Rebar - 5/8 or 3/4" diameter cut to 3-4' lengths and driven into the ground 6-10" - easy to drive. Then wire or tie the cages to the rebar stakes. Check the lumber yards as they often have cut scraps they will sell for cheap or you can buy it in 8-12-16 foot lengths and they will cut it for you. hacksaw will do it but it takes time - a metal chop saw is easier. ;)

Dave

Home Depot sells 10' length rebars for about $4.25. I cut them in half
mysel, they won't. They also sell 4' length for about $2.50.
but when you drive some of it in the ground to make it secure
you will end up having 3' high. Not guite tall enough.

This topic has been discussed many many time here on GW. Do a search on "tomato cages". You will find lots of good info.

I use rebar for my CRW cages too. My Texas cages don't need additional support but homemade CRW ones do when you live in a windy area and don't prune your plants and grow monster sized plants! 36" diameter is a BIG cage! Mine are like 22".

PVC pipe is cheaper and if you use 3 or four and tie the cages to them, they work fine.

I drive a T post in at each end of the row and string a clothes line cable or rope over or through the cages, and tie them off to it.

One trick I used in the past to anchor wire cages requires no pounding or tying, and probably uses less rebar since a single piece can anchor more than one cage

Make sure that one hoop of each of your cages is flush with the ground. Then simply lay a long piece of rebar on the ground (running in the direction of the row) so that it passes through the cages along the edge and weighs down on the hoop that is flush with the ground. One piece can even hold down two or three cages, depending on how your plants are spaced and how long the rebar is.

If you are cheap and you don't have super powerful winds to worry about, you could use bamboo poles or something and put something heavy like a half cinderblock or a large rock on each end. Actually, you wouldn't save much money since rebar is so cheap anyway, but if this is what you have in your garden it would save you a trip to the store I guess.

Just one piece of rebar is heavy enough for typical setups, and you can use two if you need more support. I suspect two of these, one on each side, would be heavy enough for anyone's needs.

Granted, I have never tried did this in a super-windy area, so if think this wouldn't work where you live, let me know.

Thanks for all the good ideas! I am going to try each suggestion to see which works best for me. I have 32 cages to secure so I can try a few each way.

We use electric fence posts. We weave them through the CRW cages and fasten them with a little piece of wire. We have a source for used posts, but you can get a bundle of new ones fairly cheap at farm stores. I think they are about a $1 each.

3 foot diameter cages are way too big for one plant. I use 1/2" rebar stakes to support the cages.

Search "FLORIDA WEAVE". It is a better alternative to cage and it is simple.

Tomato Cages or Tomato Stakes Challenge?
Hello my name is Michel,

I have a challenge for anyone who dares to accept it. My challenge is this; I challenge anyone anywhere to beat my Tomato Support. I believe I found the best tomato cage or you might call it tomato cage on a stake that you can find anywhere. I challenge anyone to beat it. You must be able to beat it in strength, in ease of use, in storability, in how nice it looks in your garden, in height of support etc. Here is my Tomato Support, It is called The Tomato Ring and it is made by a company called Veggie Cage LLC. You can see a video of the Tomato Ring in action on their web-site http://www.veggiecage.com/. The Tomato Ring is designed specifically for growing tomatoes however it also works great for peppers and eggplants. The Tomato Ring is 9" across, made of galvanized spring steel and is very strong. The Tomato Ring is the best tomato cage on the market today. With this new Tomato Ring you get the best of both a cage and a stake. Experience the convenient support of a cage and the height and stability of a stake, without the bulk of a cage or tedious tying and retying. For storing simply toss them in a bucket at end of season.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato Ring

Ditto what cyrus-gardener says. I'm even using it in my GH.

Mike

"3 foot diameter cages are way too big for one plant. I use 1/2" rebar stakes to support the cages."

Been using them for 40 years and the plants use all of it.

Thanks for all the great suggestions good people!

I read that some fellow gardeners are talking about SUPPORTING
tomato CAGES. That is very amusing to me. The cages were
supposed to SUPPORT something else (ie toms), now we have to support them. haha
If you have to support a cage with rebars, why bother with it in the first place.
Just go ahead and use those rebars to support the tomatoes,directly without a middle man. lol

cyrus gardener, that's another reason I recommend the Texas Cages to backyard gardeners because they need no support at all even if you grow monster plants in a wind tunnel. Yes, pricey, but they'll probably last a lifetime...

Happy, happy, happy! My first Texas cages arrived this week and I just unpacked them today. VERY sturdy looking and fold nice and flat. Hoping for a growing season that lets those plants grow even taller than these cages!

Sue

Cheers to Sue -- always nice to see someone really happy!

Has anyone else tried the tomato ring or the veggie spiral endorsed in such suspiciously glowing terms (Tsk. SUCH a cynic) by Michel? I checked the site and they looked good -- inexpensive, too! I have several CRW cages that are painted a fetching French blue every year (don't ask, you'll be sorry), but will need a few more cages for this year's planting and I'm not looking forward to digging out the wire snips, suffering puncture wounds, etc.

Rain

If you have to support a cage with rebars, why bother with it in the first place. Just go ahead and use those rebars to support the tomatoes,directly without a middle man. lol

Because cyrus if you eliminate the "middle man" (the cage) then you have to prune the tomato plant. That is the advantage to cages - no pruning and all the benefits that go with that. Now the extensive pruning required to use just a stake rather than a cage may appeal to you. It doesn't to many of us. ;)

And 2 small rebar stakes to keep a 6 foot CRW cage from falling over in high winds and thunderstorms is no big deal to do. If it wasn't for the wild weather the cages would do fine all on their own.

Dave

I too went with TTCs this year. I just don't think nine inches will cut it. Pricey yes, but once I saw them up close I was sold.

This thread has an idea for tomato support that I really like and am going to implement it this season. PLUS, I think we can use it as a hightunnel design to protect veggies in the cooler temperatures of spring and fall by adding plastic over it. See link below it has pictures throughout the thread which was started by, 'bencjedi', Jun 11, 07.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cattle panels

Just a note about rebar. It SHOULD be cut using a torch or maybe a cut saw. Our guys ruined quite a few power hack saw blades at $35 a piece before I questioned the supplier and was told that the rebar contains a lot of impurities that will ruin a hack saw blade in no time flat. I also use a pair of bolt cutters on the CRW. It makes it much easier.
I use 1" wood square stakes 5' long to hold my cages. Usually 1 will do the trick, but sometimes it takes 2. I drive it in about 1 1/2' and secure it with a plastic tie wrap. I've never had one go over with 2 stakes.
JMO,
Tom

You'd be surprised just how well a bunch of wires stuck into the ground hold a CRW cage in place, especially if you are talking 9 to 11 wires. With a 36'' diameter cage, that should be closer to 18 or 19 wires.

I MAKE MY CAGES TALLER by cutting them a certain way, it gives you additional height and "legs" to stick into the ground, they work great in all but the sandiest dust/soil. Just cut the horizontal bottom ring accordingly and properly (cut all on the same side of the vertical wire) and bend the cut wires downward. Be sure to study the diagram & understand it before doing any cutting!

I've never had any blow over here, and we always get winds off the lake. You can add any kind of stake too, even a short 3ft piece of bamboo if you'd like for additional support.

Hope this helps.

{{gwi:1012709}}

Haha! Very clever. Thank you for sharing. I'm going to make mine this way. After a few years, do the legs sometimes break at the weld?

So far so good mrs.b! They do get a crusty layer of rust on the buried part though!

Mrs B, I've had several "legs" break off due to rust but only after I had them about 12 to 15 years and I left them in the garden all year round. I didn't cut to make mine taller though like Korney. I just removed the bottom circle altogether so I had twice as many legs but only half the length.

Cool! I'm so pleased you solved my shrinking (shortening?) CRW cage dilemma.

we make them like korney 19 does also in ks with the wind we have to do this and i take a 2x2 or a 1x2 8ft long sharpen one end-drive in the ground 2ft then tie it with wire to top and bottom of cage.i use 2 of these sticks to ever cage..even use smaller cages for peppers

What is the best size wire and height to make the tomato cages.
Vince

Vince, it's easiest to find in 5ft tall by 150ft rolls, or 5ft x 10ft flat sheets. I think it is around 9 or 10 gauge wire, the openings are 6'' x 6''. Of course, anything you can find taller is always better, some up to 7ft or so.

The last time I bought galvanized sheets, they worked out great! We actually got them shipped in from a place in central NY, I think near Albany, Parker Steel or Barker Steel. I use the flat sheets to make round cages, 2 per sheet, or 3ft/side triangular cages that hold 1 plant in each corner. I also made free-standing "pens" that are 3ft x 7ft that hold however many containers/plants you want right on the driveway, and "stalls" that are just partitions or cubicles...

{{gwi:1309914}}

{{gwi:1012708}}

You can also use 3/4" electrical conduit ran above the plants and use the "string method" where strings are tied to the plant below and twisted around the vine as they grow. See pic.

Hope this helps.

Mark

Mark
Thanks for the info. You have A real neat setup. I have been gardening for many years but I have never used cages.
Thanks again
Vince

I just ordered six of the large size Texas Tomato Cages direct from the manufacturer. They are very expensive, $99.95 for six 24 inch diameter six foot high cages plus $32.70 shipping. This will be the first time for me using cages, before I always let my tomatoes sprawl on the ground or on compost. But I am selling tomato plants this year so I figure I should have at least some of my own plants in my garden in cages so my customers can see how they look when caged.
BTW, the medium and large size cages you order direct from the company are six feet high, but the ones they supply to nurseries and garden centers are only five feet high, and cost the same if you add the shipping the manufacturer charges. The sales lady said it has something to do with the size of a pallet and the six foot cages are too big for a standard pallet.

After having my Roma tomatoes shove those wimpy wire things out of the ground, I made a "Tomato Wall" for the paste varieties this year.

2 strips of CRW (2 panels per strip) about 12-15 inches apart, held in position with several rebar stakes on the outside of the mesh, with hog rings attaching the mesh to the rebar.

The tomatoes are planted between the panels, about 2 feet apart, with drip lines and lots of mulch. We'll see how well this works.

I made 5 cages from a 5'foot fence. I measured out 24" of fence made a circle and connected it. The cone seems small. Am I doing it right.
Vince

Yeah that is pretty small Vince. That's 7.65" diameter cage, right? You want a minimum of 24" diameter, I find 30" to be better. That means you cut 75" long piece of fence for 24" if I remember my Pi math correctly. C=D(3.14)

Simply put, take the diameter you want and multiply it by 3 and a smidge to determine how many inches long to cut. ;)

Dave

I use 4 foot "U" fence posts purchased at Home Depot for around $2.50 each. I secure them to the CRW cages with wire ties. Never had a problem in the last few years.

Thanks for the Info Dave. My wife new I was doing it wrong.
Vince

I am looking for some of the concrete reinforcing wire to use for tomato cages. A friend at work recommended using this but I probably don't need a full roll. I tried the hanging tomato planters last year only to find they fell apart after a season of sun exposure. Don't want to repeat that again. I noticed the Texas Tomato Cages but OMG $99 for 6 PLUS $32 shipping and handling.

The Texas Tomato Cages may be pricey, but I think it's a once-in-a-lifetime purchase. And if you're short on space, like I am, having them fold flat for storage is a huge advantage. I would not have a place to store the home-crafted variety in the winter - they'd have to be left outside and one could only wonder how many years they would last that way (so say nothing of the winter landscape ugliness - it's a hard enough season as it is).

Could chain link fence wire work? I have a section just laying around.

I stake them with pieces of electrical conduit. A ten
foot section costs a couple of bucks and makes four
stakes 2-1/2 feet long or five stakes 2 feet long. Cut the
stakes and then mash one end flat with a big hammer. That
way, it will drive in more easily and will not get filled
with soil. They last a long time, too.

I love my Texas Tomato Cages. This is my 2nd year using them. After getting my first batch of six, I quickly ordered a second batch of six for a total of 12 24" cages. Storage was the primary reason that I ordered these as they all fold into a 3'x2'x2' area. I hang them from a pipe secured to the wall in my garage. My garden is exposed to exposed to severe wind and I've never had a TTC move, much less fall over. Yes, they're terribly expensive and maybe not economically practical if you're doing tons of tomatoes, but they're extremely well built and at 41, I expect them to last the better part of my lifetime. If I had room for another six tomatoes, I'd order up another set of cages. Highly recommended. ;)

Could chain link fence wire work? I have a section just laying around.

Not as a cage, the holes in that type of fencing are far too small. You'd never be able to pick the tomatoes. But I suppose you could use it like a long trellis and tie the plants up to it.

Dave

I cut the bottom ring off and just push the 6 inches of exposed CRW wire into the ground--similar to korney19's drawings above. After about 20 years, some of the wires rusted off. So I cut the next ring off, which made the cage 6 inches shorter. This method makes the cage very sturdy even when used in a plowed garden.