Be sure to stake the cage. I've skipped that before and had a wind come along and knock it over. This often causes the plant to become uprooted. Easiest way to do this is to use a T post. But one can use a breaker bar, make a hole and then stick a pole down there, tying on to the pole.

George

Hi Scott!

I knew you'd been really busy 'cause you haven't been here as much lately. Missed you!

And, yes, Dawn knew what she was talking about....LOL. (I'm laughing here.....but only because I used to wait until my plants were too big....so I learned the hard way, and that is why I do it the "right" way now.) Live and learn. (sigh)

And I absolutely agree with George that staking is essential. I use zip ties to attach my cages to my stakes 'cause they are quick and easy. I try to use two stakes....one on the south side, because my areas' prevailing winds are from the south most of the growing season, but also one on the east or west side because our worst thunderstorms and wind come from the southwest or northwest.

And, Scott, if you haven't mulched, do it NOW 'cause those wicked old weeds will grow almost as fast as the tomato plants!

I'm glad you got your plants caged. What a relief, huh?

Now, get busy answering the blueberry questions!!!

Dawn

A lot of pecan activities start in May, so I have a tough time keeping up with the garden that I made too big in April.

I have the largest 32 or so tomato plants caged, but the other half still have either nothing or the old cages that I can't get my hand into easily. I don't really want to buy more mesh to make more cages, because I suspect I will not use them all in future years.

I don't have enough t-posts to put next to all of them, but I have some 6' rebar that should work well. One good thing about my raised beds is that they are perfectly aligned with the north wall of my house, so they get NO southerly wind. I only have to worry about winds from the north and west.

I mulched 4 beds with straw. I should have left the bales out in the rain for a few weeks to get the seeds germinated first. One other bed I mulched with whole crimson clover plants that I seeded last fall and pulled out of my beds when putting in the tomatoes. The other I mulched with wood chips from the local tree trimming outfit. None are ideal. For some of the regular garden I have put out a few hundred square feet of cardboard that I have been stockpiling over the winter, which the wife hated by the way. Looks ugly but effective (thank you again Dawn).

My first real tomato is starting to turn. It is a Goliath and is about tennis-ball size. I also have a few peppers that are getting pretty big.

Looks like summer weather is here starting tomorrow.

Scott,

Great job! On the welded wire cages that you can't get your hand into easily, just do what I do....take heavy duty wire cutters (I use the big ones we use to cut barbed wire) and cut a couple of "portholes" into the cages. It works for me.

I hope the cardboard works well for you. It does for several of us. I have found, too, that the cardboard is an absolute earthworm magnet, which is so great for the soil.

I'm so excited that your first tomato is starting to turn. I hope you get to enjoy eating it very soon. This week the tomato hornworms have shown up in full force here, so watch out...they may be headed your way. I took three off of my Better Bush that is ripening its first really huge tomato of the season. (The earlier ones were smaller.) And, when I say "really huge" I ought to qualify it with "really huge, for a 2' tall plant in a 4 gallon pot". LOL

Summer weather started here a few days ago when we went to 97 officially and 98 at our house (in the shade). I hope summer is sweet and mild, but suspect it will be hot and wicked.

Dawn

I buy the small wooden stakes and I drill a hole into the tops (about one inch or two from the top)
then pound into the ground.. (I do three stakes to a cage)
Then use the zip tie going though the hole I made and then attached to the cage.

If you have a ban saw, you an make a V notch at the top and pound them into the ground, letting the V notch you made, hit the bottom cage wire.

Also instead of bending the wire when your making the cages, you can use zip ties to make your circle.

I also clip out every other hole at the bottom of each cage, and pulling down to make "legs" this helps hold the cage in place also, but you still need the spikes,

When I made my cages, IF I remember correctly. (HE HE) I would count out I think 12 or 14 holes, cut once ( a Square) while the wire was standing up, then lay the wire down, to finish the cutting.
Or was it that I laid it down, and placed concrete blocks down to hold the wire from jumping back up at me.. and cut all at the ground.. I kinda of forgot..

You really need Bolt cutters.. they make the job fast and easy as it can be.

Then you can place one or two, even three tomatoes to a cage.

I just love CRW cages. I have legs on mine too and it helps stabilize them, but staking is still necessary. I can't imagine having too many Scott. I guess you could cut them in half and use them for peppers? I'm curious what diameter did you and the rest of ya'll make them?

Jill

Jill,

I make them in various sizes so various ones nest inside the others for storage. I don't know the exact # of inches per cage because I made them so long ago....some of mine are at least 15 years old. I use the cages that are largest in diameter of the indeterminates that get the largest, and the medium for those that are average and the smallest cages for the taller determinates. This afternoon, I'll take a tape measure out and see how some of the cages measure out.

I have them in all heights, too, from 3' tall to 6' tall, and I can use zip-ties (I love zip ties and use them for lots and lots of stuff) to stack two 3' cages on top of each other to make a 6' tall cage, or to stake a 3' cage on top of a 6' cage to make a 9' tall cage for some of the more vigorous growers, like Sweet 100, for example.

I use smaller cages for some peppers, esp. bell peppers since the plants are often heavily laden with fruit. And, I plant all my muskmelons, cantaloupes, smaller gourds, cucumbers, smaller summer squash and mini-pumpkins inside cages and raise them vertically which lets me grow at least 4 times as many plants in the space as I could if I didn't use cages. Personally, I feel like I never have enough cages....and I have 300 or more. I use them for all kinds of stuff, esp. to protect crops grown outside the garden fence from wild animal.

I used to cut legs in mine, but have removed most of the legs (or folded them under) because they poke holes in the fabric landscape mulch cloth and weeds and grass come up wherever a hole is poked. In beds that don't have the landscape fabric mulch, I do still use the legs.

Sometimes I use them as an annual trellis to grow vines. Today, I even put a tomato cage over the disturbed soil when Mama Turtle laid her eggs this morning in an effort to keep the dogs, cats, raccoons and other wild things from digging up the eggs. See, there's always a use for excess cages!

Dawn

I went to HD the other day and all they had was 42" X 84" CRW panels. Didn't see any 60" stuff.

Speaking of blueberries I stumbled onto something interesting the other day. A book "Small-Space Gardening" by Peter Loewer published in 2003 has info on a cultivar of blueberry, Sunshine Blue, developed specifically for container gardening. It is a cross between Native South (Vaccinium darrowi) and Northern Highbush (V. corymbosum). Dense semi-dwarf 3' to 4' tall, is self-pollinating, is tokerant of higher pH's than normal blueberries, needs 200 to 300 hours of 45 degrees or below and only 150 hours of chilling and is still hardy north to Chicago and south to Florida. Silvery leaves remain evergreen through winter and it bears pink flowers in the spring. Didn't say where it was developed though. Anybody heard of it before?

A few years ago, I put some tall wood stakes into the ground next to pecan seedlings I didn't want to mow over. By the end of the summer the stakes had fallen over because termites ate the part the was underground. The gophers got all but a few seedlings the following year (but that is a story for another thread).

Most of my cages are 5' long and then made into a circle. I guess that makes the diameter 5/3.14159=1.6' diameter if I remember my formula for diameter correctly. I will know in about a month if I made them too small. The ones I started with 6' lengths look about right based on gut-feel. That would be just under 2' diameter. My plants are spaced closely in raised beds, so 2' is about max for me.

Well, you guys have talked me into another roll of CRW, just as soon as I have another reason to have the pickup in Tulsa. Gas prices you know.

On the CRW wire, I checked around and found the price can vary greatly. The big box stores like Lowes and Home Depot were about the same in my area - around $98 per 150' roll. However, I found it cheaper at smaller independent places. The lowest was $64.50/150' just before Mother's Day; that store has since raised their price to $79, but there's a couple of others that are currently selling it for $70. It could pay to call around in your area, you might be surprised : )

Scott,

Try M & M lumber 4711 S. Mingo. Call first, but I believe they are selling it for $70/150' roll. I didn't check anywhere in Bixby or BA.

Jill