How to Fix Tomato Plants That Outgrow Their Trellis, According to Reddit Gardeners

Tomatoes are a perennial favorite among novice and expert gardeners alike. But these plants can get unruly throughout the growing season, even if you trellis or stake them.

One Redditor recently asked for advice on the r/vegetablegardening forum after their tomato plants started sprouting past the top of the trellis. "Do I need to cut back the growing tip of my tomatoes once they grow taller than the support structure?" they wrote.

Many Redditors chimed in, offering advice they learned when dealing with this issue in their own gardens. "I have left mine. They flipped over and kept growing with a bend. I've given up at this point and am just letting them do their thing this year. I'll try and get better support next year," wrote one commenter.

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Many Redditors agreed with the suggestion to let overgrown tomato plants be. "Let them hang. They will still produce. Their natural growth habit is crawling on the ground," another Redditor advised. While someone else offered this tip: "I usually leave a couple suckers lower on the plant so once the main stem gets high enough, I can clip it. I'm disabled and garden from a wheelchair in raised beds, so I have to keep stuff from getting too tall or I can't reach it to harvest."

Some gardeners recommended tying the overhanging stems to the trellis to keep a tidier appearance. "When they grow tall enough, you can sort of bend them back down and twist them around the horizontal stick," one person wrote.

Another added that this is a good problem to have and is a sign of healthy plants. "Great problem to have, you must’ve done a wonderful job nurturing these to reach their full potential," they wrote. "High five yourself and say, 'I did it.'"