Scope: structures and accessories gardeners use to hold up, train or contain plants as they grow — stakes, cages, trellises/obelisks, plant ties/clips, and support netting/mesh. Excludes raised-bed frames, wheelbarrows, pots/planters and irrigation (sibling leaves).

Seed: ran scripts/seed.py --category plant-supports.
- Q1 (what a novice gets wrong first): assuming one support type fits every plant — a stake does nothing for a sprawling squash and a cage can't hold a climbing vine's tendrils the way netting or a trellis does.
- Q2 (the fork that matters most): growth habit (bush/determinate vs. vining/indeterminate vs. true climber vs. floppy perennial) decides both which support type and what height/gauge, more than any other single fact.

Sources:
[uga_staking] https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=C1150&title=staking-and-pruning-tomatoes-in-the-home-garden — stake depth 6-12in, cage min 3ft diameter, tie starting height 10-12in, tie every 8in up stem, wide cage holes ease harvest — fetched excerpt
[umd_tomatoes] https://extension.umd.edu/resource/growing-tomatoes-home-garden — stakes 6-8ft long, 1.5-2in wide, driven 1ft into soil; cages spaced 4ft apart — fetched excerpt
[purdue_tomato] https://ag.purdue.edu/department/hla/extension/extension-publications-library/ext-pubs/ho-26-w.html — pole at least 8ft tall, 1in diameter, set 1-2ft deep, 4in from plant — fetched excerpt
[illinois_cages_stakes] https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/raise-grow-harvest-eat-repeat/2018-05-30-tomato-cages-vs-stakes — cage vs. stake pros/cons, pathogens overwinter on unwashed supports — fetched excerpt
[yardolio_gauge] https://yardolio.com/what-gauge-wire-for-garden-trellis/ — wire gauge: lower number = thicker; 9ga holds 1000-1300lb loads, 14ga lighter/easier to handle, 12ga for extra strength — fetched excerpt
[lawngearlab_cages] https://lawngearlab.com/best-heavy-duty-tomato-cages/ — confirms lower gauge = thicker wire; example 6ga (4.1mm) legs / 9ga (2.9mm) cross members on heaviest cage — fetched excerpt
[gardeners_ladders] https://www.gardeners.com/buy/tomato-stakes-ladders/8609737.html — Gardener's Supply tomato ladder: 7mm steel uprights, holds 100+lb, stacks to 32.5in/57in — fetched excerpt
[johnnyseeds_hortonova] https://www.johnnyseeds.com/tools-supplies/trellising-crop-supports/trellis-netting/hortonova-fa-48%22-x-328-9715.html — polypropylene, 6in mesh, UV and chemical resistant — fetched excerpt
[bootstrapfarmer_netting] https://www.bootstrapfarmer.com/products/trellis-netting — 6in mesh trellis net sold in 3/4/6ft widths — fetched excerpt
[growhoss_hortonova] https://growhoss.com/products/hortonova-trellis-netting — 48in/59in heights, vertical (T-post/stake every 10-15ft) vs. horizontal catenary install, UV-resistant polypropylene — fetched excerpt
[bfgsupply_velcro] https://www.bfgsupply.com/order-now/product/0/680394/velcro-one-wrap-garden-ties-50ft-x-12ingreen — Velcro One-Wrap garden tie, 50ft x 0.5in, hook-and-loop reusable tie — fetched excerpt
[awg_wikipedia] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_wire_gauge — each gauge step changes wire cross-section by a constant multiple (defines what "gauge" means) — fetched excerpt

Branches:
- support_type -> stake: UGA/UMD/Purdue all give stake depth, length and diameter as the defining spec for stakes specifically.
- support_type -> cage: UGA gives cage diameter and hole size as the cage-specific spec; lawngearlab/yardolio give cage wire gauge.
- support_type -> trellis_or_obelisk: growhoss/johnnyseeds/bootstrapfarmer give mesh size and install method as the trellis/netting-specific spec.
- support_type -> tie_or_clip: bfgsupply and UGA (twine/fabric strip ties, tie loosely to avoid stem injury) give tie-specific material and growth-allowance specs.
- plant_growth_habit -> potted_or_container makes ground_anchoring_depth irrelevant: a container stake/cage has no soil bed to drive into.

Noise (spec-sheet rows seen but not made facets):
- Color/finish (red, green, black powder coat): cosmetic, not a judged spec on any source.
- Pack count / set size (set of 3, set of 6): a retail SKU detail, not an expert-judged attribute.
- Price per unit: excluded per rule — never a facet.
- Country of manufacture: appeared on Velcro listing (USA-made, 65% recycled content) but no source treats it as a buying criterion distinct from material/durability already captured.

Corrections (2026-10-26):
- cage_base_diameter.range was backwards from uga's own "minimum of 3ft" and its 2nd source (gardeners_ladders) had no diameter number; refetched lawngearlab (14-3/8in compact cage) and purdue ("4-1/2 feet in diameter" cage) and reset range to 14-54in with those two as evidence.
- Added flexible_support_material to then_ask for the tie_or_clip and netting branches; it was defined for ties/netting but no branch ever asked it.
- Added support_height to then_ask for the trellis_or_obelisk and netting branches; growhoss/johnnyseeds cite height (48/59in) as a primary netting spec.
- Added rigid_support_material to then_ask for the cage and trellis_or_obelisk branches; the facet's own definition names cage and trellis as subjects.
- Added purdue_tomato ("set 1-2ft deep") as evidence for ground_anchoring_depth.range so its 24in max is actually cited.
- Refetched lawngearlab for a short-end support_height citation ("minimum height of just 14.56 inches... patio pots"); range min moved from an uncited 12in to 14.56in, evidence now includes lawngearlab_cages.
- Added a stated_load_capacity facet (22-1300 lbs) backed by lawngearlab ("22-pound fruit load capacity") and yardolio ("9ga... loads up to 1000-1300 lbs"); load_duty_rating and wire_gauge are proxies but neither carries the literal lb number.
- Lowered ground_anchoring_depth.backfill_cost from high to low; its own backfill_note is a cheap arithmetic default from support_height, not a high-cost lookup.
- Reclassified tie_growth_allowance.source from listing to researched; its backfill_note infers the value from tie material, not a literal listing field.
- Dropped the "Florida weave" vocabulary entry; it was never a support_type value and no split/branch/facet referenced it.
- Added a "Jute" vocabulary entry for the jute_or_natural_fiber value, matching its defined siblings (galvanized, powder-coated, etc.).
- Added "obelisk" to support_type's skip_if_known list alongside stake/cage/trellis/tie/clip/netting.