Tomato Cages

   / Tomato Cages #31  
I use mostly regular heavy conical cages I get at local auctions - usually after the growing season is over. I rarely pay more than a buck apiece and they are in good shape. I have used scrap fencing - conventional woven wire cattle fence. Just cut out a few feet and curl into a cylinder. I then tie it to a locust stick driven in the ground for stability. I hate to spend money when a major purpose of gardening is to keep the costs of my food down.
 
   / Tomato Cages #32  
I use mostly regular heavy conical cages I get at local auctions - usually after the growing season is over. I rarely pay more than a buck apiece and they are in good shape. I have used scrap fencing - conventional woven wire cattle fence. Just cut out a few feet and curl into a cylinder. I then tie it to a locust stick driven in the ground for stability. I hate to spend money when a major purpose of gardening is to keep the costs of my food down.

How do you roll the cattle panel into a cylinder and what is the diameter?
 
   / Tomato Cages #33  
How do you roll the cattle panel into a cylinder and what is the diameter?

I make a lot of things out of old fence wire scrap. They're great for protecting trees and other things too. For veggie cages I sometimes just start with the end of a scrap section and form it by hand. I make sure I have 6 to 8 inches of each horizontal wire and bend it around to make a cylinder about 18 inches or a little less, then hook each wire on itself. I have used a piece of old drainage pipe of the appropriate size as a form sometimes. Once the wires are hooked, I cut off the rest - usually with an old set of bolt cutters for easy work. Then I twist the wires to form a good connection. I usually use a set of lineman's pliers and a regular fence plier to do the twisting. The closer bottom wires are hardest but you don't really need a strong connection on every one. Once I have the cylinders I place them over the tomato, cucumber or squash plant and drive a pole made from a locust sapling in to support it. Costs me nothing except a little time and effort.
 
   / Tomato Cages #35  
Thank you 94Bullit. We are a very small farm, specializing in heirloom tomatoes, sweet corn, strawberries, and heritage meats. We market directly to consumer and restaurants.
 
   / Tomato Cages #36  
We get big wind storms in the summer, I don't think Florida weave would hold up. Off season storage looks pretty minimal though, pile of stakes and a ball of twine.

I tried the weave last year and the wind forced me back to wire mesh cages. Also, my big plants sprawled way outside of the weave and didn't get the support they needed, and the jute stretched, and I was having to string new lines at higher points on the stakes as the plants grew. Lots of work.

For situations with less wind and smaller, less-sprawling varieties, the weave could work.

Pics of the cages (t-posts were used for the weave):

Cage2.jpgCage1.jpg
 
   / Tomato Cages #37  
I'm not suggesting you weave or not.
I hate that it did not work for y'all. Here is how we do it.

The wind will catch the tomato "wall". I have had them blow over with wooden stakes. We now use 1 1/2" thin wall pipe. Stake -two plants -stake. 3 plants will not work for indeterminate plants. We tie once a week. String must be tight, sch 40 3/4 pipe is used to stretch and tie. End t posts are drove at slight angles for extra bracing.

My issue with cages is I can't get tomatoes through the grids! ;)
Best of luck to y'all this season! Hope your gardens do well!
 
   / Tomato Cages #38  
Obviously to me is that the weave works best with a semi bush in field grown rows. Most compatible types are usually a strong determinate varieties which produce one heavy yield for a single main harvest per season...usually cropping over a short couple of weeks time. Long season indeterminate or more especially the long vine types usually found with heirlooms, all need there own specialized support. Cages work well with big plants and manageable smaller sized gardens. Once you get into production growing you surely need alternatives and cost conscious methods. I have found letting one my favorite heirlooms the old Burpee delicious just run on the ground produced some awesome tomatoes. Between the weight of the large fruits and the vine re-rooting again THAT worked the best way for me. Growing with a ground mulch (plastic here) helped keep them out of the dirt. Just don't make it a bed for rodents. :D
 
 
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