Tomato cages /supports

[southpaw]

Made my own tomato cages out of 3/8" rebar

They are fabricated at 9' and have 7' 6" sticking out of the ground , the triangular shape is 20" and spacing is around 10" ......18" of the rebar supports these cages really well

These measurements were planned beforehand as not to waste any material when I bought a whole bunch of rebar lengths , all that was left were approx, 4" cutoffs from each 20' length of the rebar , 5 cages were made altogether and on the last cage I think the vertical spacing was 12" or 14 " as to save on material being used

The indeterminate tomatoes will grow out the top of these cages easily and are easy to pick the fruit out of ( If I were to make these again a 24" triangle would be my choice and the vertical spacing would be 12" ) ........we grew Roma in 1 cage and that worked out real nice as the fruits again were easy to pick

Also a couple 4' x 8 ' cattle panels were used to support the grape tomato and tomatillos , this year I'll be putting a grape tomato in one 9' cage a let it grow wild

Thought I would share these plans as just about every gardener loves tomato , the cattle panels do well for the sprawling grape and cherry tomatoes but growing them vertically is going to help keep me off my hands and knees harvesting them ..........I will be rotating those cattle panels this spring so they are going to be 8' tall X 4' wide and will be fabricating my own 10' T posts to support them ........possibly I may make a V shape out of 2 cattle panels and make a trellis system, that would eliminate the need for special fabricated T posts , will post pictures of what I decide on when the project is completed after snow is gone in April

Most likely will do both of those ideas

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Made my own tomato cages out of 3/8" rebar

They are fabricated at 9' and have 7' 6" sticking out of the ground , the triangular shape is 20" and spacing is around 10" ......18" of the rebar supports these cages really well

These measurements were planned beforehand as not to waste any material when I bought a whole bunch of rebar lengths , all that was left were approx, 4" cutoffs from each 20' length of the rebar , 5 cages were made altogether and on the last cage I think the vertical spacing was 12" or 14 " as to save on material being used

The indeterminate tomatoes will grow out the top of these cages easily and are easy to pick the fruit out of ( If I were to make these again a 24" triangle would be my choice and the vertical spacing would be 12" ) ........we grew Roma in 1 cage and that worked out real nice as the fruits again were easy to pick

Also a couple 4' x 8 ' cattle panels were used to support the grape tomato and tomatillos , this year I'll be putting a grape tomato in one 9' cage a let it grow wild

Thought I would share these plans as just about every gardener loves tomato , the cattle panels do well for the sprawling grape and cherry tomatoes but growing them vertically is going to help keep me off my hands and knees harvesting them ..........I will be rotating those cattle panels this spring so they are going to be 8' tall X 4' wide and will be fabricating my own 10' T posts to support them ........possibly I may make a V shape out of 2 cattle panels and make a trellis system, that would eliminate the need for special fabricated T posts , will post pictures of what I decide on when the project is completed after snow is gone in April

Most likely will do both of those ideas

way to go!

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

no snow down here (yet!) but lots of fall tomatoes. these yesterday foto. still got them on the fall plants. and i noticed yesterday... couple still flowering! yes, we have 2 full growing seasons... Big Beef variety

 

[Driver4r]

We buy rolls of concrete mesh to make ours. Not as thick as a cattle panel. But still gets the job done.

 

[southpaw]

We buy rolls of concrete mesh to make ours. Not as thick as a cattle panel. But still gets the job done.

Yeah that will work just fine also , you can adjust for the size cylindrical shape you want and can stack that material also.

Would make for a good trellis material also along with a compost pile if one wanted to , good garden material for sure

Those pre fab cages and other things they sell in box stores for garden's just don't cut it with me

 

[Del_]

I use cement reinforcing wire comes in a roll 5ft. x 150ft. The last for years but do eventually rust badly where they are in contact with the soil.

 

[Kanscruzer]

I use cement reinforcing wire comes in a roll 5ft. x 150ft. The last for years but do eventually rust badly where they are in contact with the soil.

use 3 ft long rebar & rebar ties , 1' deep , hold the mesh off the ground. My cages last forever . green bean & peas work well with cattle panels

 

[Del_]

use 3 ft long rebar & rebar ties , 1' deep , hold the mesh off the ground. My cages last forever . green bean & peas work well with cattle panels

That is a good Idea. I've considered tying them to erosion control fencing stakes but they are a bit overkill for the task. Some of my cages are 30 years old and would probably go another 30 if supported off of the ground.

 

[atlashunter]

We've tried different methods but eventually settled on cattle panels and t posts. Costs a bit up front but they are sturdy and last years.

 

[sonny580]

I run out of material so I started using standard woven wire. Lasts for many years, not quite high enough but it works.

 

[SweetMK]

Look up "Florida Weave" on YouTube,,

https://www.google.com/search?q="Florida+Weave"&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS878US878&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
We only weave tomatoes now (also anything else that would climb, like peas, and cucumbers)

A few steel fence posts, and some natural fiber baling twine (the plastic baling twine will not rot away)

Sometimes, I weave the entire height at the start, then tuck in the plants.
Other times, I add a row of weave, each time the plants get taller. BOTH methods work great.

I have had six foot tall tomatoes held up like this. (the aluminum scares crows out of corn about to come out of the ground)

When the plants are done,, hit the twine with a machete, it is so weak, it just falls to the ground.
The cleaned posts are ready for the next season.

I do dispose of the tomato vines, and twine,, I have heard disease can carry over on it,,,

 

[sonny580]

Twine here wont work at all----too wet and plants grow to big for it to hold them up and it breaks about mid season and the whole mess hits the ground.

 

[SweetMK]

Twine here wont work at all----too wet and plants grow to big for it to hold them up and it breaks about mid season and the whole mess hits the ground.

One of the first years I gardened,, I fertilized the tomatoes with 10-10-10,,
and had vines so big, NOTHING would hold them up,,

BUT,, all that nitrogen,, resulted in great vines,, BUT, ZERO TOMATOES!!
I learned my lesson about nitrogen on tomatoes!! LOL!!

 

[sonny580]

The only fertilizer here is horse manure!

 

[esshup]

We've tried different methods but eventually settled on cattle panels and t posts. Costs a bit up front but they are sturdy and last years.

I use 2 panels, one vertical and the other one on top of the first one, connected by cheap carabiners braced up at an angle, just steep enough that the pole beans will keep climbing. Then I hunch under it to pick the hanging beans. They are very easy to see that way.

 

[PEK]

Used to use wire across the main metal poles to hold the sticks up but it seemed to damage the tops of the tomato plants during the heat of summer so use baler twine at different heights and as plants grow normal twine tied to sticks to support the weight and height.

 

[djg james]

I use 2 panels, one vertical and the other one on top of the first one, connected by cheap carabiners braced up at an angle, just steep enough that the pole beans will keep climbing. Then I hunch under it to pick the hanging beans. They are very easy to see that way.

Sounds interesting, but not sure I know what you are talking about. Pics?

 

[esshup]

Sounds interesting, but not sure I know what you are talking about. Pics?

I'll have to scribble it on paper.

 

[esshup]

The "stakes" are actually a sign post that looks like _/ \_ (the top part is flat with a bunch of holes punched in it the whole length).
The stake that holds up the slightly off vertical piece is in the ground about 2 feet, the hog panels and just connected together by cheap carabiners and there is a carabiner on the top of each of the stakes that aren't in the ground to hold the hog panel on the top of those "stakes". The hog panels are I believe 4'x8'.

You can train them to climb up the hog panel from the ground by tying a piece of hemp string to the bottom of the hog panel where the pole bean plant is coming up from the ground. To clean off the panels after they die, just burn 'em off. You are looking at the 4' side of the hog panel, the 8' length is going away from you.

 

[muddstopper]

Well, I dont know when it became called the Florida weave, but we used to grow tomatoes commercially 50 years ago and we just called it trellis. We would plant post along the row and top the post with a strong wire. From the wire we would tie string down to the plants. We would just wrap the plant with the string as it grew up. We had a small gocart looking tractor we had made racks to hold mater boxes. Boxes where wooden back then and held 30lbs each. Three people would ride the tractor and pick tomato's out of 3 different rows at the same time. When you got to the end of the row, you would unload the full boxes and reload empties and the pick the next three rows until the whole field was picked. You had to pick every day and take to the market, usually everything that would fit in the back of a long bed pickup truck.