Tomato Cages (How to get them to stay up in my application)

12 years ago

I have a ton of totes plus 5 gal buckets. I have cut the bottoms out and am gonna use them as raised beds. I am gonna fill with mushroom compost. My problem is trying to find a way to keep the tomato cages from falling over. The compost of course does not get packed down so it is loose. I will be planting one tomato plant per 10 gal tote. This is not a container.I have cut almost all of the bottoms out. Just left enough to give the sides of the totes support.

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Comments (8)

sweetquietplace
12 years ago
Sounds like an interesting project. Can you put the buckets in a row with a pole of some sort rammed down in the ground between each bucket, or perhaps fore and aft, and tie it all together?
missingtheobvious
12 years ago
Are these the actual Texas Tomato Cages, the shorter (40"?) square "tomato cages," or something else?

How tall are the legs on the cages? How high are the sides of the totes?
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digdirt2
12 years ago
Yeah, what do you mean by "cages"? The 3 ring things that are a waste of time or real tomato cages? There are lots of different kinds of tomato cages out there.

Dave
dapper
Original Author
12 years ago
The totes are 10 gal. So about 18" tall. The tomato carges are round. The first few I purchased a few years ago were from Walmart and they are the 3 ring kind. I don't really use them anymore. The rest are round but 5 ring and a lot more stout. I would say the legs are roughly 8" long. I really don't want to go out and purchase all new cages. I don't want to spend a much more money. I was thinking maybe 2 rebar rods in each box and attach the cages to them but with approximately 16 tomato plants that is 32 rods. If they are just $3 each that is roughly $100 just for rods. SInce they are just used as raised beds I guess I would use the 5 gallon buckets and drill small holes around the cage leg then attach cable toes thru the holes and around the cages.
digdirt2
12 years ago
Just drive a stake - any kind including wood - into the ground along side and tie it off to the stake. Or since you have cut the bottom out drive it inside the container before planting just like those who use stakes to support their tomatoes.

An alternative if you have a fence or deck you can set them next to is to tie them off to the fence or deck rails.

Dave
dapper
Original Author
12 years ago
digdirt: I have also though of that. Even getting like 10' conduit and driving about 2' into the ground. This would leave about 6' above the totes. Actually a little more.
missingtheobvious
12 years ago
Someone here, some years back ... maybe Raybo/rnewste in his Earth-tainers? ... posted photos showing how to use two of those 3-ring things to make a taller cage. The top 3-ring is inverted and the two largest rings are attached to each other with 3 cable-ties. Apparently it works well.

(I reluctantly confess to having purchased several of the 3-ring contraptions yesterday at WM -- for small tomatoes!)
terrybull
12 years ago
before switching to pvc cages i used the 3 ring pcs of crap. i used those concrete footing stakes, they had the holes pre drilled so they were easy to tie on too.

Tomato Cages (How to get them to stay up in my application)

Comments (8)

sweetquietplace

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Tomato Cages (How to get them to stay up in my application)

Comments (8)

sweetquietplace

missingtheobvious

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digdirt2

dapperOriginal Author

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