How Martha Stewart Gives Her Tomato Plants The Best Structural Support

Forget GardenTok, YouTube, or Pinterest if you're looking for vegetable gardening tips. No matter what horticultural question you might have, chances are extremely high that the OG, Martha Stewart, has all the info you need. The entertaining guru started gardening at an early age with her family, and she's been mastering the practice for decades — long before influencers even existed. She also knows a thing or two about blending an elegant aesthetic with practicality, even when it comes to staking up her tomato plants. Instead of using those unsightly metal cages from the hardware store, Stewart relies on bamboo stakes to keep the plants upright and the tomatoes off the ground. This prevents the produce from getting dirty, allows plenty of airflow to avoid disease and pests, and lets the sun in to ripen every fruit.

Stewart's system of staking tomatoes with bamboo is a bit of a two-step process. When the plants are small, she uses a single short stake for each plant as support. Later in the season, when the vines start to take off, she replaces the stakes with a teepee-shaped structure of three long stakes tied together at the top.

Staking tomatoes the Martha Stewart way is pretty easy. First you'll need bamboo stakes. Most gardening supply stores should have them in stock at the beginning of the growing season; just make sure to choose stakes that don't have any sort of coating or treatments, as those chemicals can find their way into the soil and eventually your tomatoes. You'll also need twine for attaching the plants to the stake. Stewart uses all natural jute twine.

In the early stages of growing, bury one short stake near the center of the plant for support. When it's tall enough, gently tie one or two of the stronger, center tendrils to the stake with some of the jute or twine to keep the plant upright. Later, when it outgrows the small stake, create a teepee around the plant with three large stakes around 8 to 9 feet tall. Bury the ends of the stakes on three sides of the plant, around 8 to 10 inches deep, then angle the tops together and tie them up. Once the structure is in place, you can wrap some twine in between each stake to give the plant extra support.

When you're done, all you need to do is properly water your veggie garden and maybe plant some basil alongside your tomatoes. Eventually, your space will look so tidy that you might even want to take a picture for Instagram.