In article ,
(Frogleg) wrote:

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.

OIC. I think that is what my husband uses for our compost piles but I
did not know it came in 5-6 foot widths. We will check that out since
that just has to be a lower cost option than the ready made cages. Our
few cages are 54" tall and worked very well but were quite expensive.
Thank you for responding

Phae

In article ,
Bill and Nancy Weiler wrote:

Phaedrine Stonebridge wrote:

I
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?

He might have meant concrete reinforcing wire. It comes in rolls 60
inches wide and about 10 gauge. I have used them for years--they last
forever, it seems. I make mine 2 ft in diameter (that's a piece about 6
ft long rolled into a cylinder.) I don't bother with supporting stakes
but you can use steel fence posts. I use the wire for things other than
baskets--like support for my vine crops.

Thanks for the response.

In article ,
Pat Meadows wrote:

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



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?


Sorry, I meant the concrete re-inforcing mesh - which I have
always and only heard called 'rebar'.

The straight poles are *also* called 'rebar', making for a
lot of confusion.


OK thanks! That seems to be a popular solution. I just need to find a
place to keep them all lol.

In article 6ot%9.150229$_s4.53913@rwcrnsc54,
"Andy N" wrote:

I have used these (re-wire) cages for years and they can be stored almost
flat after the season by sliding apart the folded wires that held the cages
together and the wires can then be somewhat straightened to allow them to be
stacked requiring very little storage space. A key to preventing the cages
from rusting is to secure them with support stakes and tie the cages to the
stakes so the cages never touch the ground; possibly 2 or 3 inches above the
ground. The other normal rust that occurs will take years and years before
it would cause any structural degradation of the wire cages. I use nylon
tie straps to support my cages to the support stakes and I use 2 steel fence
posts per cage for the stakes.
When deciding how long a length of wire to cut, you need to decide what
diameter you want them to be and multiple that dimension by (pi) which is
~3.14 and that takes the guesswork out of the equation. An example would be
if you want a diameter of 2 feet multiply 24 inches by 3.14 and the length
would be ~75 inches.



Thank you very much! So many great ideas here.

In article GXl%9.11041$yU6.9381@fe01,
"Cricket" wrote:

If you want to get a bunch of 'em, I recommend buying a 150' roll of 10
gauge 6" mesh concrete reinforcement wire. Every six feet, cut in the
middle of the wire span, bend the wire into a circle, and bend the 3" cut
pieces over to make a perfect tomato/cucumber/etc cage.


Thank you so much!

In article H2m%9.11073$yU6.3167@fe01,
"Cricket" wrote:

The ones I speak of are significantly lighter, cheaper, and easier to work
with than rebar. The only drawback is that the wire I speak of comes in
150' rolls and if you just need 6 cages, you have lots of extra materials.
Perhaps in this case you can find a number of other gardeners top go in on
it with you.


I want at least 30 of them so that would work well and we could always
use the rest for something else. Thanks!

In article ,
"Dwayne" wrote:

I also suggest you get a large roll of wire and cut it in 6 ft lengths. I
want to emphasize getting the one with the large squares in the wire (4
inches X 4 inches) to allow you to put your hand through from the side to
pick the tomatoes. I inherited some that had the 2 inch by 4 inch holes and
the only way to pick from those was by reaching down from the top.

You may want to consider getting wire that will be 5 feet tall also. If you
get shorter or the cages available on line, and you plant indeterminate
plants, they will grow out of the top of the cage. I had found 8 cages that
come apart and fold up like the ones in the catalogs. They had 4 spindly
legs each. My indeterminate tomatoes climbed out of them and the wind came
up and started blowing the cages over because the legs bent. Big mess.
With the fence cages, you can cut the bottom ring of wire off leaving a 4
inch long let every 4 inches. When you press them into the ground, they are
more inclined to stay.

What ever you decide, good luck. Dwayne


Great ideas, thanks!

"Phaedrine Stonebridge" wrote in message


Rebars eh?

Yeah, but not the kind you make reef anchors out of, the kind thati is used
for driveway and garage, concrete. My neighbor has been using the for over
20 years. They are 4x4mesh.


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?

diagonal pliers, dikes

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?

no

Seriously, we have used commercially available tomato cages. They get blown
over, when heavy , don't last very long. Just basicaly unsat. While the guy,
nextdoor, has used his for years, he leaves his outdoors. I suggest that
anybody, wanting to build tomato cages, buy 4x4 rebar, 4 foot high, make
them into 18 inch cages. Then, you can use the m for the rest of your life.
Len

Phaedrine Stonebridge wrote in message ...
In article 6ot%9.150229$_s4.53913@rwcrnsc54,
"Andy N" wrote:

I have used these (re-wire) cages for years and they can be stored almost
flat after the season by sliding apart the folded wires that held the cages
together and the wires can then be somewhat straightened to allow them to be
stacked requiring very little storage space. A key to preventing the cages
from rusting is to secure them with support stakes and tie the cages to the
stakes so the cages never touch the ground; possibly 2 or 3 inches above the
ground. The other normal rust that occurs will take years and years before
it would cause any structural degradation of the wire cages. I use nylon
tie straps to support my cages to the support stakes and I use 2 steel fence
posts per cage for the stakes.
When deciding how long a length of wire to cut, you need to decide what
diameter you want them to be and multiple that dimension by (pi) which is
~3.14 and that takes the guesswork out of the equation. An example would be
if you want a diameter of 2 feet multiply 24 inches by 3.14 and the length
would be ~75 inches.



Thank you very much! So many great ideas here.


I use an alternative method for supporting my tomato plants which is
probably not as sturdy but is easy to work with and store. I buy 10
foot lengths of 2x2 untreated lumber and make points on one end with a
saw, turning them into 10 foot tomato stakes. I then take the stakes
and drive them into the ground with a small sledgehammer, while
standing on a ladder. I space them 8-10 feet apart in a straight
line. I then attach nylon string trellis along the length of the
stakes starting about 1 foot above ground level using staples or
thumbtacks. As the tomato plants grow, I weave the plants through the
trellis. This will work whether you prune your plants or not but if
not, you should allow more space between plants. Last year I had two
rows of three stakes supporting twelve plants. I can normally use the
stakes for 3-4 years before replacing them and the trellis lasts a few
years longer. When the season is over I either pull up the stakes
with the trellis attached and roll them up or remove the trellis and
store the stakes and trellis separately. This method has been very
productive for me. The only caveat is the installation itself which
for my 12 plant setup takes about half an hour. If you are 80 years
old and weigh 100 pounds, for example, you might want to get someone
who is larger, stronger and can swing a 4 pound hammer while standing
6 feet up on a ladder to help with the installation. Otherwise, it is
probably at least as easy as using the cages. One more thing, I would
probably opt for the cages if I lived in an area where termites are a
major problem.

Happy Gardening,

Lee Hall
Zone 6B - Tennessee