Why are you considering keeping some of them inside a cage? Is it for protection against deer and pests, or is it to provide supports for the growing plants?

I can't answer about pests, but tomatoes, peppers and beans all benefit greatly from support structures, though there are varieties of each that can get along without them. I've read that many varieties of pumpkins can be trained up a trellis and you use mesh or cloth slings to hold the fruit.

deer and other types of infiltrators that I cant take out because I would end up with a problem of my own (LOL)
thats a great idea about the slings, I never thought of that. the fencing that surrounds the garden is a chicken wire and heavy mesh around the pumpkin area, they are climbing it and growing fruits up high.
mostly wondering about if rabbits, deer, racoons etc will have a munch fest on them if I plant them outside of the fence..

It depends a bit on the gustatory preferences of your neighborhood critters. Deer and rabbits are generally the biggest culprits. Below are my comments based on my experience and what I've heard. Your infiltrators might not know this and so might do it differently.

tomatoes - - grown in raised bed, never had the plant munched by anything but squirrels or raccoons sometimes have taken the fruit
peppers - grown in raised bed, never had this munched by anything
radish - grown in raised bed, never had this munched by anything
beets - grown in raised bed, never had this munched by anything
beans - grown in raised bed so rabbits didn't bother, but deer sure did; had to protect every inch with chicken wire and the buggers were very persistent
rhubarb - never had this munched by anything
pumpkins - ?
onions (chives) - humans seems to be about the only animals that actually eat members of the allium family

HTH. Best wishes protecting your crops!

I have had deer literally pull my beets up and eat them. Here one day gone the next, and the only clue to there whereabouts were hoof prints along the row. Raccoons seem to have a preference for sweet corn. I have had people tell me they've had success protecting their sweet corn by planting squash, pumpkins etc. around the corn. I've been told the raccoons don't like walking across the scratchy leaves and vines. Others have also said that laying chicken wire fencing down discourages them for the same reason. Some claim it also deters deer. I've had pretty good luck with spreading dog hair around the garden. Good luck.

I have had deer eat both my tomatoes and peppers. Now I put peppers in a raised bed that has fence around and above the bed. The deer will eat the tops of the tomatoes when they are small but generally don't bother them later.

Deer eat the leaves of my pole beans that they can get to but not the beans. The leaves do grow back and beans continue to grow. I have tried adding a net fence around the trellis which works until the beans start growing on the net fence, then goodbye leaves. This year I sprayed the leaves with Liquid Fence before there were any beans. That helped.

My vegetables beds are in an area surrounded by a three foot chickenwire fence so I do not have rabbit problems any more. Deer jump over the three foot fence and into the raised beds unless the bed is covered seperately. Until this spring I also had a raised bed with a pyramid of strawberries which had to be covered as the deer would eat them down to stubs.

When the tomatoes ripen squirrels will sometimes nibble on a tomato or two.

No animals have eaten any of the rhubarb, radishes, chives or onions. I did not put the rhubarb or chives inside my fenced vegetable area.

Bobbie

so I could put them all out of the fenced area next year?

I would not leave beans, peppers and tomatoes unprotected. Both rabbits and deer will eat them, in my experience.

Have you seen any evidence of deer in your area? Rabbits seem to be everywhere.

A small cage around a plant works okay when they are small but not so great as they get larger. I grow my peppers in a cluster and put a chickenwire fence around them. It has to be taller than the peppers will grow.

You might want to expeiment with different fencing options or with seeing if you can avoid any fencing with sprays or other suggestions already given.

Good luck.
Bobbie

Well- Keep in mind- this is my first year with Deer tossed into the mix....

tomatoes= Deer!!!, Squirrels, Birds, coons or some such critter
peppers= Squirrels dip up EVERYTHING!
radish= see above
beets= see above
beans= see above- rabbits and DEER!
rhubarb= no worries there
pumpkins and= SQUIRRELS!!! and the dog....
oninons (chives)= no worries there

I wish there was a way these critters wouldn't think I planted a smorgasboard for them- or if it doesn't taste good- a playground of fun stuff to rip up.....

Julie

no I didnt mean everything (sorry bout the confusion) I meant the pumpkins, rhubarb and oinions. deer, squirls, rabbits, possum, think of every little creature and its probably around. we are south of the river on an acre.
really the only ones I would do different next year (if I can) are the pumpkins and the rhubarb.
the pumpkins are just plain fun to grow.... :)

My mom grow a bed of Celtuce (also called asparagus lettuce) and recently, a deer ate all the top leaves and stems (the best tasting part of the vegetable). I am wondering beside fencing, is there any other effective way to fight deers? Would a dog be helpful?

a dog would help, but then again you have to feed the dog and take care of it - worse then a child at times.

a good way to fight deer is to walk up and call them mean names and wait until they get angry. Let them throw the first punch though, things could get ugly in court if you just haul off and belt them...