tomato cages

The family and I planted about 50 tomatos plants today and was talking about the type of cages we wanted to use. When we started looking at cost they are very expensive. What do you guys and gals use for your cages? Do you make your own or buy them?

Just use a steak. Cheaper that way and if you're worries about birds you can drap a netting over them

Buy a roll of fence from Tractor Supply, it will make you close to a hundred cages. Clicky

Florida Weave.

Any cuts you recommend?

I always wondered what a steak tomato was... guess I know now.



TRG

doh

We normally use T-posts, one per plant and just tie the plant to the post as it grows. But this year we're probably going to approach it a little differently (since we've scavenged most of our T-posts for real fences), and set up cattle panels with T-posts on the ends, one in the middle, and tie the plants to those instead. More cost effective for a large number of plants.

QFT, same here.

Wire re-mesh works too.

Also saw a great alternative on youtube using cattle panels and rebar, instead of a cage per plant they uses the panels to make horizontal levels that the plants grow up through. I'll see if I can find the link and post it up.

J-

I have the left overs of a roll of stock fence from fencing in my property that I make cages out of. It's 5' tall and has the narrow openings at the bottom going to larger openings to the top. I cut it into six panel widths, roll it and tie the wire ends over itself to make the round cage. I cut the lower three sections off leaving the down strands log to poke into the soil for support

Interesting setup, but have you actually used cages made of that material before? I think a fully-loaded tomato plant will collapse those like an accordion; they really don't look strong enough to add much support. I've had big plants pull down T-posts that were driven a foot in the ground before.

(offered in the spirit of constructive criticism, not "you're doing it all wrong...")

This year I'm going with remesh rolled into a cylinder and zip tied to a couple t-post. I'd love to try out some of the Texas Tomatoes Cages, but they are WAY too expensive.

No offense taken. Yes, I have used this setup quite effectively for a couple years now and have no problems with the vines crushing the cages. I center the plant and then thread the growth through the openings. My plants typically only get 5' or so and I trail them back down over the top. Last year 4 tomato plants produced over 200 tomatoes averaging around 2.75-3" in diameter. My peppers, Poblano and Big Jim's, averaged around 35 per plant. I am raising the top cover this year by two feet to allow taller growth. I am growing this way as we have a huge ground squirrel problem and they can't get in to my planters. i use a soaker hose to irrigate.

I got a roll of reinforement wire for concrete work. 4 foot wide roll of welded wire with 6 inch openings. I cut lengths loose to make cages 18" to 20" in diameter, i think. always cut with one end with closed square grid and the other end leaves a loose end. Pull the two ends to together and twist the loose ends around the straight edge. I got the roll for $20 or less, for 20 some cages.

Can't argue with success!

To be fair, my worst "fall-over" experiences have generally been after a heavy rain when the plants are really saturated with water, and wind probably contributed as well. You probably don't have the saturation problem there in AZ

I put the new plants in on Feb. 2, and they are already over 2' with lot's of buds setting. By the time our monsoon season starts in mid to late July, and IF we get a lot of rain, my plants will be fairly stripped down and almost done for the year. I push them pretty hard per my years in a greenhouse operation. I'm slowing down with them this year though and trying for a September/ October finish to see what they'll yield. Our summer rains have been pretty dismal for quite awhile now.

Hope everyone else's do well.

This is what I use, except it was a 5' roll from Menard's. They will last forever.

AZNemesis,

Does your shade cloth setup cool the tomatoes down enough for them to set fruit in our hotter weather, or do the blossoms still drop? What varieties have you found to be best suited for the heat?

The shade cloth itself helps little far as the heat goes but does keep the direct burning afternoon sun off the plants. I mist them periodically during the day and I'm thinking about setting up a mister system. My BIL in Wilcox used it effectively last year and grew some monster vines with good yield. I am thinking about running it on the outside of the cloth for a evaporative cooling effect and hopefully won't cause any plant/moisture problems. Everything is mulched in heavily with straw and I always make sure the top soil under the mulch is dry at night to preclude bug problems. So far I've just used the generic varieties (beefsteak, yellow pear, early boy, husky cherry, and patio) from Home Depot. I had planned to go all heirloom this year but got stupid and didn't order seeds early enough to get them going. Going to build a hot box for next year and get them going early.

Everything was planted Feb. 2nd and I am raising the shade two feet right now as my plants are almost up to the top of my 4' cages and I am going for taller plants and longer yield times this year. I can grow hell out of the plants, we'll see what they do for production this year.

Concrete reinforcing wire is the most economical and sturdiest for tomato cages.

I'm using 5' galvanized field fence for my tomato cages.

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