Tomato baskets/cages

[theboman]

What are they called and where do you get them? It's a wire cage that you put around your tomato plants so you don't have to stake and tie them up.
I have an uncle that uses them an thought this was a great idea.

 

[fishman]

The best stuff to make cages out of in my opinion is the welded wire mesh used for concrete reinforcement. It takes a little time and a good tool to cut it, but the resulting cage is much higher than any of the little prefab units you can buy at the garden center. This height is necessary or the tomatoes will grow out and over very quickly. Any rigid wire fencing that has openings big enough to stick your hand through and pull out a tomato should work well.

One other thing, you will need to keep all of the tomato vines inside the cage. Checking them about every 3-4 days and pushing errant vines back through the cage to the inside should be sufficient. In the rare case where the vines need to be tied I use small strips of old pantyhose (don't laugh, it works great!) If you're gone for a week, the vines will get too long outside of the cage and tying to the cage will be necessary.

One last tip. I clip off the bottom horizontal strand of wire on each cage. This leaves a multitude of 4" long wire "spears" sticking down to anchor the cage to the ground. In areas where wind is a problem, this won't be enough, and additional stakes will be necessary (inexpensive tent stakes, 3 per cage, work great).

 

[theboman]

I believe that's what I'll do. Got checking websites and those buggers are pricey. A roll of wire remesh is inexpensive. I'll get me some nice big wire cutters, may use the ol' rip saw and cut the wire.
Thanks!

 

[OkieG]

Tomato cages sounds right. We've had ours so long, I can't remember if they were "pricey" or not. Every season a weld or two comes loose, so I just tack it back together. I expect these cages will last forever. In the Fall I just stack 'em together and put them in a corner somewhere.

My tomato plants never get pruned. Maybe I should. Each year they eventually grow over the top of the cages and lean one way or the other and the cage starts to tip. Not this year though. Pictured are my cages, each supported by a metal garden stake. A short length of twisted wire connects the stake to the cage at the top ring. No tipping this year...I hope.

By the way, I think most garden centers and nurseries will have some sort of tomato cage.

OkieG

 

[theboman]

150' of wire remesh is around $57 and 50' around $23 locally here at Lowes. 150' will make more than I'll need, the 50' is less than I need.

 

[Bird]

Fishman just described my tomato cages. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Ches]

About six years ago I bought a 150 ft. roll of what old timers call "hog wire" and made about 50 tomato cages. The wire is galvanized and doesn't rust. The openings at the bottom are smaller (enough to keep most critters out) and are larger towards the top (where you can reach in with your hand and pick the tomatoes). Took some time to do the cutting but was well worth the effort. They look as good as the day I made them.

 

[chrisjbell]

I'd say pick up the big roll.

You can also use it to build a "trellis" of sort. Take a section of it and support it with Tposts (or something like that). Plant beans at the bottom - they'll grow right up. Put two "walls" closely spaced, if needed.

Also is useful to make row covers / pseudo coldframes.

I need more, come to think of it /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif...

 

[Molerj]

I use 1/2 rebar. I buy the 20' lengths, cut them in 3 pieces. Use a post driver to put them in. I use twine to tie up the plants. Also pick the suckers off. (at least at the beginning, they grow fast!)

 

[ernemats]

The premade ones you buy at the stores are not tall enough for most tomato plants I have ever grown, like mentioned you can make better ones with reinforcing wire.