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

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.

Pat

-- Pat Meadows
CLICK DAILY TO FEED THE HUNGRY
United States: http://www.stopthehunger.com/
International: http://www.thehungersite.com/

In article ,
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?

I don't know about rebar, never used that except to hold my concrete
reinforcement wire cages from tipping over when the plants get 7-8 feet
tall.
The wire cages last for years, the only drawback I can think of is storage,
I have about 75 of them and they do take up quite a bit of space for
storage.
My .02 cents.
--
Sam
Along the Grand Strand of Myrtle Beach SC

"Phaedrine Stonebridge" wrote in message
news
In article ,
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?

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.

Bill


--
Bill and Nancy Weiler
Tony, Wisconsin
http://home.centurytel.net/spinandfish/spinandfish

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.


--
Please see our website of gardening products at
http://www.southernexposure.com

Peace

Cricket
"Phaedrine Stonebridge" wrote in message
news


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

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.


--
Please see our website of gardening products at
http://www.southernexposure.com

Peace

Cricket
"Cricket" wrote in message
news:GXl%9.11041$yU6.9381@fe01...
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.


--
Please see our website of gardening products at
http://www.southernexposure.com

Peace

Cricket
"Phaedrine Stonebridge" wrote in message
news


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

"Pat Meadows" wrote in message
...
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.

Pat

Seems like it would be pretty difficult if not impractical to use rebar.
Reinforcing mesh (ask for remesh) would be easier to use. Nearly
everybody than sells cement has it including Home depot and
owe's. -Olin

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.

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


"Cricket" wrote in message
news:H2m%9.11073$yU6.3167@fe01...
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.


--
Please see our website of gardening products at
http://www.southernexposure.com

Peace

Cricket
"Cricket" wrote in message
news:GXl%9.11041$yU6.9381@fe01...
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.


--
Please see our website of gardening products at
http://www.southernexposure.com

Peace

Cricket
"Phaedrine Stonebridge" wrote in
message
news


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

On Mon, 03 Feb 2003 05:41:34 GMT, "jc"
wrote:


"Pat Meadows" wrote in message
.. .
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.

Pat

Seems like it would be pretty difficult if not impractical to use rebar.
Reinforcing mesh (ask for remesh) would be easier to use. Nearly
everybody than sells cement has it including Home depot and
owe's. -Olin

This is what I meant - it's called 'rebar' around here. The
bars are *also* called 'rebar'. Confusing.

Pat
-- Pat Meadows
CLICK DAILY TO FEED THE HUNGRY
United States: http://www.stopthehunger.com/
International: http://www.thehungersite.com/

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.

Pat
-- Pat Meadows
CLICK DAILY TO FEED THE HUNGRY
United States: http://www.stopthehunger.com/
International: http://www.thehungersite.com/

"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.


We use mesh with the smaller squares. We just cut several around the
cage so we can get our hands in. Makes it more interesting is someone
decides that they want to help themselves.

--
Susan N.
---------------------------------------------
Click this site daily to help fund mammograms
for women who cannot afford them.

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/

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.

In article ,
"samuel l crowe" wrote:

I don't know about rebar, never used that except to hold my concrete
reinforcement wire cages from tipping over when the plants get 7-8
feet tall. The wire cages last for years, the only drawback I can
think of is storage, I have about 75 of them and they do take up
quite a bit of space for storage.



Thanks very much for the idea.