Building a tomato cage

[applestar]

Good point Gixx. I forgot that the flat ones are not good for rolling into a circular cage.

I was inspired by this thread to make this one:

I had a moment of utter frustration when I couldn't figure out how to use the fence clips. Whip out the iPad... And...this side of the house is too far away from the wifi to access internet. (Arrrrgh !). But do you know I really needed the break after pounding the two T-posts in (yeah I said TWO). Found a YouTube about the fence clip bender tool (obviously so easy) and had another moment of frustration that the guy at TS did not tell me I needed one of those when he handed me the clips.

Well, no biggie. I found a rusty big nail in my pile of junk by the back door that was perfect for the job, and the straight side wasn't too hard to bend with a pair of pliers.

[pinksand]

Nice Applestar! Well I did find the metal panels but they were all coated in rust... is that a problem? I bought a t-stake and was considering just tying the tomato plant to the stake for now. I've never grown a tomato plant this size before and just don't know what to anticipate. Would the stake be sufficient or will the branches also need support? Could I build something similar to applestar's, not having to bend or cut the wire and tie the branches to the trellis as it grows?

[Gardener123]

I used that 42 x 84 panel..... I cut 5 squares in length from each and bent the "hooks" on one side and closed them up. Then I put them in place, and took rebar and wove them through the squares, and then hammered the rebar into the ground about halfway.

I took all the scraps ( the 5 squares ) and made a square cage for a pepper plant that should get pretty large. ( I had 4 of those big panels )

[pinksand]

Good point Gixx. I forgot that the flat ones are not good for rolling into a circular cage.

I was inspired by this thread to make this one:

image.jpg

I had a moment of utter frustration when I couldn't figure out how to use the fence clips. Whip out the iPad... And...this side of the house is too far away from the wifi to access internet. (Arrrrgh !). But do you know I really needed the break after pounding the two T-posts in (yeah I said TWO). Found a YouTube about the fence clip bender tool (obviously so easy) and had another moment of frustration that the guy at TS did not tell me I needed one of those when he handed me the clips.

Well, no biggie. I found a rusty big nail in my pile of junk by the back door that was perfect for the job, and the straight side wasn't too hard to bend with a pair of pliers.

So I think I'll be trying your method applestar! I ended up moving my tomato plant (ugh I'm so bad about moving things when I probably shouldn't!) because I realized it wasn't getting as much sun as I'd anticipated after removing a massive Rose of Sharon. The plant had already established quite the root system but I dug a very wide hole around the roots and it seemed to recover nicely in its new location and should hopefully be happier and more productive in the long run. I had big plans for working in the garden over the holiday weekend but had to make an emergency trip to CO to say goodbye to my grandmother and obviously everything was postponed I'm planning to run to HD for the panel and another t-stake this evening.

Is twine acceptable for training the tomato plant along the grid or should I buy some hosiery to cut up and use as ties? It's so funny, everyone I've asked about tomato staking has acted like I'm insane because they've only grown determinates. "No, seriously Mom, it can get taller than me, a little cage won't do!"