Vegetable Plant Supports

We all need a support system to get through life, and plants are no different. 

There are all sorts of ways to support your plants as they grow. What you choose will depend on the plant, how tall or wide you expect it to be, whether you're growing it in containers, beds or in the ground, and how much space you have for your garden. 

Plant Support Tips:

• Put in supports before the plants grow significantly. The roots are growing in the soil, and poking supports into the ground may damage the roots. Plus, plants can sometimes grow a lot, very suddenly, so you want to have supports in place before that happens.
• Anticipate how tall a plant will get. Eggplants and peppers are not likely to get as tall as tomatoes. Beans, peas and cucumbers need to cling onto supports as they are very vine-like. If you're not sure what to expect, but you know the name of the plant type you have, you can usually find information on the Internet or on the website of the company who sold the seeds or transplants. 
• Root vegetables are fine on their own and don't need added supports....except potatoes. Their green plants above ground can grow very tall, so if you're growing potatoes in containers like I do, stake supports around the containers as soon as the greenery starts peeking up above the rim of the container.

I think I may have overcrowded one garden bed with tall plants that vine (tomatoes, beans, peas) and I'm hoping that they each won't block out the sun from the other, but not sure. You can see it in the video below - it's the bed with LOTS of tall supports. Well, it's the first year doing beds, so I'm learning. Cross your fingers for me...

Watch this video to see how I support different plants and a few funky plant-support experiments I have going on.

Video: What I'm doing this year for plant supports.