NZ761647B2 - Expandable Plant Support - Google Patents

Abstract

plant support (1) for supporting plants during growth. The plant support includes a flexible growing frame formed from a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) coated wire shaped as a non-resilient helix (5) wound about a growing path. The high-friction surface of the TPE helps the plant to grip the support during growth. The wire may include outer surface grip features (11) that further assist a plant in holding on to the support. The support is expandable by increasing the length of the growing path by changing the shape of the helix. In use, the support may be suspended from an overhead anchor point by a clip. t during growth. The wire may include outer surface grip features (11) that further assist a plant in holding on to the support. The support is expandable by increasing the length of the growing path by changing the shape of the helix. In use, the support may be suspended from an overhead anchor point by a clip.

Description

TITLE: EXPANDABLE PLANT SUPPORT TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to a plant support for use in supporting plants during growth and more particularly to an expandable plant support.

BACKGROUND ART Various plants are grown in commercial and domestic operations to produce fruit and vegetables and these plants may need an artificial support to enhance growth or for other purposes.

Climbing plants are defined as plants that during at least the early phase of growth climb up a support of some type, e.g. tree, other plant, rock face, stake, wire or the like. Climbing plants generally fall into two groups, namely: a) “Bines”, which have a ‘bine’ i.e. a climbing or twining stem that grows up and around a support. Many bines have rough stems or downward-pointing bristles to aid their grip.

Examples of commercial bines include Hops. b) Vines, which use tendrils, suckers or other methods to climb up the support. Examples of commercial vines include grapes, beans, peas and the like.

Non-climbing plants are herein defined as any other plant that falls outside the above definition of climbing plants.

Some plants, e.g. varieties of tomatoes, although not climbing plants, do require, or at least benefit from growing with a support for their stems and/or branches. The ensuing description will be made with respect to tomatoes for ease of reference, though it will be appreciated that the principles described may apply to many other plants.

A most basic system for tomato growing involves use of a ‘simple’ straight stake of some sort, driven into the ground and use of ties to secure the stem of the tomato plant to the stake as it grows. However, such systems are manually intensive as the ties must be moved as the plant grows. Moreover, the typical stakes used are often not sufficiently stable in the soil to provide sufficient strength during adverse weather conditions.

Numerous types of support have been developed for use with tomato plants, from simple stakes to complex trellis, wireframes, cages, spiralling stakes and others.

US patent no 2,083,526 by Pinker describes an exemplary spiral wire stake for growing tomatoes. The Pinker stake is constructed from a single length of wire and includes a stiff ground-penetrating lower straight portion and an upper spiral portion with the wire-shaped to spiral upwards about a long axis. The stake is formed to allow the upper portion to flex relative to the ground-penetrating portion so that the ground-penetrating portion doesn’t rock in the wind and become loose and unstable in the ground. The spiral upper position enables the plant to be supported and repositioned relative to the spirals as it grows without requiring manually intensive use of ties.

The Pinker device attempts to ameliorate the main disadvantage in use of stakes for growing tomatoes, i.e. the reliance of a stake’s stability on the characteristics of the ground-penetrating portion and stability of the surrounding soil.

To solve the stability problem, it’s possible to install strengthened stakes, deeply inserted into the ground or use a permanent trellis, planter boxes and the like. However, these solutions are more expensive than simple stakes and may not be suitable for many operations that require soil disruption between growing seasons, e.g. many operations may require replanting between seasons, or the plants may otherwise be removed and replaced.

Another variety of plant support that tackles the stability issues includes use of a string extending between the ground and an upper support. The plants are trained up the string by tying and lifting with further portions of string. Alternatively, a wire or other support extending between the ground and an upper support such as a horizontally strung wire fixed to posts.

An example of such a support is supplied by Juliana ®, see https://en.juliana.com/plant-spiral- 3-pcs/p/63297/99713. The Juliana ® plant spiral includes a plastic-sheathed low-tensile wire formed in a helix with one end terminating in a hook for attaching to a support wire. The other end may be pulled down to expand the support along the axis of the helix, thereby increasing the pitch of the helix. As the plant grows up the centre of the helix, lateral branches rest on the wire and the weight of the plant on the support may also further increase the pitch of the spiral, thereby expanding the support along the helix long axis.

The Juliana ® plant spiral offers many advantages over the use of stakes or forms thereof as the plant can be easily removed at the end of the season and a new plant inserted in the soil beneath. The expandable capacity of the Juliana ® spiral also enables use in variable height applications as the helix can be expanded to the height required. However, as is common also to the spiral tomato stakes, the tomato branches may slip off the wire during growth and growers may need to apply more labour to ensure the plants do not slip from the wire.

It would thus be advantageous to provide an expandable plant support that provides a more secure support for plant branches, stems, tendrils and the like.

It is an object of the present invention to address the foregoing problems or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.

All references, including any patents or patent applications cited in this specification are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that any reference constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what their authors assert, and the applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinency of the cited documents. It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications are referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents form part of the common general knowledge in the art, in New Zealand or in any other country.

It is acknowledged that the term ‘comprise’ may, under varying jurisdictions, be attributed with either an exclusive or an inclusive meaning. For the purpose of this specification, and unless otherwise noted, the term ‘comprise’ shall have an inclusive meaning - i.e. that it will be taken to mean an inclusion of not only the listed components it directly references, but also other non-specified components or elements. This rationale will also be used when the term ‘comprised’ or 'comprising' is used in relation to one or more steps in a method or process.

Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION In contrast to a conventional mathematical definition of “helix”, herein reference to the term helix refers to a three-dimensional path that winds around a central path while moving parallel to the central path.

The term “path” should be understood to include a series of non-overlapping points such as a line, curve or combination thereof.

As used herein, the term “polymer” should be understood to include a substance which has a molecular structure built up chiefly or completely from a large number of similar units bonded together, e.g. many synthetic organic materials used as plastics and resins.

As used herein, the term “resilient” refers to the property of an object, material or substance to recoil or spring-back into shape after bending, stretching, or being compressed.

Axiomatically, non-resilient refers to the property of an object, material or substance that does not return to its original shape after bending, stretching, or being compressed.

As used herein, the term “wire” refers to any strand or other length of material and need not be constructed from metal unless explicitly stated as such.

Reference herein to the singular should be understood to include the plural and vice versa unless explicitly stated otherwise.

To aid clarity, reference herein will be made to a generally vertically upwards growing plant, but this should not be seen to be limiting as the principles discussed herein and the present invention may also apply to vertically downwards or plants growing in other directions. Thus, reference to upwards, vertical, above, beneath and the like should also be interpreted to include their alternatives.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plant support for supporting plants during growth, the plant support including: − a flexible growing frame formed from a wire shaped as a non-resilient helix wound about a growing path, characterised in that said wire includes at least one outer surface grip feature and the plant support is expandable by increasing the length of the growing path by changing the shape of the non-resilient helix.

In use, the plant support may be arranged with at least one portion of the wire attached to an external support with the growing frame hanging from the external support, and the corresponding growing path may thus extend generally downward from the external support.

The plant stem may grow up the growing path and the stem, any lateral tendrils, branches and the like may be supported by the surrounding helix and grip the outer surface grip feature.

The plant support may thus effectively support the plant as it grows up the growing path.

The expandability of the plant support is useful as it enables the plant support to be sold in a compact, unexpanded state to reduce packaging size while being expandable in use to suit the application. Moreover, the plant support can be expanded or contracted to change the growing path length as required.

Preferably, the wire is constructed from multiple layers, including at least one layer of non- resilient material and at least two other layers.

Preferably, the wire includes a non-resilient layer sheathed in at least one polymer layer. In a further embodiment, the wire includes at least one polymer mid-layer and an outer polymer layer.

In alternative embodiments, the wire may be formed with the layers in a stacked, overlapping or other arrangement, e.g. in one embodiment a layer may be formed to wrap about a partial extent of the lateral periphery of the non-resilient layer, thereby leaving a portion of the non- resilient layer exposed.

The non-resilient layer need not be a solid core and may comprise multiple strands or one or more tubes, either hollow or filled (fully or partially) with another material.

Preferably the non-resilient layer is a metallic core and more preferably a metallic core formed from solid or tubular copper. Alternatively, aluminium, steel or the like may be used, however, copper is relatively inexpensive and sufficiently malleable to be used as the non-resilient layer.

The use of such a non-resilient core provides a support that is strong but also malleable so as to retain its shape once reshaped, i.e. as the plant support is expanded to reshape the helix, the helix will substantially retain its new shape. It will be noted that there may, of course, be a certain degree of resiliency as determined by the wire properties.

In growing many plants (e.g. tomatoes), it is important not to place too much strain on the plant to avoid damage. A resilient spring, for example, could be used in the present application but as it is stretched more, applies a greater force to the plant, potentially damaging the plant.

Therefore, using a non-resilient helix enables the plant support to be reshaped either manually, automatically or even by the plant as it grows and applies force to the helix to change the length of the growing path.

In growing plants (e.g. tomatoes) the plant’s supporting branches, tendrils, stem and the like need to be able to be effectively supported, e.g. by an underlying support, winding about the support or via some form of attachment. This support is achieved in the prior art by ties as per the prior art stakes or via shaping the support to provide an underlying support as per the Juliana ® plant spiral.

Thus, according to one embodiment the wire includes at least one outer surface grip feature.

The outer surface grip feature may act to provide an additional surface feature and/or surface area for the plant (e.g. tendrils) to grip as it grows up the support.

In one embodiment the at least one outer surface grip feature may be formed from a: − protrusion; − recess; − continuous or semi-continuous ridge; − continuous or semi-continuous groove; − wire cross-section having one or more apices; − any combination, permutation, iteration or multiple of the above.

In one embodiment the outer surface grip feature may be formed on the wire by using an outer layer of Thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) or other high-friction material.

The at least one outer surface grip feature is preferably formed in the outer layer of the wire, preferably ‘integrally’, in contrast to attaching external features to the wire.

In one embodiment the at least one outer surface grip feature may include multiple ridges or grooves formed in the outer layer of the wire about only a portion of the lateral periphery of the wire. Thus, in use with the helix orientated about a vertically extending growing path or axis the outer surface grip features may be located on the upper surface (in use) of each turn of the helix with the plant’s branches or tendrils resting and/or gripping the outer surface grip features and they are thus much less likely to slip off the helix.

In one embodiment the at least one outer surface grip feature includes a wire cross-section with an outer lateral periphery having one or more apices, e.g. the outer perimeter of the cross-section may be triangular, square, hexagonal, polygonal or any other shape having at least one apex. The apices of such a cross-section may act in a similar manner to surface protrusions to form surface grip features.

In one embodiment the plant support includes at least one wire retention clip for attaching the wire to an external support. Preferably, the wire retention clip includes a hook or similar securement for hooking to an external support.

Preferably the wire retention clip includes at least two wire retention features, for securing the wire to the clip, the retention features may, for example, include recesses, apertures, tie points or other securing means for attaching the wire thereto.

Preferably, at least two wire retention features are included, the wire retention features located on opposite sides of the clip to each other.

Preferably, the clip is elongate and at least two wire retention features are included, the wire retention features separated longitudinally with respect to the clip.

The use of multiple spaced retention features enables multiple portions of the wire to be attached to the clip. In use, an operator may manually place one portion of the wire in one retention feature and then extend the wire to one or more other retention features. The clip may thus be securely fastened to the wire.

The operator can vary the growing path length extending from the clip by detaching the wire from the clip and repeating the aforementioned process with different portions of the wire.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of supporting plants during growth by installing a plant support, the method including: − attaching a wire retention clip to a plant support, the plant support including a flexible growing frame formed from a wire-shaped as a non-resilient helix wound about a growing path, wherein the wire includes at least one outer surface grip feature and the plant support is expandable by increasing the length of the growing path by changing the shape of the helix; − attaching the wire retention clip to an external support; − expanding the length of the growing path by changing the shape of the helix.

Therefore, it can be seen that the present invention offers significant advantages over the prior art including a plant support that may more effectively support the plant as it grows up the growing path.

Reference herein is made to various aspects and embodiments of the present invention. For clarity and to aid prolixity every possible combination, iteration or permutation of features, aspects and embodiments are not described explicitly. Thus, it should be appreciated that the disclosure herein includes any combination, iteration or permutation unless explicitly and specifically excluded.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description which is given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1a Shows a perspective view of a plant support according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 1b Shows a perspective view of the plant support in a bent ‘packaging’ configuration; Figure 2a shows a partial cross-section of part of the wire of the plant support of figure 1; Figure 2b shows an enlarged view of figure 2a; Figures 3a, 3b respectively show a side elevation and enlarged view of the plant support of figures 1 and 2, with attachment clip and expanded helix; Figure 4 shows use of the attachment clip with the plant support of figures 1-3; Figure 5 shows use of the attachment clip attached to an external support wire; Figure 6a shows use of the plant support with a tomato plant at an early stage of growth; Figure 6b shows use of the plant support with a tomato plant at a later stage of growth than Fig 5a; Figure 6c shows use of the plant support with a tomato plant at later stage of growth than Fig 5b; Figure 7 shows use of the plant support with a tomato plant at later stage of growth than Fig 5c; Figure 8 shows another embodiment of the present invention for use with bines such as hops; Figure 9 shows a cross-section of a plant support according to an alternative embodiment, showing alternative surface grip features t those shown in Figure 2; Figure 10 shows a cross-section of a plant support according to another alternative embodiment, showing alternative surface grip features t those shown in Figures 2 and 9; BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Although specific advantages have been enumerated above, various embodiments may include some, none, or all of the enumerated advantages.

Other technical advantages may become readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after review of the following figures and description.

It should be understood at the outset that, although exemplary embodiments are illustrated in the figures and described below, the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known or not. The present disclosure should in no way be limited to the exemplary implementations and techniques illustrated in the drawings and described below.

Unless otherwise specifically noted, articles depicted in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the systems, apparatuses, and methods described herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure. For example, the components of the systems and apparatuses may be integrated or separated. Moreover, the operations of the systems and apparatuses disclosed herein may be performed by more, fewer, or other components and the methods described may include more, fewer, or other steps. Additionally, steps may be performed in any suitable order. As used in this document, “each” refers to each member of a set or each member of a subset of a set.

Drawing Reference Table 1 Plant Support 11 Grip features / ridges 2 Plant 12 Wire retention clip 3 Growing Frame 13 Hook 4 Wire 14 Retention features / slots Helix 15 Growing medium 6 Growing path 16 Plant Stem 7 End caps 17 External support wire 8 Wire core 18 Plant Branches 9 Wire mid-layer 19 Growing path Length Wire outer-layer The embodiments described herein with respect to growing hydroponic tomatoes in a glasshouse or other building, but it will be appreciated that this is by way of example only and the present invention may be utilised with other plants in other environments.

Figures 1-6 show a first embodiment of the present invention in the form of a plant support 1 for supporting plants 2 during growth. The plant support 1 includes a flexible growing frame 3 formed from a wire 4 shaped as a non-resilient helix 5 wound about a growing path 6. The growing path is generally defined as the central path or volume of the helix 5. In figure 1a, the growing path is represented by shaded rectangle 6 as the plant support is in a straight, unbent and unstretched state. The length 19 of the growing path 6 is thus shown as the distance between the helix 5 extents. It will be appreciated that the shape of the growing path will vary depending on the shape of the plant support, e.g. if the plant support is bent into a U-shape for packaging as in Figure 1b, the growing path will also be U-shaped.

In Figure 1b, the plant support 1 is showing folded in half for packaging purposes. It will be appreciated that the plant support 1 is flexible it can be shaped as required. This flexibility enables the growing path shape to be modified according to the application or requirements of the user.

It will also be appreciated that the maximum growing path length (when stretched) of the plant support required may vary depending on the application. To achieve a longer or shorter length the plant support 1 is manufactured with more or less coils respectively. For tomatoes and many other plants, it has been found that a plant support 1 with an unstretched length of 360mm and a maximum stretched length of 3600mm is sufficient. The helix 5 has about 82 coils/turns.

The plant support 1 has an internal growing path diameter (of region within helix coil/turn) when unstretched of about 12mm which has been found to suit many plants, including tomatoes.

As most clearly seen in Figure 2, the wire 4 includes outer surface grip features provided in the form of protruding ridges 11 on the outer layer 10 of the wire 4. The ridges 11 extend continuously along the length of the wire 4.

Although ridges could be provided about the entire lateral periphery of the outer layer 10, additional ridges would add manufacturing cost. In use, the plant 2 typically only contacts the upper surface (with respect to a vertical growing path) of the turns of the wire 4 in the helix 5.

Thus, in the embodiment shown in the figures, the ridges 11 are only provided on a portion of the lateral periphery of the wire 4. The wire 4 is then coiled such that the ridged portion faces one end of the growing path 6. Thus, in use the plant support 1 can be orientated so that the ridged portion faces upwards.

In an alternative embodiment, as shown in Figure 9, the wire 4 may be shaped with the cross- section having one or more apices 11 forming the surface grip features, e.g. the wire 4 has a hexagonal outer surface. The apices 11 of such a cross-section may act in a similar manner to the ridges 11 and thus form surface grip features.

The surface grip features may also be formed in different shapes and configurations. Figure shows examples of alternative surface grip features including: a) a groove 11a with an arcuate cross-section, b) a groove 11b with a triangular cross-section, c) a groove 11c with a U-shaped cross-section, d) a ridge 11d with a U-shaped cross-section.

It will be appreciated that numerous shapes and configurations for the surface grip features could be provided and function similarly to the ridges 11 shown in Figure 2. For ease of manufacturing the surface grip features 11 extend continuously along the length of the wire.

However, it may be advantageous in some applications to provide discontinuities at points along the surface grip features e.g. a break in the ridges 11 may be made every 30cm to aid in calculating length of the coil 4, or discontinuities may be provided to provide additional friction for plants.

The examples of surface grip features herein are thus exemplary only. The shape, number of and configuration of the surface grip features may be varied to suit different applications and environments.

The wire 4 is constructed from multiple concentric layers including a non-resilient copper core layer 8 sheathed in a Polypropylene mid-layer 9 and an outer ThermoPlastic Elastomer (TPE) layer 10. It will be appreciated that alternative equivalent materials or structures may be used, e.g. a hollow tubular core, different metal, single outer layer or alternative plastics used.

However, it has been found that a solid copper core 8 provides a relatively inexpensive, non- resilient core 8 that ensures the helix 5 retains shape when manipulated, e.g. by expanding the plant support to increase the length of the helix 5 / growing path 6.

The use of TPE as the outer layer 10 provides a relatively high-friction outer surface for the plant 2 to grip and thus acts as a further type of grip feature, in addition to ridges 11.

The Polypropylene mid-layer 9 provides strength and a degree of resiliency to the wire 4.

In the preferred embodiment shown if the Figures 1-8 the wire 4 is formed from three layers with the following parameters.

• The outer layer 10 makes up about 62% of volume but may be between 50-70%.

• The mid-layer 9 makes up about 32% of volume but may be between 25-40%.

• The core 8 makes up about 6% of volume but may be between 4-15%.

The outer layer 10 is constructed from TPE with a hardness of about 80 on the Shore A scale.

The densities of the various components may also be varied to suit the application but in the preferred embodiment described herein the: • wire core 8 has a density of between about 8,820 and 8,970 kgm and preferably about 8,930 kgm ; • mid-layer has a density of between about 895 and 1,050 kgm and preferably about 1,000 kgm ; • outer layer 10 has a density of between about 940 and 1,050 kgm and preferably about 1,000 kgm .

The preferred density strength values listed above are approximate only and should not be seen to be specifically limiting, the actual precise density values may vary depending on production techniques, chemistry and environmental variables.

The tensile strength of the various components in the preferred embodiment described herein are listed below: • wire core 8 has a tensile strength of about 10kg; • mid-layer has a tensile strength of about 2kg; • outer layer 10 has a tensile strength of about 2kg; The tensile strength values listed above are approximate and should not be seen to be specifically limiting, the values may vary depending on production techniques and chemistry and may vary.

This combination of a non-resilient wire core 8, resilient mid-layer and higher density outer resilient layer results in a plant support 1 that can be stretched and bent to shape while still retaining a degree of resilience and being sufficiently strong to withstand environmental conditions and operating stresses.

The plant support 1 is expandable by increasing the length of the growing path 6 by changing the shape of the non-resilient helix 5. The change in length is most clearly seen in Figures 6a- The method of using the plant support 1 will now be described with respect to Figures 3-7.

A wire retention clip 12 is provided with a hook 13 and two retention features in the form of two longitudinally separated wire slots 14a, 14b. The slots 14a and 14b are on opposite sides of the clip 12. A portion of the wire 4 is inserted into the slot 14a and then another portion into the slot 14b. The clip 12 is thus retained securely to the wire 4. The plant support 1 can be subsequently adjusted by removing the wire 4 from the slots 14a, 14b and different portions of the wire 4 inserted. The adjustability of the clip 12 enables the plant support 1 growing path length 19 to be modified to suit a variety of different heights.

As shown in figure 5, the hook 13 of the clip 12 is attached to an external support in the form of a horizontally extending support wire 17.

Figures 6a-6c shows the use of the plant support 1 in a tomato growing operation with plants 2 planted into a growing medium such as soil or a hydroponic medium.

In Figure 6a, the tomato plant 2 is relatively small. The plant support 1 has a retention clip 12 secured to the wire 4 and hooked to the support wire 17. The plant support 1 hangs vertically from the clip 12 and support wire 17 to form a growing frame 3 for the plant 2.

The growing path 6 can be lengthened by pulling the wire 4 downward in the arrow direction to change the shape of the helix 5 to have a greater turn pitch.

When the tomato plant 2 has grown to a sufficient size (approx. 20cm) the plant stem 16 is wrapped into the helix 5 (see Fig 6b) and is thus guided to grow up the growing path 6.

As shown in Fig 6c as the plant 2 grows further, the stem can be progressively entwined into the helix 5 to ensure the plant 2 grows up the growing path 6 and is effectively supported by the plant support 1.

Figure 7 shows the plant 2 at a fruiting growth state with enlargements of portions of the stem 16 with entwined wire 4 of the plant support 1.

As the helix 5 is non-resilient it will retain its shape once stretched, either through manual manipulation or by the plant stem 16 and branches 18 applying tension to the helix 5. In contrast, if a resilient helix were used such as a spring the tension would increase with expansion and therefore require some form of tie to secure the spring in its extended state.

Moreover, a spring would apply tension to the plant 2 potentially damaging it. The non-resilient helix 5 thus provides significant advantages over resilient growing supports.

The ridges 11 (not shown in Figs 4-7) act to increase the friction at the contact areas of the plant stem 16 or branches and entwined wire 4 thereby reducing the likelihood that the plant 2 will slip form the support 1.

Figure 8 shows an example of use of the plant support for supporting hops. In this embodiment, a longer plant support 1 may be used than for tomato plants or alternatively multiple plant supports may be used and joined together via joining clips (not shown) to reach the height required to grow hops.

Hops are typically grown with an overhead support wire 17 strung between support posts and a growing string or wire extending at a non-vertical angle from the support wire to ground retention points near the plant roots. As the plant grows it wraps its stem about the growing string and grows up towards the support wire 17.

The plant support 1 of preferred embodiments may supplant the growing string/wire to offer a higher grip plant support that can have its length modified to suit the application.

Therefore, it can be seen that the present invention offers significant advantages over the prior art including a plant support that may more effectively support the plant as it grows up a growing path.

It should be understood that there exist implementations of other variations and modifications of the invention and its various aspects, as may be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, and that the invention is not limited by the specific embodiments described herein.

Features and embodiments described above may be combined with and without each other.

It is therefore contemplated to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations or equivalents that fall within the scope of the basic underlying principals disclosed and claimed herein.

Claims (15)

Claims:

1. A plant support for supporting plants during growth, the plant support including: − a flexible growing frame formed from a wire shaped as a non-resilient helix wound about a growing path, wherein said wire includes a metallic core and at least one outer surface grip feature and the plant support is expandable by increasing the length of the growing path by changing the shape of the non-resilient helix, characterised in that the wire includes an outer polymer layer of Thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) or other high-friction material and the outer surface grip feature is formed on the wire by said outer layer of Thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) or other high-friction material.

2. A plant support as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wire includes at least one polymer mid- layer.

3. A plant support as claimed in claim 2, wherein the wire is constructed with the outer layer forming between 50-70% of wire volume.

4. A plant support as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the wire is constructed with the mid-layer forming between 25-40% of wire volume.

5. A plant support as claimed in any one of claims 2-4, wherein the wire is constructed with the non-resilient layer forming between 4-15% of wire volume.

6. A plant support as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one outer surface grip feature is integrally formed in the outer polymer layer of the wire.

7. A plant support as claimed in in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one outer surface grip feature further includes a: − protrusion; − recess; − continuous or semi-continuous ridge; − continuous or semi-continuous groove; − wire cross-section having one or more apices; − any combination, permutation, iteration or multiple of the above.

8. A plant support as claimed in claim 7, wherein the at least one outer surface grip feature includes multiple ridges or grooves formed in the outer layer of the wire about only a portion of the lateral periphery of the wire.

9. A plant support as claimed in claim 7, wherein the at least one outer surface grip feature includes a wire cross-section with an outer lateral periphery having one or more apices

10. A plant support as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the plant support includes at least one wire retention clip for attaching the wire to an external support.

11. A plant support as claimed in claim 10, wherein the wire retention clip includes a hook or similar securement for hooking to an external support.

12. A plant support as claimed in claim 10 or claim 11, wherein the wire retention clip includes at least two wire retention features, for securing the wire to the clip.

13. A plant support as claimed in claim 12, wherein at least two said wire retention features are included, the wire retention features located on opposite sides of the clip to each other.

14. A plant support as claimed in claim 12, wherein the clip is elongate and at least two wire retention features are included, the wire retention features separated longitudinally with respect to the clip.

15. A method of supporting plants during growth by installing a plant support, the method including: − attaching a wire retention clip to a plant support, the plant support including a flexible growing frame formed from a wire shaped as a non-resilient helix wound about a growing path, wherein the wire includes a metallic core and at least one outer surface grip feature and the plant support is expandable by increasing the length of the growing path by changing the shape of the helix, the wire including an outer layer of Thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) or other high-friction material and the outer surface grip feature formed on the wire by said outer layer of Thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) or other high-friction material; − attaching the wire retention clip to an external support; − expanding the length of the growing path by changing the shape of the helix.