Hi all,
About 30 years ago I got the idea for tomato cages from 10 gauge
concrete reinforcing welded wire mesh. The wire is in 6 " grid, and I
cut it into panels two feet wide by 10 feet long. I first made a hinge
by twisting a loop in the cut wire, and my wrists could only handle
one panel so I wasted a lot of 6" long pieces of wire and used Hog
rings to fasten two of the ten foot sides together and formed
triangles two feet on a side that could be folded flat for storage in
the winter. I cut the bottom horizontal wire strip off, and had the
6" wires to push into the ground to hold it upright. Rarely needs any
more support. My wife found that leaving the cage open and giving it
support of a 2x4 frame it is exellent for cucumbers. If supported on
an angle, pole beans also do extreamly well and are easy to pick.
One caution, this wire is difficult to cut and you need a small
pair of bolt cutters to do it. Takes a while to make, but my first
ones are still in use after outside storage all this time.

Ken in hot and sunny San Juaquin Co. CA


On Mon, 16 Jun 2003 15:48:14 GMT, Repeating Decimal
wrote:

in article , Mike Lyle at
wrote on 6/15/03 3:27 PM:

Dave Adams wrote in message
...
Fellow Gardeners,

After my own disappointments with the flimsy wire cages available for
holding up tomatoes,I decided to make my own. Here is what I've come
up with. They are made of 1/4" round rod and welded on the ends. I've
taken cable clamps and welded the U-shaped threaded ends to the hoops, so
that they can be disassembled for shipping and storage. They assemble
easily in about a minute with with a 7/16" wrench, socket, or even pliers.
They are four ft. tall, but I will also be making them 5 ft. with the
option of 4 hoops. They are finished with penetrol for rust-resistance.
These cages are heavy duty. What do you think?(Any response is more than
appreciated)

Sound good to me. But I can't see any reason to change from bamboo
canes outdoors, and long strings indoors.

Mike.

You might want to take a leaf out of hydroponic tomato farmers' books. If
you can find a strong single point support, hang a hank of twine from it.
Hydroponic suppliers have a frame upon which the twine can be wound. They
use clips that clamp onto the twine and encircle the tomato stems to give
support. As the vine grows, unwind twine from the top to drop the portion of
the vine that has been harvested. That gets the part that is still
blossoming and growing fruit down lower to where it is easily worked.

Bill