How to Florida Weave Tomatoes With a DIY Tomato Trellis

Have you ever wanted to grow tomatoes efficiently and inexpensively like a market gardener? If so, you will want to learn how to Florida weave tomatoes. It’s simple and amazing!

I’ll teach you everything you need to know to use the Florida weave method. There are no elaborate, expensive trellises or tedious staking for every single plant. Just grow and weave on this very simple, very reliable DIY tomato trellis!

Why I Use The Florida Weave Method

The basic goal of the Florida weave method and other vertical gardening methods is to grow tomatoes upright and off the ground. Tomatoes are very susceptible to tomato blight and powdery mildew. Growing tomatoes vertically greatly improves overall plant health, pest prevention, and fruit production.

I’ve already shared other great tomato growing methods like how to prune tomatoes to a single stem, how to stake tomatoes, make DIY tomato cages, and other garden trellis ideas.

But the Florida weave is among my favorites because this method allows you to grow a large number of tomato plants cheaply and reliably.

When to Use The Florida Weave

Most tomato plants need some form of support. The support needed depends on which type of tomato plant you are growing: indeterminate, semi-determinate, or determinate.

Determinate and semi-determinate varieties will typically only need around 3 feet of support. However, most tomato plant varieties are indeterminate and will need 6 to 8 feet of support.

The Florida weave is often used when field growing or mass-producing indeterminate tomatoes because it is the best and most reliable method for growing a lot of tomatoes in rows. Instead of individually staking each tomato plant, you create a simple trellis using baler twine and T-posts. The beauty of this method is that it can be applied to smaller home gardens and still be just as efficient and effective.

Supplies Needed

The supplies needed to use the Florida weave method are relatively inexpensive and easy to find at your local hardware store:

• Heavy Duty T-Posts - You will need one heavy-duty T-post (at least 6 feet tall when growing indeterminates) for every 10 feet of tomato row. Pro-Tip: Do not use light-duty T-posts or wooden stakes! They will not be able to support the weight.

• Baler Twine - I purchased baler twine at my local Tractor Supply store. This stuff works great, lasting all season without getting brittle and cracking. Pro-Tip: You can also use natural jute twine, but it will deteriorate faster, becoming soft and brittle. It is more likely to snap under the weight of tomatoes. I have seen more failures than successes when using jute twine to weave tomatoes, so I do not recommend it.

• Post Driver or Hammer - A post driver makes driving the posts into the ground easier, but a simple hammer works just as well.

• Scissors - You will need scissors to cut the baler twine.

• Tomato Saver Truss Supports - *Optional* These are not necessary for the Florida weave, but come in handy when growing large, heavy tomatoes. Formerly only used by professional greenhouse growers, these plastic arch supports fit around the truss of tomatoes, adding enough support to safely hold 3 pounds of tomatoes without snapping the stem!

How to Florida Weave Tomatoes

The idea behind the Florida weave is to support your tomatoes by weaving them with twine. Follow these directions to weave your tomatoes correctly:

1. Plant Tomatoes - I planted my tomatoes about 2 feet apart in 50-foot rows. (I am growing a LOT of tomatoes.) Refer to the growing guide, How to Grow Tomatoes, to answer all your tomato growing and planting questions.

2. Drive in First T-Post - The first T-post should go on the outside end of your row, 4 to 6 inches away from the base of the first tomato plant. Don’t place posts any closer, or you risk damaging the roots. Pro-Tip: When driving in your T-posts, pay attention to which direction the knobs are facing. The knobs should be facing away from your row. You want the knobs to be able to hold the baler twine in place so it doesn’t slide down.

3. Drive in the Remaining T-Posts - Every 10 feet down the row, or about every six tomato plants, drive in another T-post. End the row by driving a T-post on the opposite outside end of the row from where you started. Pro-Tip: The posts don’t have to be exactly 10 feet apart. For example, if your tomato row is 36 feet long, putting a post every 9 feet with one at each end of the row makes more sense. But I wouldn’t exceed 12 feet apart, or you risk having the entire row fall over.
4. Tie on the Twine - Tie the end of the baler twine to the bottom of the first T-post. Secure it well with a strong knot.
5. Weave the Twine Through the Plants - Begin weaving the twine through your tomato plants, moving towards the next T-post in the row. The twine goes behind the first plant, then in front of the second plant, then behind the third plant, and so on until you get to the next post in the row. Pro-Tip: Keep your twine level as you weave it.
6. Secure the String on the Next T-Post - When you get to the next post, tie the string to the bottom (or wrap it around the post several times), ensuring there is nice tension and no slack in the twine between the posts. Pro-Tip: I don’t cut the twine at each post. Instead, I use one continuous run of twine for each row, securing it to each post as I go along.
7. Repeat - Repeat steps 5 and 6 until you have woven the twine through all the plants in that row and secured the twine to all the T-posts.
8. Last Post - Make sure the twine is taut down the entire row, then secure the twine at the bottom of the final T-post in the row by wrapping it several times. Don’t cut the twine at the end of the row; you need to go back the other direction!
9. Go Back the Other Direction - Keeping the twine level and at the same height, reverse directions and run the twine back down the row you just strung, but on the opposite side of the posts.
10. Opposite Weave - Repeating steps 5, 6, and 7, weave the twine through your plants again, but the twine should go on the opposite side of each plant this time. If the first run of twine went behind a plant, it should go in front of it this time.
11. Tie the Twine on the First Post Again - Complete this run by tying the twine on the first post at the beginning of the row where you started.
12. Cut the Twine - Cut off the excess twine after the knot.
13. Make More Runs as the Tomato Plants Grow - When the tomato plants have grown another 2 or 3 sets of adult leaves above the run of twine, you will need to repeat this process and add another run. You should be creating runs of twine higher and higher up the T-posts. As your tomato plants get bigger, it is very important that you keep up on trellising. It will become harder and harder to catch up the bigger you let your plants get.
    

Pro-Tip: If you have done this method correctly, there should be an intersection where the twine crosses between every tomato plant. A lot of people will tell you to just run the twine down one side and then run it back down the other side (without weaving). The problem with that is that you create a channel between the twine that the tomatoes can slide back and forth in. They aren’t really supported well, and the plants can still lean on each other or fall over if they get heavy enough.

Rare Tomatoes

If you are like me and love growing rare tomatoes, you won’t want to miss our upcoming tomato seed collection. Starting this fall, we will be debuting new and exclusive MIgardener rare tomato varieties for the 2026 gardening season! The flavors and colors are incredible!

Here’s a preview of some of the rare varieties you will only find at MIgardener this fall:

• Mad Hatter Tomato - One of the darkest black slicing tomatoes I have ever seen

• Royale Paste Tomato - Highly productive, eye-catching, pleated paste tomato

• Blackout Roma Tomato - High lycopene black Roma tomato

• Dusk Pumpkin Tomato - A slicing tomato with incredibly striking pumpkin-like orange ribbing with an ombré orange to black transition to the shoulders

• Tangerine Krim Cherry Tomato - A low-acid, large cherry tomato that has a kumquat-like appearance and incredible depth of flavor