How to Build a trellis system for vertical growing

We originally built a “T” frame for our vertical growing for our Peas to grow up on, then after realizing we would turn it into an in the garden green house we added the side supports and canopy to the top to hold up the plastic.

We decided that our next trellis system will be more simple to make and wouldn’t need so many holes to be dug. I saw someone posting on Facebook picture of them at the Mittleider campus, and fell n love with the design. It was simple and seemed more sturdy. When we talked about having a Mittleider gardening method grow bed devoted to Tomatoes, we knew that we wanted to try something different from the T frame structure. A trellis system seemed to be easier and more stable to build, plus it would be easier to turn into an in the garden greenhouse.

This is what we ended up with so far, this is just the main structure.

What you’ll need to buy:

(qty 5) 8′ treated 4″x4″

this will be your 4 post and one will be cut down to (4 qty) 2′ long cross knees

(qty 2) 6′ treated 4″x4″

These will be your headers

(qty 2) whatever length your grow bed or vertical growing area is, mine was 12′ treated 2″x4″

This will be your side brackets that will also hold your 3/4″ PVC pipe(thin wall, schedule 40, 200psi) that you cut down to 3″ to hold your 1/2″ PVC pipes (thin wall, schedule 40, 200psi) for your canopy.

(qty 1) 6′ treated 2″x4″

this will be your cross bracket for more support for your upper wires.

Here is a diagram for the main structure:

I also used 4″x4″ post brackets you can find in the decking area of your home improvement store. This made it easier to put together, because of the post being 4″ you can’t find screws longer than 3.5″ so you will need this metal post bracket to hold it together.

The side bracket that will also hold your 3/4″ PVC pipe(thin wall, schedule 40, 200psi) that you cut down to 3″ to hold your 1/2″ PVC pipes (thin wall, schedule 40, 200psi) for your canopy. This will help turn your trellis system into an “in the garden greenhouse”. The number of hoops you will need is based on how long your trellis system is. So my trellis system is 12′ long, so I did 7 hoops. You’ll need one on each end and one in the middle then add hoop fitting to the center of each section, so add 2 more fittings. If you get snow I recommend you add more fittings to help handle the snow load. Remember if you do get snow, you will want to brush it off to help get the light into your green house.

You don’t always need the middle support board, but if your bed is longer than 10′ you need to add this. One middle board for beds 11′-19′ long, if its 20′ + feet then you will need to add more 4X4″ posts like the what are on the ends every 10′. This will allow extra support. Also you will be able to use 1 continuous upper wire for beds under 19′, but if they are longer than 20′ then you will need to separate the upper wire into sections. This is recommended for security, you don’t want to come out to your 30′ trellis system with 30′ worth of plants on the ground.

For more details on this project, please check out our video below.

Here is our Video on how we made our trellis system: