On Sun, 02 Feb 2003 19:08:04 -0600, Phaedrine Stonebridge
wrote:

Pat Meadows wrote:

On Sun, 02 Feb 2003 16:24:17 -0600, Phaedrine Stonebridge
wrote:

Does anyone know of a place I can buy the tall (at least 54") tomato
cages online? Like 25 to 50 of them?

You can make them out of rebar. Hard to work with, but very
strong and sturdy.


Rebars eh? Sounds interesting. Thanks for responding. Would you mind
giving a little description please? I assume you use the bars as
verticals and that you are using the narrowest ones you can get. Do you
have them cut to size? What do you use for horizontal members and how
are you attaching the two? Are you welding? Are they not kind of heavy
and how are you storing them? Do the plants seem to mind all the excess
iron?

Pat may have been talking about concrete reinforcing wire. A very
heavy 6"x6" mesh. This is generally available in garden centers and
home improvment stores in 5'-6' tall rolls. It takes some sturdy
equipment to snip off the bottom wire so the remaing 'prongs' can be
put into the soil. Cages are formed by cutting sections, making loops
on the free ends to other side....oh, dear. it's hard to describe
without diagrams. However, if you search on 'tomato cage construction'
you'll find a number of sites with directions. These cages can be
unhooked and stored flat. They *do* rust a bit, but last for years,
and are very sturdy supports.