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| Not considering about making them from wire fences (too much time and injury-prone task) and excluding the super expensive Texas Cages (yes I know some of you love those), is the third cage in this video (See link) a good trellis to use? The third type of cage in the video seems to support the indeterminate variety well (the plant is not pruned). Which one do you use and in your experience, which one (ready to use not DIY or assembled please) would you recommend? |
Here is a link that might be useful: Ready to use Tomato Stakes Trellis and Cages
Follow-Up Postings:
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| I wouldn’t use the cages shown in that video clip, because to me, they look flimsy. You can not use them for tall and heavy foliage plants. Any heavy wind could put down those cages.. I’m a HUGE fan of customized 2 x 4 lumber frames with wire fences and 2 x 4 poles. > Not considering about making them from wire fences (too much time and injury-prone task)… If you’re a handyman and have all the materials and tools ready, in few hours, max 1 day, you can make some really nice frames. They will be REALLY STURDY, and will last for many, MANY years. Regarding “injury-prone task”… well, with a little protection - gloves, boots, long pants, long sleeve shirt - and some extra care, everything will be ok. Back to the video clip: I’m not sure, but to me it looks like for his Juliet tomato, the guy used Mr. Wilber’s “18 branches” technique. See the secondary stems close to the soil ? (Time 5:07…) |
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| Have tried all 3 of them over the years and found all of them problematic, especially that last one as it is so flimsy. I'd pick the 4 ring/4 leg regular tomato cage - the first one - over that last one any day. They might work ok for determinate plants in containers since the container plants never get as big but the normal in ground plants, especially indeterminates, quickly bring all of them down even with extra supports. Dave |
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| Most all of my determinates are 6’ - 8'+ tall now, so these cages wouldn’t be useful for me. Maybe for some of my my bush tomatoes, that are 3-4+ ft. and do need support. |
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- Posted by naturegirl_2007 5B SW Michigan (My Page) on Mon, Sep 1, 14 at 10:26
| For small-medium plants some of the large 4 ring, 4 leg cages work for me. However, it is best if the legs are pushed in until the first ring rests on the ground. It is much more stable and usually doesn't need an additional stake to keep a mature plant upright. I cringe when I see people pushing cages only a few inches into the ground and usually see them tipped over a month later unless they have reinforced them with other stakes. The extra 6 inches of height is not worth the flimsy, tipping over cage that results. Of course sometimes I have to make several attempts to get a cage in far enough when there are rocks in the soil. But it is better to spend the time when the plant is small than attempt to fix things when it is larger. |
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| I use regular galvanized fence supported by T-posts in a regular straight row. As the tomatoes grow I weave the branches in and out of the grid. Works great for me. In 2011 we had a very heavy, early snowfall that brought a tree down across the fence. I straightened it out and it's still there. John A |
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| Actually the 4-ring heavy gauge cages look better than the rest, to me. I can make a real sturdy cage up to 6 ft, from CRW for 8 bucks. The problem with it is the winter storage. You can make them folding but it requires a lot of work, time. Unless you have good work shop. So I have chosen stakes, Florida Weave combo, with cedar lumber, REBAR, EMT. You have to do a lot of tying down though. There is no easy way |
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| Nice to hear about the supports you use. Yes surprisingly the 4 leg round stand seems good enough to support up to 6 ft of tomato plants. After that they fall around and cause the cages to drop. The 3 legged ones (which most people buy from garden stores) IMHO are not really for tomatoes, probably OK for peppers and eggplants. I tried the grotall cage (third in the video) and the best part about is that it has 9 (or so) legs so the weight is evenly distributed. The plant grows more wide than tall because there is a lot of room. Daniel_NY its interesting to note the 18 branches technique. Thanks for sharing that info! |
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| john11840 wrote: > I use regular galvanized fence supported by T-posts in a regular straight row. john11840, can we see some pictures please ? seysonn wrote: > So I have chosen stakes, Florida Weave combo, with cedar lumber, REBAR, EMT. seysonn , can we see some pictures please ? djkj wrote: > Daniel_NY its interesting to note the 18 branches technique. djkj, did you ever try it ? Here is Mr. Wilber’s book - if you don’t have it already. How to Grow World Record Tomatoes: A Guinness Champion Reveals His All-Organic Secrets |
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| seysonn , can we see some pictures please ? %%%%%%%%%%% Daniel, my stakes are mostly covered by now. Take a 3ft by 6ft bed. Each plant gets a stake. Then I have few extras, to do the weaving. |
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| Seysonn, can we see your jungle ? |
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| Someone just showed me their system of growing, using 2 tomato cages and 2 green metal fence posts. One tomato cage as usual and second added on top of first but upside down, tied at the junction. 2 metal posts are reinforcing sides. I really like this design. |
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- Posted by naturegirl_2007 5B SW Michigan (My Page) on Tue, Sep 2, 14 at 18:39
| Lindalana, that sounds like a support I put together for some runner beans this year. It's been working great.....so far. The metal spikes on the top cage looked dangerous sticking up into the air so I curled them around using a needle-nosed pliers to get a good grip on them. Looks kinda like some cool garden sculpture :) Guess you have to have a good imagination to see it as art, but the hummingbirds like to visit just fine. |
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| naturegirl_2007, can we see a picture of that support ? |
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