Growing vegetables vertically not only saves space; it can protect the fruits from insects, diseases and weather damage. These videos offer different ways to trellis common tall-growing vegetable plants such as beans, peas, cucumbers and tomatoes and some uncommon ones such as winter squash, gourds, melons, hops and watermelons.

We start with “Growing a 3 Sisters Garden” (where corn is the support) and “Growing Edibles on a Vertical Wall Garden.”

“Planting Corn, Squash and Beans Using the Three Sisters Method”  by Trish at GrowOrganic Peaceful Valley in California. Good basic video on how to grow a 3 Sisters Garden. Tricia talks about different versions of the 3 Sisters Garden, planting details and some visual examples of a mature 3 Sisters Garden.

“Vertical Vegetable Gardening” using wall pockets by Laura at Garden Answer. Laura goes through the basics of growing a vertical garden using metal wall pockets hung on a wall, and offers some other container ideas. She describes the soil, watering and the plants she selected for this container garden.

How to Make a Trellis

“Garden Trellis: How to Make the Best Supports for Climbing Vegetables” by GrowVeg. This English video reviews the benefits of training vegetables vertically and the commercial and homemade trellises available to support vegetables such as tomatoes, beans, peas, and cucumbers. Plus, good details on making a sturdy bean trellis.

“How to Build a 12-14-Foot Collapsible Pole for Hops, Cucumbers & Beans: DIY Trellis Examples” by Gary Pilarchik of The Rusted Garden.  A review of various trellises for different vegetables. Gary goes into detail on making a collapsible, 14-foot trellis to grow hops and tall pole beans and explains that the advantage is you can more easily harvest the crops without damaging the plants.

How to Support Tomatoes

First, a nice series of videos from the University of Maine  by vegetable specialist Mark Hutton.

• “How to Grow Tomatoes: Staking.”  Good information on how tomatoes grow and which ones need staking. Mark shows how to stake an individual plant, and includes information on ties, suckers and preserving foliage to shade the fruits.
• “How to Grow  Tomatoes: Trellis.” This video shows how to trellis tomato stems with twine. Mark shows how to wrap the string, prune the plant and grow a two=stem trellis.
• “How to Grow Tomatoes: Basket Weave.”  In this video Mark shows how to basket weave tomatoes, a technique that’s best for large numbers of plants. He shows how to stake and weave the twine around the plants for support.

“How to Make Your Own Tomato Cages”  by Melinda Myers.  A nice, short video where Melinda walks us through making a tomato cage from scratch using steel mesh. She talks about the tools you’ll need and how and where to cut the cage.

“3 Inexpensive Tomato Supports and How to Make a Super Sturdy Tomato Trellis” by CaliKim. Kim reviews three ways to support tomatoes; stakes, cages and a cattle panel trellis. She goes into detail on making a cattle panel trellis, the tools you’ll need, how to cut the panel and how to use them to support the plants. The panels are particularly good for high-wind areas.

“Garden Trellis Ideas for Tomatoes and other Crops” by Weston Miller, Oregon State University’s Community and Urban Horticulturist.  A review of different types of tomato cages, with pros and cons of each. He also covers using stakes and a hog panel to make a sturdy tomato trellis, and reviews trellises for peas and beans.

“How to Grow Tomatoes in the Japanese Ring” by Jason Smith, the Dancing Farmer at Cog Hill Farm in Selma, Alabama.  This quirky video demonstrates a unique way to cage tomatoes using the Japanese Ring System. Jason uses a large wire cage, stakes, fills the center of the cage with compost, and grows the tomatoes on the outside of the wire cage. The tomatoes use the compost to grow better.

“This Method of Tying Up Tomatoes will Change your Life” by Luke Marion at MI Gardener . Luke goes over staking individual tomatoes but his new idea is using nylon rope to tie the tomatoes. The nylon stretches, so that as the stem grows and bends in the wind, the nylon supports the stem without injuring the plant.

Trellising Cucumbers, Melons & Squash

“How to Build a Simple Teepee Trellis” by Stephen Legaree of Alberta Urban Garden.  Steve shows how to make simple bamboo/tomato netting teepees to grow a variety of vegetables, especially cucumbers and melons.

“Plant Pees then Cucumbers Using the Same Trellis and Garden Space ” from Journey with Jill in the Garden. Here Jill shows how she trellises peas on a vertical trellis and also grows cucumbers for when the peas are finished. Great way to save space in the garden.

“Build this Hoop Trellis to Grow Your Cantaloupe and Watermelon Vertically” by Mike Mike Podlesny of the Vegetable Gardening Show. Mike walks us through the step-by-step process of setting up a vertical hoop trellis. He uses the square foot gardening method for planting.

“Easy Fast Trellis DIY (No Skill Required)“ by Wendi Phan in California. Wendi uses a simple, low-budget trellis for lighter-weight climbing vegetables such as bitter gourds and cucumbers. She uses bamboo stakes and sticks and string to weave the trellis together.

“Trellis for Gourds” by Oklahoma State. This is a good way to use cattle panels to make a walk-through tunnel for heavy vegetables such as gourds, pumpkins and winter squash. Talks about securing the panels with rebar and bending them into a tunnel shape.

“Grow Large Winter Squash Vertically on Trellises” by Patrick Dolan of One Yard Revolution. Here Patrick offers a clear, step-by-step method of making a strong metal trellis that will support large vegetables such as pumpkins and winter squash.

“2-Minute Tip: How to Train Crops Up Trellises (Vertical Gardening)” also from  One Yard Revolution.  In a companion video to growing winter squash on a trellis, Patrick shows how he attaches the vines of various crops to a metal trellis for the best support.

“How to Make a Watermelon Sling to Support Watermelon Growing on a Trellis” by CaliKim.  Here Kim shares some fun tips on supporting small and large watermelon fruits growing on a vertical trellis with pantyhose and old T-shirts. This technique can also be used for winter squash.