If you look around at building construction store you might be able to find it cheaper. I found a place in the L.A. area that had a 200' roll for $59. I also found a place that had 7'x10' flat pieces for 19.50 ea. That seemed high but it would make a great 7' cage. I imagine the 200' roll would be a little thin but that shouldn't be a problem with tomatoes.

I think the place with the rolls was Thompsons Building Material in Lomita, CA

The rust is not an issue. There are various gauges of CRW. The heavier gauges cost more. I have a friend that made a dozen CRW cages in 1992 and they are still going strong. They have been left in his garden exposed to the elements the entire time.

So I guess you're saying that they will rust anyway?
I'll look around at some other places for a smaller roll.

Lowes sells 50' rolls of CRW for about $45. You can do a search on their website for "remesh" and then select a store closest to you to see if it is in stock.

Agree with Lowe's or Home Depot prices - same as here - but they vary widely by region. Mine are the heavy duty 4x4" squares and as already mentioned they will last for many years so they do pay for themselves. But it also depends on how many cages you need.

Various forms of galvanized fencing is often available in smaller rolls at cheaper prices and it won't rust as CRW does. I also have some cages made from it. But it's openings are smaller and you have to do some creative wire cutting the first season to make large enough holes to pick fruit. Just explore the various types of fencing available in your price range. Any one of them will work.

Dave

{{gwi:8327}}

I live in middle Tennessee and checked at home depot on a roll and they had 50 ft of 6ft wide for $129.00 dollars' I cheked a local lumber yard and found a 150 ft roll for $100.00 dollars.

ED

Yup, 150 ft for $150 here too. You can get 24-25 cages out of a 150 ft roll, so $6 per cage is not bad ($7 if you have to buy a bolt cutter). You could easily sell your extras for $10 each to make some of the money back. The rust hardens with age and is not so messy. It also camouflages the cage.

The flat sheets are a bit of a pain to bend to shape but it can be done, and they are then tall and thin tubes, not very good for big tomato plants. I use them for cherry tomatoes.

I bought 150' roll for 125$ or so.

IIRC it made ~20 cages.
125 / 20 = ~$6 each. Thats just a tiny bit more than
those crappy no good 54" 4 legged spindly things.
Quite a deal in my book.
They are easily 10 times better.

Rolled is better if you want round cages.
pretty much preformed for you.

Buy a GOOD wire cutters/mini bolt cutters though, or you will be sad.

I still use crw cages I made over 20 years ago(and paid quite a bit less for back then).But,they last forever and hold up well over the years.So IMO they are well worth the investment.

Mike

I was discouraged by the price of CRW and went w/ bamboo for tripods this year. If the garden does well I'll be able to convince the wife and myself to invest in some or 20 next year. Last years 6 toms were not successful. I planted 15 this year and learned alot more about what I'm doing.

Thanks for all the posts! I appreciate it.
At Andycls' suggestion, I checked Lowe's online. According to the website, a location close to me carries a much smaller bundle. 50 feet for $45. That is much more in my league! I think I'll go that route if the store truly does have it in stock.

I went to a concrete supply store here in St Louis. I bought a 10 gauge 150' roll of 5 foot wide CRW for $68. I was able to get 25 cages out of the roll. I then bought rustoleum hammered finished paint and a small roller (the thicker the nap the better) and painted them. Do not use spray paint because it will take multiple cans of spray paint to do a whole cage due to the overspray. With the hammered finished you can paint directly over rust and it looks great! I wanted to paint them the green finish, but I couldnt find that in the quart. Instead I did the black finish. A quart of paint cost me $11 and it could do between 8-9 cages. It took me about 10 minutes per cage to paint them. I then zip tied the cages together so I could easily take them apart. The zip ties cost about 2 cents a piece. Therefore the cost of everything for each cage is 2.75 for the CRW, 1.35 for the paint, and .12 for the zip ties for a total of $4.22 per cage plus probably approximately 15 to 20 minutes per cage.

unbelievable luck!! after lamenting over my wimpy but adequate cages this season (growing determinate varieties mostly) i was checking out this thread last night...

i jumped on craigs list and got some CRW cages for $5 each 5ft and 7 ft. woohoo! here are a few of the 5 ft cages.

heres hoping i can grow something worthy of them! obviously not needed in this raised bed... hopefully the fall indeterminates will make use of them ;)
rob

It's safe to paint CRW cages?

Paint them? Why bother? They rust into a nice patina, and it doesn't affect the tomatoes.

Next year I'll be using four panels, set about 18" apart, to make a big curved tomato "wall" to separate the pool from the utility yard. (right now they are making a compost heap)

I posted these before somewhere, if you look hard enough, you can find Galvanized CRW in sheets, 5x10ft. The sheets you can do all kinds of things, like make pens, stalls, triangular cages for 3 plants, etc, as well as standard round cages.

{{gwi:1331199}}

Instead of cutting the bottom off to get prongs to stick into the ground, (you'll lose 6" that way), if you cut the bottoms a certain way, you can actually make them TALLER...

{{gwi:1012709}}

Korney, That is way cool.

You're the Man!

I really get a kick out of the ingenuity that gardening seems to bring out in folks :-)

Thanks Dave!

The 10ft sheets are good for making 3ft wide x 7ft long "pens" too, a newer pic of what's in the driveway:

{{gwi:1309914}}

The sheets I bought had a few inches beyond the squares at the edges of the sheet, so I bend them down at an angle and they interlock to make a corner that I can open to get inside. Similar method with the stalls, the divider panels can be removed on most.

Also in the first pic, it is quite hard to see but there are actually some cages with the paint chalkrock mentioned (rustoleum hammered finish, in dark green) but they blended in quite well... can anybody make them out? (HINT: They are round cages.)

they are back where the red flowers are

tom

Korney19, that cutting method is very creative! I will have to try it. And your massive garden is such an inspiration. Are all of your plants in containers? Thanks!

Thanks. I have eliminated a few plants this year with everything going on here with my mother plus our new addition to the family!

{{gwi:1331200}}

Tomatoes I have about 33 in 4 & 5 gallon buckets on the driveway, and about another 27 in raised beds, plus a couple in plastic half drums. (Peppers I have about 21 in 4 gal buckets and 21 in a raised bed.) I got rid of 5 tomatoes in one bed to grow a dozen varieties of garlic there instead.

.........

Tom, nope! They are close to the center of the picture, about 3 o'clock of the white drum, 12 o'clock of the gray clothespole!

Did you run out of 1 cent stamps yet??

WAY TOO CUTE!!! :-) :-) :-)

Menard's, in Southern Illinois has CRW wire on sale thru 07-12-09 for $69.99 for the 150 foot roll. I purchased 2 rolls this week, one to use this year and the other one for next year

She will be 10 months old this month... actually this week! She helps in the yard--she eats the crabgrass! AND, to turn over the raised beds, I put her in one and say, "Where is it?" and she starts furiously digging, dirt flying EVERYWHERE, I stand behind her with a storm door screen to block the dirt! She digs down nearly 11" and then I move the dirt back in and move her over a few feet and start all over again! hahaha!
I had an urban farmer help in the yard in exchange for plants and he brought his entire family and spent a few hours weeding and turning 2 of the beds and he apologized for not doing as good a job as the puppy!!

.........

Johnny, that is a deal, I paid about $55-$60 for 150ft almost 10 years ago!

I bought a 100' roll of remesh 15 years ago and made 8 2' cages and 30' of trellis. Best purchase I ever made! I cut it with a reciprocating saw easily, but a bolt cutter should work fine.

All the cages are still stong and sturdy and I expect they will outlast me. Yeah, $1 per foot seems high, but it is a lifetime purchase.

I just put the tomatoes on a 3' stake, put the cage on them, and let them grow "as they choose". Picked my 1st ripe Cherokee Purple today.

Hilarious! Sounds like she has a blast out in the dirt, while saving you some hard work. I bet she's a totally different color when shoe comes out! My greyhounds chow down on crabgrass too, like grazing cows but in double-time! I have to watch them though, because sometimes they cough up the grass later LOL. Oh well they love to eat it, so whatever makes them happy!

mark can i borrow her for turning my compost pile? :-)

i have a huge pile of compressed shredded leaves (about 10 yds worth), i really could use her talents in that! ;^0

i noticed the 1 cent stamp comment in another post but now i think you are asking me? i don't make the connection unless when i mailed you i used up a lot of 1 cent stamps to the point i covered the envelope with them. yes, i have used them all up, probably to you!

tom

that is a deal. i get the stuff from $75 for a 150' roll. check for local steel suppliers.

Hey, great set-up you have there korney! I'm guessing you don't drive that Monte Carlo SS very often though. (grin)