If you get the tree tubs at a nursery or commercial landscaping company, go ahead and ask them if they have bulk qtys of landscape mix or whatever kind of manmade bedding mixes they fill large landcape islands or beds with. Usually, these will run from $25 dollars a "scoop" (generally 1/2 cubic yard) to maybe $55 - $65 a cubic yard, which would pretty much fill a shortbed pickup truck to where the bumper was down on the wheels. So, if they do, sweet talk the operator into letting you fill the tubs with this mix for some dirt cheap price like 50c or a buck per 10-gallon tub. One farmer I get this stuff from will let me fill 10-gallon tubs for 25c - 50c each depending on what kinda mood he's in or how close it is to Miller Time. He makes his mix from rotted bark and wood chips from the utility company right-of-way trimmings, rotted horse manure and stall bedding, native clay loam, sand and agricultural lime. I notice a lot of lawn care contractors also drop off leaves and grass clippings in his composting area. Anyway, get something that drains readily. Don't use garden soil! If the mix isn't sterile, such as homemade like what I get from that farmer, cut a piece of porous landscape fabric to top the filled container and suppress weeds. I plant my tomato transplants on my tailgate at the farmer's loading yard as I fill my containers in the spring. Don't go buying fancy shmancy bagged mixes if you can get something that works cheap from a farmer, soilbuilder or commercial nursery, etc. I add a little release Ozmocote fertilizer and some cheap 12-12-12 granules like what you can buy at Dollar General or Walmart for 2 or 3 bucks a 4-pound box ... right into the tubs as I fill them. Like in the top half of the growing mix. Then I still fertilize with half strength Miracle-Gro type tomato formula or rose formula every week to 10 days and water every other day or every day when it gets supper hot. You can stuff some wheat straw in the top of the containers and pile some up around the containers if the sun causes the black tubs to get exceedingly hot 'cuz if you don't, you risk baking the roots, distressing them, and causing BER. Good growing. Bill

Kawaiineko, For your dwarf tomaotes in containers (especially if you find the ones that are labelled heavy duty), you can probably use the tomato cages you buy locally, they just aren't big enough or heavy enough for most non-dwarf tomatoes. I do use them to support pepper plants, but some peppers may be too large for them. I know of gardeners who use cages for peas, beans, cucumbers, and squash. Another name for concrete reinforcing wire (CRW) is concrete remesh. Here a couple of videos that show people making CRW tomato cages. Making CRW Cages The fellow in the next video is making them from the 5' x 10' sheets, which will cost more per cage, but may be a better way for someone who only has a few tomatoes or wants to spread the initial investment out over time. One other "disadvantage" to using the sheets is that you have to roll them into circles where the rolls of remesh are already curved (more about that later.) Making tomato cages from remesh sheets The second video shows the fellow cutting the remesh with a grinder, I have used a jig saw to cut cattle panels, so I think you could use one on the remesh, or a sawsall, but the bolt cutters are hands down the easiest way to cut them. The link below is to a good page that shows yet another way to make the cages from the rolls. If you don't have a couple of helpers to stand on the wire while you cut it, you can use several cinder blocks or some other heavy items to hold it down. If you unroll it the way most people are inclined to, when you cut the wire, it can snap up and stab you with the nice points you just made. So the use of some kind of weights is important, along with a good bolt cutter (a small one is OK, but regular wire cutter don't work well, you'll wreck you hands.) Heavy jeans, eye protection, long sleeves and good gloves are other safety itmes to consider. If you don't have access to a pair of bolt cutters and don't want to buy them, look into renting them, you can do all the cutting in a short time and then form the cages and bend the ends as you wish. As you can see, you can cut and bend the wire ends in different ways, you just have to decide what works for you. I know of a gardener or two that don't leave the wires for twisting but use zip ties to hold them together and then they cut them at the end of the season so they can open the cages to nearly flat and stack them in less space to store them over the winter. Some people make their cages in 3 sizes, like 18", 22" and 36" diameters so they can nest them to take up less storage space. Others leave the cages in the garden. As for cutting off the bottom ring(s) to leave wire to push into the ground, you can do that. I prefer to use rebar stakes driven into the ground 12-18" on either side to anchor the cages. Of course, your mileage may vary. Betsy Here is a link that might be useful: How to make CRW Cages

What kind of cages gulfcoast? The 3 or 4 ring things or are you making cages? CRW cages are 5-6 feet depending on the wire you buy. The only tall plants on your list are the Sweet 100 and the Goliath. They can both indeterminates and can easily reach 8-10 feet but that doesn't mean you have to have a cage that tall. ;) Next tall one is the Celebrity at approx. 5 feet. The Bush Goliath and Husky Cherry Red are small plants at 3 feet and don't really need a cage although I'd probably put one of the 3 or 4 ring things or a stake on both in case of wind. If you Google each one by name you can see pictures of that variety plants that folks have posted. For example: Sweet 100. Dave

Only if you see a problem. Then catch it early with appropriate methods. One way to do that is to call your county's Extension Service office to learn what the common problems are in your are. Armed with that information, you can educate yourself about what they look like, and when and how you should react. Critters can often be handled one-to-one as in hand removal, squishing, and drowning in soapy water.