynn mentioned that she expects the tomatoes to grow taller than the trellis, and said that there is a way to deal with that, but I still can’t figure out how to do this. Thank you!
Lean and Lowering tomatoes
This link will take you to our website (thelivingfarm.org) and then to our information about lean and lowering tomato plants. I recommend signing up for The High Performance Garden Show as well. It is a free weekly recorded demonstration of our High Performance Demo Garden. It is in it’s 6th season.
Is your secret soil available anywhere?
Hi Bonnie,
Our secret soil is just one of the things you learn in the Abundance Garden eCourse. Here is the link https://thelivingfarm.org/abundance-garden-course/. This is the instructional manual to our High Performance Garden Show where we demonstrate all that is learned in the eCourse. Here is the link to that as well https://thelivingfarm.org/high-performance-garden-show/.
Can I use 1″pipe that I have a lot of? Will it hold the weight of the tomato when they get tall? Thank you!
I’m not sure as I’ve never used that size, but I think it will be fine. Let us know how it turns out!