For years I have used remesh. It's the stuff they use for reinforcement of concrete slabs. It comes in rolls and is about 5 feet wide. The wire that makes it is welded into 6 inch squares (makes it easy to reach through). I make cylinders that are about 18 inches in diameter, so I use a piece that is 4 and one-half feet long, cut it down the side and tie the two ends together with wire or cut it in the middle and bend the wire into a hook and hook it to the other end. Very strong. Then I stake it into the ground with a piece of rebar (metal rod, again used to reinforce concrete, 3/8ths or larger diameter about 3 feet long, using plastic plant tie to tie the remesh to the rebar. They last for years. the cylinder then contains the tomato plant and is easy to pick through. I never have a problem. The mantises(sp? manti?) sometimes lay their egg cases on the wire and so I have a crop of mantises right where I want them. I hope that helps.

Not sure of your ability to obtain the material but the best cages I've found so far are made of Cattle Panel. It comes in "panels" 50" x 16' so if you can find it you'll probably need a trailer to get it home. What's great about it is that you can take bolt cutters and cut the various lenghts needed depending on whether your growing determinants or inderterminants, and you can cut the bottoms such that you have prongs for actually setting the cages into the ground.... Below is a link to some pictures on this forum that clarify the utility of this product for this use. I think you'll find this is the answer to your question. If so, if there's a Tractor Supply in your area they will have it.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/hpgal0303295610237.html

This is my first year to use the concrete reinforcement wire for tomato cages. I have done the same thing don jamie suggested. Funny thing is the day after I put the cages up, a very strong storm came through and blew my 10' windmill over. The top landed on the first cage in the row and that saved it from being broken or even bent. So I have to say the cages are worth the money before I have even planted a tomato. Snow forecast for tomorrow and that will be the second snow in a week. The first snow melted right away...hope the second does also. Time to garden here in Texas!!! DT

I've always liked my PVC cages the best..naturally I'm
prejudiced since I came up with the idea.

You can make them any size you want. Mine are 7' tall.

Wind doesn't bother them unless you have a tropical storm
or hurricane.

And you can put a clear plastic garbage bag over them
to make individual greenhouses for your young and tender
plants.

Follow the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tom's PVC Tomato cage page

Thanks all for the info...I can see how sturdy the concrete wire is...and Tom -- very interesting pvc cage...I will take these designs under consideration for my raised bed plants

qaguy

Thanks for the PVC seup. I think I will try that. I have been using remesh for the last five years. It is horrible to store. It is like wrestling aligators trying to separate my cages at the beginning of the season. I used to love remesh, but I realize I am still looking for something better.

Some advatages I see in your setup:

Scalability. Add layers as the plants grow.

Ease of Storage. Remesh is the pits to store. Broken down PVC will fit in my shed with no troubles.

Safety. PVC has soft round edges, remesh is 'pokey and scrapey', I have a 4 Y.O. who is becoming a worry around remesh.

I do not like PVC in general though. It's just more chemicals in the garden. *sigh* I'm not die hard against man made materials, but if I had all the time in the world, twine and bamboo would be a more natural choice.

Thanks again for the link. I am very excited to try it out. Specifically, I have a new, large, self-watering container that I want to try right outside my patio door. I was wondering what type of support to use, as I did not want remesh near the door as the hazzard it poses to the kid. I now have a specific plan that seems to meet all my needs!

Thanks

Vance

has anyone been successful with constructing a bamboo support?

I don't know how this is going to work but I am going to try a trellis setup like they have for blackberries. I'll set two iron fence posts down and run wire between them every foot or so. I'll put a turnbuckly on each wire at one pole to keep the wire taut and when I need to take it down I'll just coil up the wire and store it in the garage for next year.

The only disadvantage I see is there will be no vertical wires for support but I'm going to give it a try.

For the last 30 years I have used a 9 ft. 1/2" rebar driven into the ground about 2 ft. Then I use surveyers tape to tie the plant where needed, and have never had one fall yet.

For any others like vance who want to try a self-watering
container, here's a link to another variation on the PVC
theme.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nancysil's container setup

tworivers1...I've used the method you've described but with soft nylon rope, not with wire...wire seems like it will cut into the soft stems and branches

It worked pretty well except you use more rope than you think ($20 worth) and when the plants get large and heavy it pull at the supports so make sure their anchored well

I have used bamboo and twine for about three yrs now. It's not that time consuming or too big of a pain in the neck (doesn't mean I'm not on the hunt for the 'perfect' set up). I get 8' bamboo (always pick the 'beefiest'). I use 3 per plant (sometimes sharing 1 between plants), to form a triangle, angling the top of the poles out, away from the plant. Then I just start 'weaving'. The first part of the season, maybe once a week or so, when they realy start takin' off 2-3 times, I just try to keep the twine a head of the top growth.

What I like about this method is that it is very versital. As the season goes on I can adjust, reenforce, and add support where its needed. W/ my big toms I can make 'slings'(usually dollar store nylons) anywhere in the structure.........Is it perfect? No.........But storage is minimal and cleanup is quick.........just my 2 cents.............T

florida weave, nothing to store but the posts!

Here is a link that might be useful: how to do the florida weave

sandy0225...I used this method last year only I used soft nylon rope instead of twine because I didn't want the support to bite into the stems...it worked pretty well...instead of using the steel posts you described I used the thickest fake bamboo (they were 8 feet tall which was a bonus) that I screwed into the raised bed but I had to reinforce with steel conduit when the plants became very heavy...

I've also used the overhead method of support which worked very well except that it bent the composite 2X2...if I use this method again I will use steel!

I am going to try the florida weave support system this year. What is the maximum number of plants in a row that can be planted between the two outside anchor stakes? My garden is long and narrow.

thanks,
qualin

qualin...the link in sandy0225's post above has all the relevant info...

I read the link about the florida weave but I'm not sure what kind of posts he is talking about. I've never seen any posts at Lowe's or Home Depot that would be tall enough you could get for $1.50 each,especially T posts. Can anyone help me with a better description on the posts he is using?

Thanks

I, too, have used the florida weave method for years and love it. Fantastic to store. First year I mistakenly used jute - whoops - stretched out by the end of summer and was no longer taut. Now I use soft cotton kitchen twine. Love it. I go to Home Depot and mut the t-posts for fencing that are green and about 6 ft. tall. Hammer them in and pull them out for the winter, Nothing could be easier. I use 3 posts in a 6 foot box and place 2 plants between the posts. Not sure if you could do more or not. Just make sure to plant determinate and indeterminate together.

I use bamboo poles tripod style with a ridge pole. I tie my tomatoes with plastic grocery bags folded from top to bottom until it is about one inche wide. Then I cut the band into about one inch strips. Each strip when unfolded makes a loop. I cut the loop and tie my tomatoes with the one inch strips. They work very good.

The tripod makes it easy to cover when the weather gets cold. I had tomatoes covered on stakes that froze while the ones on the tripod didnÂt because there is more ground underneath to keep the tomatoes warm.

See my tomato supports and my photoÂs.

Karyl
====

Here is a link that might be useful: Photo's of my tomato support

I am thinking of putting up a 6ft pole at two ends of my garden and drilling some holes in them. Then apply some rows of plastic coated cable and use ties off of them and make sure they are tight.. I think it can be a good idea.

I also have never found steel t-posts taller than 4 or 5 feet...I like to have my supports be at least 6 feet tall above ground...

I've used the teepee method when I had a ground level garden but having a 3X5 raised bed means I have to be conscious of space...

There is a freeze warning tonight for Atlanta, and I had to cover my tomatoes. It sure is easier than trying to cover tomatoes on a stake. I have those also.

See my tomato photo's of my covered tomatoes last year.

Here is a link that might be useful: Teepee Method Easy To Cover

Sla762,

Would you clarify what you mean by, "I go to Home Depot and mut the t-posts for fencing that are green and about 6 ft. tall."? Specifically, is "mut" the word you intended?

Thanks! I appreciate all the great ideas.

Cynthia

I just use cattle panel supported by a couple of short stakes and tie my tomatoes and melons to it. These were cut into 8-foot lengths and placed so they're four feet wide and eight feet tall. This year I've placed them so they're four feet tall and eight feet wide. I didn't really need the eight foot height -- couldn't reach the top! I'll raise the panels about a foot when I tie them to the stakes, and the plants can cascade over the other side.

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You can buy a 20' piece of rebar for 8 bucks n change, they'll cut it in half for free.

Using a piece as a top rail tightly wired into place, you have a sturdy and tall set up for fl. weave and can use drop lines for the top.

Paint em tan and they'll look like bamboo from a reasonable distance.