Have you considered making cages out of them or are you set on a trellis? It will probably take quite a few posts as well to use the rewire as a trellis.

I'm planting 100+ plants, so cages won't work since I don't have anywhere to store them all. I was thinking of using t-posts as supports.

Personally, I would go with the cattle panels for what you're planning. CRM is great for making cages since it already comes in a roll and is going to be in a rounded form. Even so, it can be very stubborn to work with alone, especially once you get to the tighter end of the roll trying to straighten it out or manipulate it how you want. Trying to straighten it for a vertical trellis structure could be a real pain. If you don't have a long enough trailer, you can hopefully use or borrow a pickup truck, buy the cattle panels, cut em' in half at the store with bolt cutters and get them home like that. Mount them to your t-posts and if you like, you can always zip tie the separated pieces back together for added strength and stability.

If I made cages out if the CRM, can I just leave them outside year round? Will they still last for years and years if I do?

If I made cages out if the CRM, can I just leave them outside year round? Will they still last for years and years if I do?

Of course. No problem.

If you want to trellis then cattle panels are MUCH better. But 100 plants trellised is going to be a lot of hours and hours spent tying them up. Cages eliminate that.

And in a 3' wide bed you can only plant one row of plants so you only need 1 row of trellis. Why down the middle? It would need to go along the back edge of the bed rather than the middle. There would be no reason you'd need trellis on both sides of the plants.

Dave

Yes, they will last a long time. The ones I made are at least 10-15 years old and still going. I stack them against a shed during the winter. It will take several rolls to make 100 cages though. Somewhere around 30 per roll, depending on how big you make them.

Great! If I can leave them outside, that eliminates the storage problem.
Regarding asking if I needed it on both sides, I wasn't sure if they needed to be 'sandwiched' between two. But if cages are going to require the least amount of time, that's the way I want to go. I've seen people list making them 18" or 24". Any preferences? Do I need to stake each cage to anchor it?

I'm planting 100+ plants, so cages won't work since I don't have anywhere to store them all
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

There is a simple solution for cage storage problem. JUST UNDO THE TIES AND INSERT THEM INSIDE ONE ANOTHER. The only thing is that you will need to tie the again the next season. But it shouldn't be that difficult and time consuming. That is what I have done with the few that I have.

Normally CRW cages are not made with ties that could be cut or undone. The plastic cable ties/twine/whatever don't last. Normally the wire itself is twisted around the adjoining wire to form the cage and once made, they remain "made".

As to 18" or 24" - 18" is too narrow a circumference for most indeterminates unless you plan to aggressive prune the plant. 36" is great for the plant but wastes some space IME. 24" is ok but a few inches wider is better. I find 28-30 to be ideal for my plants. Making cages of varying diameters helps with winter storage as some can fit inside the larger ones.

Yes they need to be staked in some fashion As the plants grow wind becomes a problem.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Pics and how-tos for CRW cages

Normally CRW cages are not made with ties that could be cut or undone.(Dave)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Not necessarily. It can be opened in a minute.

See the video.

Here is a link that might be useful: CRF cage

This post was edited by seysonn on Wed, Jan 29, 14 at 20:59

Here's an example of the use of two rows of cattle panels to "sandwich" a row of tomatoes.

If you have access to galvanized field fencing with large spaces between the wires like cattle panels, you can also use that, along with the T-posts. I've only seen it in 300 foot rolls, though. Cattle panels are more rigid than the fencing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Double cattle panel tomato trellis

This post was edited by carolync1 on Fri, Jan 31, 14 at 1:05

When using cattle panels, you really don't have to tie many plants. I find that just sticking them through the holes works at least 95% of the time. I had something like 50 plants last year, and I didn't have to tie but a few that grew sort of wild.

Here's a pic of my setup about 2 months into the growing season: