Johnny,
Can't help you with the Texas cages but all four of those varieties should have potato leaf foliage.

Terry Light
Oak Hill, Virginia

Terry:

Thanks for correcting me. You are correct. Marianna's Peace just look so strong and big unlike all my other potato leave plants, I mistaken it for regular leave.

I guess I will try to stake the other two this year and see how my 18" cage do, unless there's someone in the Bay Area who's willing to sell me some CRW cages, hint hint :-(. Of course, it will probably cost me at least $8 just to drive anywhere and back to the east bay. lol.

Johnny,
Your message doesnÂt make it clear if your consideration for purchasing more (larger size) cages is because youÂre afraid the ones you have arenÂt big enough or because you have more than six plants.

I can assure you those 18" cages will work fine for your tomatoes and be infinitely easier to deal with than stakes. I don't and would suggest you not attempt to keep the branches contained within the cage. They'll grow through the sides but that's OK. Occasionally, I've tied a branch or two that are heavy with fruit to provide additional support when they are threatening to bend/break over one of the cage laterals but itÂs not a big deal. Others have cut old garden hoses into If you have more than six plants you might also consider planting one between two cages and then use string to make a weave to support the plant in the middle.

And if money is no object, by all means purchase the 24" Texas cages and send me your 18's for proper disposal!!!!!

Terry Light
Oak Hill, Virginia

Hi Terry:

I appreciate the input. Sorry I wasn't being clear. Yes, I have eight plants on the retaining wall and only six Texas cages. I'll go ahead and buy just two more 18" then. If you live near me, I would totally buy six and let you have the other four for $60. Mine will cost $65 just for two :-( since UPS charge texas cage lady a flat fee.

Wow. My wife thought I baby them before. Using hose to cushion them and tie them is a great idea. I will remember this, thanks to you. The weave idea is great too. But I made a deal with my wife since I pulled all her flowers out to grow tomatoes, I have to make it look "pretty". lol.

Here's a picture of one side of the wall with half of the cage installed.

{{gwi:1333847}}

Do I have this correct? Even though the 18 and 24 inch cages are the same price you bought the 18's because you have limited space?

I own 12 of the Texas 24's. They can't be beat. I also own many old CRW cages and they vary in size from 18 inches to 22 inches. 18 is fine. 24 is way better if you are like me and don't prune. But 18 is ok.

Can you please post a picture of one of your plant from last year using the texas cage ? Thanks.

Wahhhhhhhhhh. It does seem kinda silly doesn't it BigDaddy. To be honest with you, I am not sure what I was thinking since they will grow out of there anyways. The wife wanted it to "look nice". I know you have been a big supporter of the Texas Cage. I also just realized the other side of the wall has more spacing between each plant. I will go ahead and buy 6 24" so I can mix and match. I already see the Paul Robeson and the Chocolate stripe will be big plants. If anything, I can just put the larger cages at the ends. Thanks for all your inputs.

I like your enthusiasm. I gotta tell you though, I don't put my cages up til the plants are just a bit bigger (wink).

Anyways, some nurseries in the Bay Area do sell the TTC. Wegman's in Redwood City has in the past. Don't know if it would be cheaper than paying shipping with the nursery mark-up. Just FYI in case you want to buy a 24" one to test out or you only want to buy a couple. The 18" ones work fine for me.

those are not cages go to the Proud Projects photo album i have some homemade cages i made there ... that is what cages are all about a person could stand on top of these things and not bend them ....not to put those texas cages down but i am very proud of my cages

Thanks for the info deep roots. I did check out Yamagami's and they had 20" and 24" cages. But they were in one piece and 5 feet tall. I called Wegman's and theirs are $30 each, not to the mention the $16 worth of gas. I am going to be near there this weekend anyways, so I'll probably pick up two cages. I guess I just feel so guilty everyone is using CRW and here I am spending $30 on one cage. I guess I am hoping someone will need 4 cages so I can split the cost and benefits.

I put up the cages early to deter my dog from getting close to them. He broke a couple of side branches last week. If it's between the dog and tomatoes, the dog have to go ;-). Okay, maybe also in my crazy mind, I think the tomato plant will see the higher bars and want to climb them? LOL.

Can I see a picture of your cage with the tomatoes from previous years ?

OK, here's a pic of 2 Porterhouse plants growing in the 24" Texas Cages. This pic was taken July 1 of last year. The cage is 6 feety tall. Can you imagine how big those plants were by October? They grow up a foot or so taller than the cage and then back down again. Only the Texas will do for my monster plants. The CRW cages I also use must be staked and restaked and still topple over.

{{gwi:1502}}

Close up of one of the Porterhouse clusters:

{{gwi:1501}}

I'm glad you posted the close-up, because I didn't believe those were tomato plants at first. Nice work, bigdaddy! (I think you can cut back on the Miracle Grow this year, though.) :)

Good thread -- thanks for posting the questions, and thanks to bigdaddy for the pics.

I got the TT cages this year (24"), and my neighbor thinks they will be too wide. Says they will just collapse into the center without a big stake to tie them to. He's a big fan of his 2x4 forest and his bag of panty hose strips. And he prunes.

So we'll see. I told him at least I will get good cell phone reception.

rexx, no MG here. I've been organic for many years. Fish/kelp/compost in raised beds. I had a great harvest last year. Here's a nice day's pick from 22 plants:

gardenscout, you will be very happy with the 24" cages. Especially if you are a non pruner like me.

I am a non pruner all right, and I am looking forward to no staking/tying/weaving etc. I am very happy about the decision to get the TT cages. Just doing my part to stimulate the economy, you know.

Nice looking harvest there -- making me hungry for the real thing after a long winter of tasteless tomato baseballs from the store.

Big Daddy J...ok that picture of the tomatoes on the table should have had a warning....I almost passed out when I saw it and kept scrolling down...
For those of us in TA ( Tomatoes Anonymous) it was too much! Made my head explode with jealousy. You know that 10 commandment about not coveting your neighbors this or that..I am glad you are not my neighbor....oh wait never mind that I would LOVE you to be my neighbor in hopes of you sharing them with me!
One question....why don't you grow any black tomatoes? They are my favorites for sandwhiches.

Can you tell u more about the kelp thing...where do you get it and when do you apply?

gardenscout...my neighbors do get plenty. One makes sauce and another makes salsa and share back to me. (I also grow the peppers and basil but cilantro bolts here way before the toms and peppers are ready) I'm also stubborn. I grow tomatoes all winter in my sunny dining room. I can't eat the store bought.

yummykaz...sorry I forgot the warning! LOL

I use Sea Rich, a kelp/fish fert from Garden's Alive. I use as foliar AND drench once at just after true leaf stage, again at transplant time and once again about a month later. The real secret I believe is compost.

Blacks never appealed to me. Too soft, not enough tang. The exception is Black Cherry. Just personal preference.

bigdaddyj: 18 rows of 8 tomatoes each = 144 toms from one day's picking? Holy smokes! Puts me in the shade. That is one of the best harvest tom pix I ever saw. Open a supermarket!

deep roots...I don't pick every day. I'd say I average every third day. And when I do I take all the ripes and near ripes. Creature of habit I suppose. It's like, when I'm picking....I'm a gonna pick! LOL

If it's gonna rain for a few days I'll pick the half ripes too. I hate watery toms. They ripen fine on that table.

Thanx for your nice comment...

Thanks for all the postings. Anyways, I gave in and bought 2 additional 24" Texas cage. It cost me a bit. I figure, I am sure there will be a few monsters. If not, I'll just tie a few branch to the cage, let them breathe a little bit and to prevent them from falling through the middle as some claims.

This may sound bad. But if my harvest is as big as bigdaddy, I wouldn't know what to do with them ;-). I figure you must do some canning as well ??? I guess canning is such an easy/uniform method, anyone can do it because I haven't seen any threads on that. I guess I'll start another canning thread.