Stand on a mountain top and sing it girl! Woo hoo!!

Girl? Uh-oh...

Sure. Some people like filet mignon and some people like london broil or chuck.

My cousin-in-law did the same thing. I tried to tell her, but most people like seeing their mistakes than learn from others. I can't wait until the plant topples over or grow 4 feet wide.

Send us some pictures when the plant is full grown and show them proudly.

city (person),

I ONLY will use the 18" by 54" Walmart tomato cages - - nothing else comes close to their structural stability. Their 3/16" construction surpasses anything I have seen at Home Depot or Lowes. I am able to "reverse stack" 2 on top of each other to get a 78" useable height for my EarthTainers:

{{gwi:1345718}}

Funny this is that is the first Walmart product I have ever purchased there that was MADE IN THE USA!!!

Raybo

my wife and i were in wally world last Thursday and they had maybe 100 cages for abotu 1.40 each. i told her i needed to get about 25 of them but we were in the car so i would have to come back. well, Sat she took my truck and went to get them, and they were sold out with no idea IF they would get any more. so she goes to Lowes and gets 14 (all they had) at 1.22 each. problem is the lowes ones are flimsy and SHORT. she told me they were jsut as good or better than the wally world ones, but one look and i knew different. i guess they will hold, and i will probably have to invert them as pictured above since they are less than 30" above ground.

Just to clarify, I use only the Walmart HEAVY DUTY model that most of their stores carry (may be sold out now, as they will not restock this late in the season. These cost $5.25 here in California. They are made by Glamos Wire Co. Here is the barcode to look for:

Raybo

Thanks for the clarification Raybo. But then again, you did modified it bit with the wire strap and double stacked. I am thinking city_tomato is talking about those thin ones.

How many stalks to you have in each cage ? I hear 6-8 or more is the norm.

Actually saw those when I was there the other day and they looked nice (heavy duty ones). But I have 47 plants, thats almost $300. Na- I don't think so. I use 10 Foot 2" well pipe pounded into the groun 3' deep. String heavy wire across garden secured to the pipe on each side of the garden. Then tie plants to horizontial wires. Works great.

I can't wait until the plant topples over

That's not very nice, mister! I grow in containers. Even with a CRW cage, they'd still topple if the soil got dry. They are heavy gauge ones. Not the little flimsy ones. Anything that grows over the top of the cage gets tied up to my eavestrough.

Okay, thanks for the clarification. Sorry if I sound mean about the toppling over. I am directing more to my cousin in law.

I grew them from seed, baby them by taking them in and out of sun every day. Then after I gave them to her, they didn't seem to grow much. I try to tell her she needs better cage, but she didn't listen. So I am waiting for the result and will "try" to humble and help her.

Man, I hate cages. My watch and sleeve buttons always get snagged on them when I'm pruning or picking bugs off or moving things around. And the plant always outgrows them to where they look like they're trying to put on a 40 year old military uniform, buttons-a-poppin' every which way.

This year, I'm using the no-system-at-all method. I had planned to go with a weave, but my laziness overcame my ambition. I have so many stakes, I just stick another stake in the ground in a strategic spot whenever I need to block a vine whenever it starts to intrude on my personal space. It looks crappy, but it's working better and easier than the the last two years I've grown.

doof,

Up here in Silicon Valley, property is extremely small, and I have to make use of available "vertical" space.

{{gwi:1345719}}

...and here's proof that the Walmart cages can handle the chore;

{{gwi:1345720}}
8'6" as of today

While I am going to top my other plants at 6'6", I just wanted to let a Cherokee Purple grow to its natural height.

Raybo

i grow with walmart/home depot/menard's/whatever wire cages. the short and the tall ones. also grow up against 48" chainlink and tie plants up with cotton yarn. also go with bamboo stakes and yarn. whatever. wherever!!

wire supports and up against chainlink have been best.

bamboo and (continual) wrapping branches with yarn is a lot of work. fun at the beginning - tedious as the months go on.

someday i hope to have a heavy stake/string setup like in the "Godfather" and prune to one central branch. i don't know that i'll ever have the discipline!