Our household boasts a large collection of metal plant supports, including peony rings and the galvanized steel pipes we use to trellis vining crops such as tomatoes and beans. The bean vines wrap themselves around the strings on their own, but with the tomato vines, which are not twining, plastic clips that encircle both vine and string help support the plants, especially when weighed down by heavy fruits. Plastic clips are useful for keeping fruit-laden tomato stems from collapsing, but apart from that, the plants’ upward urge takes charge
