In article says...
Thanks all. Very helpful hints. The dumb guy at the garden centre told me
to get the 8" pots so I did. Now I gotta go spend some more $$$. As for
cage, waiting for pics of your homemade ones.

Menards has/(had) those 20 gallon plastic utility tubs for sale for $3
each. Just drill holes in the bottom and you have a planter. They
aren't the best looking planters (don't put them in front of your house
:-) but if you can hide them they're big enough to grow full size tomato
plants.

Vascular wilts do in fact mimic the appearance of suboptimal
irrigation.
South facing patios can be ovens however.

Pictures of the tomato cages have been posted at this link:
http://cards.webshots.com/cp-9933098...43915986jGrvsy

The only step I didn't complete was cutting holes to reach into the cage.
Make holes at various levels, including near the ground so you can pick up
fallen fruit. And, when you cut the holes, tie some bright colored ribbon
near each one or it'll be tough to spot the openings in all the vegetation.



"Ottawa" wrote in message
...
Thanks all. Very helpful hints. The dumb guy at the garden centre told
me
to get the 8" pots so I did. Now I gotta go spend some more $$$. As for
cage, waiting for pics of your homemade ones.
"DigitalVinyl" wrote in message
news
"Ottawa" wrote:

I got the same problem with a few of my plants. I have them in 8-10 "
pots.
It is supposed to be raining a lot today. Should I have taken them in?
Also, is a cage necessary for cherry tomatoes? My plants are about 20"
tall
now but no flowers or anything. Should I worry? Someone told me its
because
I need to pollinate them with another plant?

If you have a very wet season you might want to do that, or fierce
winds--since it si young still. But protecting plants too much form
wind and elements makes them weak. That's why indoor seedlings have to
be hardened before set outside.

I've never done tomatoes is less than 12x12x12" pots. I think Tomatoes
will grow to whatever size root zone your provide. SO the smaller pot
will limit the size /crop. Also the smaller the pot the more it needs
watering and the hotter the root zone becomes. All tomatoes need
stakes or cages. You can make them or buy them. Staked tomatoes
usually need more pinching of the additional vines. With a good cage
you just let the plant do its thing and train the vine into the cage.
Only towards end of season do I pinch out the extras to focus
attention on the remaining fruits.


"Alan" wrote in message
oups.com...
A couple of weeks ago I planted out my tomato plants into containers
on
a south facing patio. Now I've noticed one of the plants is wilting.
It
seems to recover if moved into shade. It's ok for water.
Anyone an idea what could cause this. I've read about virus's causing
wilting, but usually its describing the symptoms at a later stage in
the plants growth. The plant is only about 30cm tall, and I've used
fresh compost from the garden center, although the cheapest 'compost'
I
could buy.
Thanks, Alan.



DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
3rd year gardener
http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/royalfrazier/

Doug, I'm intrigued with your tomato cages. Do you know if they help out at
all with keeping squirrels away from the tomatoes? I really don't wish to
share my crop again this year.

Thanks!

LauraJ

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
Pictures of the tomato cages have been posted at this link:
http://cards.webshots.com/cp-9933098...43915986jGrvsy

The only step I didn't complete was cutting holes to reach into the cage.
Make holes at various levels, including near the ground so you can pick up
fallen fruit. And, when you cut the holes, tie some bright colored ribbon
near each one or it'll be tough to spot the openings in all the
vegetation.



"Ottawa" wrote in message
...
Thanks all. Very helpful hints. The dumb guy at the garden centre told
me
to get the 8" pots so I did. Now I gotta go spend some more $$$. As for
cage, waiting for pics of your homemade ones.
"DigitalVinyl" wrote in message
news
"Ottawa" wrote:

I got the same problem with a few of my plants. I have them in 8-10 "
pots.
It is supposed to be raining a lot today. Should I have taken them in?
Also, is a cage necessary for cherry tomatoes? My plants are about 20"
tall
now but no flowers or anything. Should I worry? Someone told me its
because
I need to pollinate them with another plant?

If you have a very wet season you might want to do that, or fierce
winds--since it si young still. But protecting plants too much form
wind and elements makes them weak. That's why indoor seedlings have to
be hardened before set outside.

I've never done tomatoes is less than 12x12x12" pots. I think Tomatoes
will grow to whatever size root zone your provide. SO the smaller pot
will limit the size /crop. Also the smaller the pot the more it needs
watering and the hotter the root zone becomes. All tomatoes need
stakes or cages. You can make them or buy them. Staked tomatoes
usually need more pinching of the additional vines. With a good cage
you just let the plant do its thing and train the vine into the cage.
Only towards end of season do I pinch out the extras to focus
attention on the remaining fruits.


"Alan" wrote in message
oups.com...
A couple of weeks ago I planted out my tomato plants into containers
on
a south facing patio. Now I've noticed one of the plants is wilting.
It
seems to recover if moved into shade. It's ok for water.
Anyone an idea what could cause this. I've read about virus's causing
wilting, but usually its describing the symptoms at a later stage in
the plants growth. The plant is only about 30cm tall, and I've used
fresh compost from the garden center, although the cheapest 'compost'
I
could buy.
Thanks, Alan.



DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
3rd year gardener
http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/royalfrazier/

I've never had any kind of animal damage using these cages, and I have at
least a million lawn rats living around my house. Hint: When you install the
cages, rotate them hard against the soil until they dig their way down an
inch or two. Or, use your trowel to dig a bit of a trench. Then, when you
fasten the cage to the posts, be sure to make the wire ties very snug.


"Laura J" wrote in message news:Td_ne.888$%23.362@trndny02...
Doug, I'm intrigued with your tomato cages. Do you know if they help out
at all with keeping squirrels away from the tomatoes? I really don't wish
to share my crop again this year.

Thanks!

LauraJ

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
Pictures of the tomato cages have been posted at this link:
http://cards.webshots.com/cp-9933098...43915986jGrvsy

The only step I didn't complete was cutting holes to reach into the cage.
Make holes at various levels, including near the ground so you can pick
up fallen fruit. And, when you cut the holes, tie some bright colored
ribbon near each one or it'll be tough to spot the openings in all the
vegetation.



"Ottawa" wrote in message
...
Thanks all. Very helpful hints. The dumb guy at the garden centre told
me
to get the 8" pots so I did. Now I gotta go spend some more $$$. As
for
cage, waiting for pics of your homemade ones.
"DigitalVinyl" wrote in message
news "Ottawa" wrote:

I got the same problem with a few of my plants. I have them in 8-10 "
pots.
It is supposed to be raining a lot today. Should I have taken them in?
Also, is a cage necessary for cherry tomatoes? My plants are about
20"
tall
now but no flowers or anything. Should I worry? Someone told me its
because
I need to pollinate them with another plant?

If you have a very wet season you might want to do that, or fierce
winds--since it si young still. But protecting plants too much form
wind and elements makes them weak. That's why indoor seedlings have to
be hardened before set outside.

I've never done tomatoes is less than 12x12x12" pots. I think Tomatoes
will grow to whatever size root zone your provide. SO the smaller pot
will limit the size /crop. Also the smaller the pot the more it needs
watering and the hotter the root zone becomes. All tomatoes need
stakes or cages. You can make them or buy them. Staked tomatoes
usually need more pinching of the additional vines. With a good cage
you just let the plant do its thing and train the vine into the cage.
Only towards end of season do I pinch out the extras to focus
attention on the remaining fruits.


"Alan" wrote in message
oups.com...
A couple of weeks ago I planted out my tomato plants into containers
on
a south facing patio. Now I've noticed one of the plants is wilting.
It
seems to recover if moved into shade. It's ok for water.
Anyone an idea what could cause this. I've read about virus's
causing
wilting, but usually its describing the symptoms at a later stage in
the plants growth. The plant is only about 30cm tall, and I've used
fresh compost from the garden center, although the cheapest
'compost' I
could buy.
Thanks, Alan.



DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
3rd year gardener
http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/royalfrazier/

Cool. Thanks a lot! Hopefully this will be the solution I've been
desperately looking for.

LauraJ

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
I've never had any kind of animal damage using these cages, and I have at
least a million lawn rats living around my house. Hint: When you install
the cages, rotate them hard against the soil until they dig their way down
an inch or two. Or, use your trowel to dig a bit of a trench. Then, when
you fasten the cage to the posts, be sure to make the wire ties very snug.


"Laura J" wrote in message
news:Td_ne.888$%23.362@trndny02...
Doug, I'm intrigued with your tomato cages. Do you know if they help out
at all with keeping squirrels away from the tomatoes? I really don't
wish to share my crop again this year.

Thanks!

LauraJ

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
Pictures of the tomato cages have been posted at this link:
http://cards.webshots.com/cp-9933098...43915986jGrvsy

The only step I didn't complete was cutting holes to reach into the
cage. Make holes at various levels, including near the ground so you can
pick up fallen fruit. And, when you cut the holes, tie some bright
colored ribbon near each one or it'll be tough to spot the openings in
all the vegetation.



"Ottawa" wrote in message
...
Thanks all. Very helpful hints. The dumb guy at the garden centre
told me
to get the 8" pots so I did. Now I gotta go spend some more $$$. As
for
cage, waiting for pics of your homemade ones.
"DigitalVinyl" wrote in message
news "Ottawa" wrote:

I got the same problem with a few of my plants. I have them in 8-10
"
pots.
It is supposed to be raining a lot today. Should I have taken them
in?
Also, is a cage necessary for cherry tomatoes? My plants are about
20"
tall
now but no flowers or anything. Should I worry? Someone told me its
because
I need to pollinate them with another plant?

If you have a very wet season you might want to do that, or fierce
winds--since it si young still. But protecting plants too much form
wind and elements makes them weak. That's why indoor seedlings have to
be hardened before set outside.

I've never done tomatoes is less than 12x12x12" pots. I think Tomatoes
will grow to whatever size root zone your provide. SO the smaller pot
will limit the size /crop. Also the smaller the pot the more it needs
watering and the hotter the root zone becomes. All tomatoes need
stakes or cages. You can make them or buy them. Staked tomatoes
usually need more pinching of the additional vines. With a good cage
you just let the plant do its thing and train the vine into the cage.
Only towards end of season do I pinch out the extras to focus
attention on the remaining fruits.


"Alan" wrote in message
oups.com...
A couple of weeks ago I planted out my tomato plants into
containers on
a south facing patio. Now I've noticed one of the plants is
wilting. It
seems to recover if moved into shade. It's ok for water.
Anyone an idea what could cause this. I've read about virus's
causing
wilting, but usually its describing the symptoms at a later stage
in
the plants growth. The plant is only about 30cm tall, and I've used
fresh compost from the garden center, although the cheapest
'compost' I
could buy.
Thanks, Alan.



DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
3rd year gardener
http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/royalfrazier/

I've had similar success with a different base product. Instead of the
hog-type fencing, I use a product called remesh which is what I normally put
down before a pour to stabilize new concrete floors. The best part of this
is that the openings are already 6" X 6" so there is no need to cut
additional openings. It is a little harder to work with and requires a
heavier-duty wire cutters than the other, but it is very sturdy. (I think 10
gauge wire vs. 16/18 gauge) I usually cut to about 9squares in length and
make the cut just outside the start of the 10th vertical which leaves the
horizontals available to wrap back around # 10 from top to bottom to hold
the thing together. I cut off the bottom strand all the way around, leaving
the vertical runs intact. This gives me about 10 6" vertical spikes which
when pushed in and as Doug mentioned, rotate hard against the soil until the
bottom horizontal is a couple inches below the soil. With this method and
tying off the occasional limb to the structure, I find that I don't need the
support posts that were required with the lighter cages. A 75' roll at the
big box home stores runs about $75 and I got a total of 16 cages. So far
they have lasted 7 seasons with no visible degradation.

As Doug said no animal issues at all..... if I could just make a cage big
enough to keep the squirrels out of the Cherry, Peach & Pear trees I'd be a
happy man!


Keith


"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
I've never had any kind of animal damage using these cages, and I have at
least a million lawn rats living around my house. Hint: When you install
the
cages, rotate them hard against the soil until they dig their way down an
inch or two. Or, use your trowel to dig a bit of a trench. Then, when you
fasten the cage to the posts, be sure to make the wire ties very snug.


"Laura J" wrote in message
news:Td_ne.888$%23.362@trndny02...
Doug, I'm intrigued with your tomato cages. Do you know if they help
out
at all with keeping squirrels away from the tomatoes? I really don't
wish
to share my crop again this year.

Thanks!

LauraJ

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
Pictures of the tomato cages have been posted at this link:
http://cards.webshots.com/cp-9933098...43915986jGrvsy

The only step I didn't complete was cutting holes to reach into the
cage.
Make holes at various levels, including near the ground so you can pick
up fallen fruit. And, when you cut the holes, tie some bright colored
ribbon near each one or it'll be tough to spot the openings in all the
vegetation.



"Ottawa" wrote in message
...
Thanks all. Very helpful hints. The dumb guy at the garden centre
told
me
to get the 8" pots so I did. Now I gotta go spend some more $$$. As
for
cage, waiting for pics of your homemade ones.
"DigitalVinyl" wrote in message
news "Ottawa" wrote:

I got the same problem with a few of my plants. I have them in 8-10
"
pots.
It is supposed to be raining a lot today. Should I have taken them
in?
Also, is a cage necessary for cherry tomatoes? My plants are about
20"
tall
now but no flowers or anything. Should I worry? Someone told me its
because
I need to pollinate them with another plant?

If you have a very wet season you might want to do that, or fierce
winds--since it si young still. But protecting plants too much form
wind and elements makes them weak. That's why indoor seedlings have
to
be hardened before set outside.

I've never done tomatoes is less than 12x12x12" pots. I think
Tomatoes
will grow to whatever size root zone your provide. SO the smaller pot
will limit the size /crop. Also the smaller the pot the more it needs
watering and the hotter the root zone becomes. All tomatoes need
stakes or cages. You can make them or buy them. Staked tomatoes
usually need more pinching of the additional vines. With a good cage
you just let the plant do its thing and train the vine into the cage.
Only towards end of season do I pinch out the extras to focus
attention on the remaining fruits.


"Alan" wrote in message
oups.com...
A couple of weeks ago I planted out my tomato plants into
containers
on
a south facing patio. Now I've noticed one of the plants is
wilting.
It
seems to recover if moved into shade. It's ok for water.
Anyone an idea what could cause this. I've read about virus's
causing
wilting, but usually its describing the symptoms at a later stage
in
the plants growth. The plant is only about 30cm tall, and I've
used
fresh compost from the garden center, although the cheapest
'compost' I
could buy.
Thanks, Alan.



DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
3rd year gardener
http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/royalfrazier/

On Fri, 03 Jun 2005 14:57:55 GMT, "Laura J" wrote
in rec.gardens:

Doug, I'm intrigued with your tomato cages. Do you know if they help out at
all with keeping squirrels away

In case it doesn't, here is a wild shot to try: birds and small
animals often attack tomatoes for water, not food. Try putting a
bird bath or two in your garden. It worked wonders for me when
my tomatoes were beset by biblical numbers of birds.
--
Gardening Zones
Canada Zone 5a
United States Zone 3a
Near Ottawa, Ontario