you might try asking on the tomato forum.

By far, my favorite cages are made from concrete reinforcing wire. These will last a lifetime. Don't waste your money or efforts on those common ring supports. I get double duty out of mine as they also protect my young trees from deer after the tomatoes are done.

Brook

I second the concrete reinforcing wire. I have tried other things but that is what i like best. I too have used them to protect my fruit trees from the deer. Last year I made at least 50 of them, took a couple days to cut and bend the wire, but it was worth it. Only thing is since I am going to be growing even more tomatoes this year I probably will have to make more and get another roll, at least.

Is it very hard to make them yourself? That sounds like a very good and economical idea

I do the concrete wire and recommend it. Last year I spaced the cages 3' O.C. and it wasnt far enough apart. What do others space their cages at? Mine range from 24"-25" wide cages.

I made a bunch of the cages myself. I just lay the roll down on its side and unrolled it some. You will need some heavy duty cutters. I found it easiest to stand on the wire, just be careful because it can jump at you when you cut the wire, and it is sharp. Once I cut it to size, I then bent the ends, and simply hooked it together. The end of the roll is the hard part because it is wound up so tight it just wants to roll up again. Usually put several rocks and logs on the end to keep it from rolling up again. It is pretty simple to do yourself, once you get the hang of it, the end is the most difficult part.

Disbet,

You can get a 150' roll of wire from $70-$100, depending on steel prices. Out of that roll, I usually get 23-24 cages, so that makes them around $3 apiece. I use bolt cutters and count off eleven full holes. Make sure one side is flush and the other has the wire sticking out. Wrap the sticking out wire around the flush end two or three times and cut off the tag ends. Like bagarden says, it gets interesting toward the end of the roll. Be sure to wear heavy gloves, or you'll lose a lot of blood. I also use a t-post to anchor them. The holes are nice and big for reaching in to harvest or prune. However, I do struggle sometimes with big heirlooms. Still, they are more than worth the investment.

Good luck

Brook

I too believe concrete wire is the best option for tomato cages. My cages are 5.5 ft sections which makes the diameter about 21 inches. The first cages I made lasted for about 20 years. These were made using heavy gauge wire. For the latest cages, I used a lighter wire and these began to rust rather rapidly. So last year I decided to wire 3 30 inch conduit legs to the cages to keep the cages above the soil.

Other postings in earlier threads related to this subject mentioned using galvanized hog/cattle pannel as alternatives to concrete wire. Obviously, these would be more expensive than concrete wire, but would seemingly provide a lifetime solution.

Has anyone experimented with producing cone-shaped cages using CRW (commonly labeled WWM - welded wire mesh)? Due to the right angle wire welds, this would result in an irregular shape to the top hoop, and requires a diagonal cut line along one vertical section. But it does allow for stacking the cages when stored off-season - perhaps above the rafter ties. Otherwise, the separate cages must take up a great deal of garden shed space.

I have a couple dozen of these ready made galv. heavy gauge cone-shaped types - but will need a few more this year. I'd like to try this with WWM and wondered if anyone has attempted it.

If you go for making cages out of CRW buy a small bolt cutter to cut the wire. You will be very glad you did.

I stood the roll up on end in the drive way and let the natural spring open it up enough to make the cuts. I processed the whole role into 24 cages in under an hour by myself wearing shorts (but you will need gloves). For taller cages cut a cage in half and stack the halves on top of two others. I did mine 21"diameter (11 uncut squares) but wished That I had gone a little larger. You can make them three different sizes and then nest the three together for storage. I lay mine down around the perimeter of the garden over winter to keep deer from walking on top of the planted garlic, strawberries etc.

I use the 5ft. high galvanized "cattle fencing" for my cages. Its heavy duty wire, but doesn't require bolt cutters - I use electrican's pliers/wire cutters. I use about a 5-6 foot length for each cage. Although they are rigid, I support the cages(from wind) with wooden or metal posts. With the type of fencing I have, the rectangular openings gradually get larger towards the top of the fence/cage - there is no problem harvesting even the largest tomato. Sometimes I stack one ontop of the other to make a 10ft tall cage. The cages themselves are zero maintenance and plants themselves require no tying at all. In the winter the cages double as deer protection on young trees. The 3-ring cages are aweful for tomatoes not to mention they just aren't made to last, however; they do stack/condense better for storage than my cages do. In a subdivision, that could be an issue. Fortunately, I have plenty of room. I inherited several 3-ring cages and use them for pepper plants only. I would use the 3-ring type cages for only the smallest/shortest tomato varieties or in a very small garden in a subdivision type setting.

I get by very well with wood stakes which are about one inch square and six feet long. I tie the vines with binder twine. I got a big ball of twine which was inexpensive and has lasted for years.

Large scale growers don't use cages. They use stakes and twine in what is called the "Florida weave" to hold up the plants. The video linked below titled "Pruning Tomatoes" includes a segment on the weave method of trellising.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Pruning Tomatoes

After a little reading i cut mine to make a 24" diameter cage. They are 6 or 7' tall. It seems about right although the cherries do go right up through the top and cascade back down. i also have a few cages that are only a foot in diameter that i use for sugar snaps.

i found these dimensions on a post last year and have referred back to them several times:

36" (6 squares) = 12" diameter
54" (9 squares) = 17" diameter
60" (10 squares) = 19" diameter
66" (11 squares) = 21" diameter
72" (12 squares) = 23" diameter
78" (13 squares) = 25" diameter
84" (14 squares) = 27" diameter
90" (15 squares) = 28.5" diameter
96" (16 squares) = 30.5" diameter

Thank you mauirose, that dimensions guide is very helpful!

I use 1"x1" 8' long stakes, use a post hole digger to put then in the ground 18" deep (I have wind issues), put them 2' apart in the row, alternate plants filling every other slot, buy a ball of sissal twine, as the plants grow secure the plants to the stakes. I'll tie up a whole 50' row going int and out and between the plants wrapping around the stakes for added strength in case the twine breaks. use twine generously, like every week or two.

I tried the cement reinforcing wire initially, but found a better use for it in training my boysenberry vines. By making a large circle of wire, then placing the hoop over the vines, allowing them to grow up and over the sides, provided air circulation for the vines underneath.

As in jimster's posting, I found that I could utilize fresh bamboo poles easily - cutting as needed to provide support for most of my climbing vegetables, including peas, beans, and tomatoes. I wasn't aware of the name "Florida weave" but that is the method used.

As my backyard has been under dire threat of being over-run by this giagantic timber bamboo (planted by a predecessor), I felt it ABSOLUTELY necessary to find a use for it.

Aside, it also provides oodles, and oodles of leaves (great for composting) and nice shoots (for eating) and a noise barrier (from freeway cars), so I've learned to live with it.

But - yes, it makes nice tomato stakes too! Saves money too! Birds buils nest in it too. Great exercise raking up litter too.

Just my 2 c's.

Bejay

Your tomato cages don't HAVE to be circular. Several Gardenwebbers make their CRW cages triangular so they can be folded for winter storage.

I have tried staking each plant to a wood post and I have tried cages.(cages suck imo) and staking each plant and tying each plant one by one is very slow time consuming and back breaking.

Last year I switched over to florida weave and will never go back to any other method .Its so easy and it works better than any of the others at the same time. I grew 500 roma plants last year and you could go down a 100 foot row and tie 50 plants in about 3 min.

I use metal post fence post with 3 plants between them and use twine from walmart made for making catfish trot lines,its very cheap and super strong.

Here are a couple examples.

http://www.tomatogardeningguru.com/images/weave.jpg

http://www.hightunnels.org/images/staking%20tomatoes%20Diagram.gif

Has anyone ever tried this tomato ring product? It looks good. I'm desperate for a new method!

http://tomatorings.com/

For the past 2 years I have used tomato ladders from Gardener's Supply Company. I cannot stand those ladders.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato rings

Cages are a pain in the posterior! I've used the "Florida weave" since working in tomato fields back in the 80s, wouldn't do it any other way.

Michael

Florida weave is my choice. I use 5.5' rebars (cost =$2.25 per piece). I drive down (with heavy hammer)one next to each plant just after tranplanting. Then I drive more so they make an equi-distan network. So, say if I have 5 plants, I will need abour 10 rebars.
At the end of season just pull them out and thow them anywhere, no storage problem.

When you construct cages from wire mesh, you have to make them conic for easy and compact storage. just overlap the bottom more. It will make no difference if the top is not perfect flat circle.

The twine looks fast and easy--may have to try it. I've been using wire panels which can be gotten from farm supply stores. A 20 foot panel doesn't cost that much. I pound a steel fence post in a couple feet from each end and sometimes one in the middle, then tie the fence to it about a foot off the ground. From there, I'll use old sisal baler twine to tie the vines up to the fence. This gives easy access to the tomatoes since I don't have to reach into a circular cage.