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| I have 5 Kelloggs Breakfast tomato plants that are outgrowing there cages . They are about 5 1/2 ft. tall , healthy and full of blooms. They are in the cheap 3 ring round tomato cages that you get at Wal-Mart , Lowes etc. The cages legs are in the ground good and I have them supported. The top of the cages are about 3 1/2 ft tall and the plants have grown to about 2 ft above them. I know I need to do something for higher support but for the life of me cant think of anything. The plants are all together about 3 ft apart . I know shortly the branches will break over. From past experience this doesnt kill them but does slow down production . Any suggestions on how to rig up some higher support individually or some thing for all 5 ? Thx |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Have you read through any of the many discussions here on cages? Cages vs. stakes? Supporting plants? The search will pull up tons of them full of ideas and pictures. I linked just a few below. There are so many cage options - much better options than those 3 ring things - available. KB can easily reach 8 foot and many other varieties are even taller. So the 3 ring things are a total waste of money. And cages aren't the only option either. Cattle panel trellis are increasingly popular and so is the Florida weave method of support. Dave |
Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato cage discussions
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| I do agree with Dave, that those cages aren't the best option, but I use them, cause that's what I got! 2 ways to make more room for the KB to grow. (1) Install another cage adjacent to the cage the KB is now in and let it climb over to that one, (That's what I do). (2) Install another cage atop the cage the KB is in now, (Upside down, on top of the existing cage). Gary |
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| At this stage you wouldn't want perhaps to drive stakes into the roots, otherwise you can drive 3 stakes(rebar) around the cage and tie/weave them together. So you get 8 ft 5/8" rebars. drive them 2 feet into the ground. Then will have 6' of usable height . I use cedar stakes. |
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- Posted by sidhartha0209 6 (My Page) on Thu, Jul 4, 13 at 20:49
| It's too late to do anything this year, IMO. But all is not lost, not by a long shot. Make the best of a bad situation and resign yourself to let them bend over and grow/come back to the ground (if you've got the room), they'll bear tomatoes going down as they did going up, but it's a mess, and you won't be able to just go 'pick' tomatoes, you'll have to 'forage' for them. Learn from it and make the proper adjustments next year. And don't forget to throw the fertilizer to them. [edit to add] If worse comes to worse you can always go in and hack a couple of them out to make more room for the other three. |
This post was edited by sidhartha0209 on Thu, Jul 4, 13 at 20:57
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- Posted by LogyMcKae 7 E.TN (logymckae2011@gmail.com) on Thu, Jul 4, 13 at 22:07
| From what I've read on here, it isn't a 'problem' it may be inconvenient, but you should continue to get tomatoes, and isn't THAT what this is all about? |
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- Posted by mjhuntingtonbeach 10b (My Page) on Fri, Jul 5, 13 at 0:41
| I have extended those tiny cages by attaching a second cage or two above by tying the cage to wooden stakes. I've done it with two single cages one on top of the other, and sometimes I tie multiple cages together to form a structure. But my Texas Tomato Cages make things a lot easier .... hehe. |
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- Posted by mjhuntingtonbeach 10b (My Page) on Fri, Jul 5, 13 at 0:42
| Here is another example. |
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- Posted by Marshallkey none (My Page) on Fri, Jul 5, 13 at 8:43
| Thx for all the advice . |
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- Posted by Marshallkey none (My Page) on Fri, Jul 5, 13 at 10:37
| Most of my tomatoes are tied to cattle panels , nine per panel. I ran out of room for another cattle panel so had to use what I ha available.Thx again all for the input. This pic was taken early on in the garden |
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