How to Make a Tomato Vine Wall

Metal fencing makes a strong support for a tomato vine wall.

Build a tomato vine wall in your garden to create a focal point, or use one to cover up an unsightly outdoor wall. When considering materials for your vine wall, keep in mind tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) vines can grow 10 feet tall or higher and vines with fruit become quite heavy. Also consider, a ladder is required to harvest tomatoes from tall walls. Prepare soil as you normally would for growing tomatoes in a garden bed.

Indoor Wall

If you have a greenhouse you can create a vine wall by suspending lengths of twine from the greenhouse ceiling to the floor. For wooden structures, drive 2.5 inch flat head nails into ceiling joists, from east to west. This allows vines to capture sunlight evenly throughout the day. Space nails at recommended planting distances for the variety you plan to grow. Attach heavy twine or nylon cord to each nail and let hang freely above each plant. As vines grow wind them around the twine. Prune each vine to two branches.

Freestanding Wall

Create a freestanding wall for your tomato vines with wire fence, or place it near a south- or west-facing wall on the outside of your house or shed. Construct a 6-foot tall tomato vine wall by driving a 9-foot piece of metal conduit into the ground so that 3 feet is underground. Add a 90 degree elbow to the top. Repeat every 5 feet for the length of the wall. Stabilize the fence by joining two adjacent elbows with a length of conduit cut to fit. Attach mesh fence to the poles with wire, leave at least 8 inches between the ground and bottom of fence. Use wire mesh fence with openings 4 inches wide by 4 inches high.

As the tomato plants grow, attach them to the fence by weaving vines through the openings and securing them in place with twine. For taller walls, sink fence posts deeper into the ground to prevent them from blowing over. For added security, anchor the vine wall with guy-wires. Bear in mind that as plants grow, moisture can become trapped between the vines and an outdoor wall, promoting algae growth on vinyl siding or causing wood siding to decay. This may be prevented by spacing the plants to allow air-flow.

Brick Wall

If you want to create a wall of tomatoes on a brick wall, simply snap brick hangers onto the wall at intervals so that the vines will not exceed the weight limit of the hangers, usually 25 pounds each. Run a length of heavy twine, or nylon cord, between the hangers. As vines climb, attach them to the horizontal lengths of heavy twine with other small pieces of twine. Tie loosely so vines do not become strangled. Plant vines far enough apart to allow air circulation between plants to reduce the possibility of fungal diseases. The shade from tomato vines growing on an outdoor wall help cool inside a home.

Varieties for Vine Walls

Enjoy your vine wall longer by choosing indeterminate tomato varieties. Vines climb higher than determinate varieties and fruit ripens throughout the growing season, providing an endless supply of fresh tomatoes until the first frost. Two good indeterminate candidates for a vine wall are: "Sungold" cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum "Sungold"), which grows up 10 feet, and Brandywine beefsteak tomato (Lycopersicon lycopersicum "Brandywine") which climbs up to 8 feet. To regulate weight, allow only two or three branches to grow per vine, and pinch off suckers. To prevent overgrowth on your wall, choose varieties that grow close to the same height as your wall, or pinch off tops when they reach the top of the wall.

]]> About the Author

Diana K. Williams is a certified Master Gardener, has more than a decade of experience as an environmental scientist, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and environmental studies from the Ohio Northern University. Williams is a winner of Writer's Digest Magazine's annual writing competition.

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Seiya Kawamoto/Photodisc/Getty Images

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