Tomato "cages"

Hi everyone...I've always used the large rounded cages for my tomatoes, or just staked them if they were smaller varieties. However, neither truly provide a really good, sturdy structure for them. I end up with giant plants, completely overtaking their cages. While I love the fact that my tomatoes are happy and vigorous, I'd like to provide a better structure for them as they grow. What do you all use?? I've thought about designing my own....

Thanks! Kim

I use the concrete reinforcing wire and plastic electrical ties to make six foot tall cages that are quite sturdy and roomy. Still, they must be staked down securely.

Zeppy....is that like re-bar?

Concrete reinforcing wire is a welded wire fabric with a 6" x 6" mesh. It comes in rolls 5 or 6' tall and you can buy it by the foot. I would say the wire is about 8 gauge wire (About 1/8 in diameter. 10 or 12 foot of this formed into a circke makes the best support for tomatoes as far as I am concerned.
George

oooooh...now I know exactly what you're talking about. Hmm, I think we actually have some of that sitting behind the shed (my dh has made a few light weight archway-trellises for plants like morning glories & dutchman's pipe out of it)....guess I'll pull it out and see how much is there. Thanks for the great suggestions!

If you make them in three diameters, you can save a little space by stacking them during winter.

Wear gloves! And arm protection.

If you put them together with twist ties or plastic ties, You can take off the ties and stack them flat during the winter. Worth the extra effort if you are short of storage space.

Farmerdill,
Do you have a picture you could post, please?

I stake mine with the taller green plastic/wire stakes. Since they're not cheap and I stake about 30 or more tomatoes a year I bought them a half-dozen or so each year, and used bamboo stakes for the other plants - after a few years, I had enough stakes for all the plants.

Here are some companie that sell or specialize in plant cages, stakes and supports: http://davesgarden.com/gwd/advanced.php?category=122&submit=Go - if nothing else, you might get some ideas for how to build your own.

For those of you who have built your own cages, I hope you'll add a picture of your own structures here: http://davesgarden.com/terms/go/935.html

I use concrete reinforcing wire for the cages and rebar 3/8" or 1/2" for the stakes. I just run the top wire of the cage over the stake to hold it in place.

I use to have a couple of old ladies across the street from me, (gone now) but they used field fencing and made cages with it and secured it to the ground with stakes, it worked for them. I do like the concrete reenforcing wire. I may do that this year. Last year we staked 4 stakes to each plant and tied string around the 4 stakes, (rebarb stakes) never have enough though.

Guess one could get that concrete reenforcing wire at Tractor supply ha? (TSC)

kathy _ann,

I have bought the concrete reinforcing wire at Lowe's in 50 foot lengths. Six foot lengths will roll up to about 22 inches in diameter. You can stake them down or cut the bottom horizonal wire off and push them into the ground 6 inches.

I roll them up one around each other until I have 7 of them in one bundle when storing them [behind my storage building back by the field.

After years of struggling with cages, I've eliminated them from my garden. I've been cutting them back to a single vine, and growing them as one would grow grapes (espalier, or four-arm Kniffen system). Harvesting is easier, it's much more aethstetically pleasing, and I've noticed little (re: no) reduction in yield. The plants also seem to have less problems with disease and/or pests.

HTH,
Eggs

Eggs,
Do you have a picture you could post of your system? Thanks.

Thanks so much for all the helpful ideas!! I never really thought about pruning them back to more of a vine instead of a bush...I think I may test that in my garden this year, what an interesting idea! I'll be making a few trips to the store to try to get some more fencing/wire...such great ideas. Thank you all!!!!
~Kim

Hiya Gymgirl,

Sorry, I haven't ever really thought about taking pics of the veggie garden, but this spring/summer I'll make it a point to do so. =)

As it is now, I'm using a couple wooden trellises, but I've got a couple leftover 4x4 cedar boards that I'm planning on making a six foot tall frame out of. Two uprights, and one across the top, spanning the length of the bed. I'll then run tight, horizontal, heavy-gauge wires across, every two feet up from the bottom. There's no need to try and run vertical wires. I'll run heavy twine vertically, at the plant. From there it's simply a matter of pruning the plant back and loosely tying it to the string. As branches bud out near the horizontal wires, I'll train the side branches to the wires, by loosely tying them. Hope that makes sense. =)

An important thing to remember is to leave some leaves to shade the fruit. Don't get really "prune-happy". Suckers get removed, as always, and any stray branches get removed.

HTH,
Eggs

Thanks Eggs!

I googled the four-arm Kniffen system and I can see, exactly, how neat this would be. It's simple and efficient! My only concern is knowing which excess branches to trim away. Like you said, I don't want to get "prune happy" and harm my maters! I understand about taking off the suckers growing in the "V" of a branch. I guess if push comes to shove, I'll just tie as much up as I can.

I do know I'll need to make the trellis higher than 6 ft., though, because most all of my maters are Indeterminate Heirlooms, and I've been told they can go as high as 20 ft. or so. I could clip the tip once it got as high as I could manage, and that would stop the upward growth. Also, my EBs will be placed perpendicular to a 4 ft. chain link fence. That should provide some additional trellising for what doesn't get trained to the Kniffen system.

My seedlings are about 6" tall now in styro cups. I hope to plant out next weekend in my Earthboxes and 5-gallon buckets. If it's ok with you, I'll post pics when the time comes. Maybe you could advise as I go along. Remember, this is my very first veggie-growing experience!

Appreciate your help!

Linda

Good luck, Linda. I think you'll like growing tomato plants as an espalier. It's not difficult at all. =)

last year i bought nylon netting that i was ging to set p for my container tomato plants. i never go to do it but this year i am REALLY gonna get it up. i also bought form www.farmtek.com a "green house bench" it is 10 ft. long and 4 ft wide. i plan to put my containers on this bench and set up the netting (it has 4 inch squares in it) around the plants and then just push the branches through the openings for support. i rarely do any pruning of my tomato plants

Whoa Eggs. An unpruned plant produces a larger poundage per plant than an unpruned plant. Pruning does give you in many cases larger tomatoes. By pruning you can use a closer spacing and get more plants in a given area. The prune or not to prune debate has raged for years. Take your choice, There is no clear cut definitive best practice in this case. I don't prune unless I want to grow specimen ( bragging) tomatoes for show, but I certainly respect those who routinely prune.

Hiya Farmerdill, I think I may have mistyped. =)

When I read Herbie's post, I read it as "including suckers". I consider sucker removal to be part of "pruning", hence my statement. If you allow the unwanted suckers to develop, they're taking energy away from what could go into fruiting. That make more sense? Hopefully, everybody removes them. =)

Cheers,
Eggs

I remove nothing but tomato hornworms (and there was only one of them last year).

My plants bear more than anyone in the neighborhood and probably the town, and they're a good eight feet high, and no problem with sunscald. Just another experience.

I'm with the Zeppy school of thought, and I think our resident tomato expert Carolyn agrees too.
The cages I use are made from what my husband's family called hog wire, but I have a feeling it's the same wire as concrete reinforcing wire. The cages are large enough and sturdy enough to hold up a vigorous plant but can topple in a strong wind if not anchored. Mine are stored outside and aside from the rust, they seem no worse for it.

Yup. Same thing.

Rust... just adds iron. :)

There's definately two schools of thought about what to do with tomato plants, and what the results are. I can't argue anyone's methods, when they have success with them. I can only relate what I've found, from various experiments that I've done.

Apologies if I stirred up anything. I sure didn't mean to. =)

Eggs

No apologies necessary, The merits of both approaches have been debated for years and tied up a lot space on newsgroups, It is just important, as the old folks use to say, to remember that there is more than one way to skin the cat.

Exactly! There's never one right way to do anything. Just different ways that suit the individual. Everyone has to do what works best and easiest for them.

Whatever works for ya. Glad for all the differing ideas and ways to do things. Some of us

"Ole Knuckleheads" are probably going to keep on doing it the way we want to anyway,,,,,,, as long

as it keeps working for us. LOL. ......... "Cause that's th' way mh' grandpa did it."

Thank you all for all your different techniques. Never know when there might be a special need for

a different way of doing things. :))

I am still trying to find out if anyone uses Veggiecages? Search veggie cage on the net and you will see them. They are not the small spiral sticks, but large, spiral like tubing that support that plant. I tried using the search on here but the search function brings up way too many results.

I also use remesh (concrete wire). Last year I got lazy and didn't nip the growth tips and my maters grew out the tops of the cages, and every where. We had two strong wind storms late in the season. The first one blew over a coouple of the cages, even though they were staked. I set them back up, and the plants seemed to be recovering well. Then we got the second wind storm and it pushed over every thing and my plants didn't recover from that one. Boy what a mess. This year I plant on putting in a few strategically placed T posts for a little additional support. I hope I remember to pinch out the growth tips this year when they hit the top.

GiddyMoon, please try searching for "spiral" and choosing only the tomato forum to search in. There are only 22 results, and veggie cages are mentioned in some of the threads.