CRW multi-cage built...

12 years ago

Last year my toms actually crushed my old fencing cage. This year I decided it was time to develop an appropriate cage 'system' for my tomato bed...

Several CRW panels and 2+ hours later...

Here's the result...

{{gwi:1339673}}

I'm rather pleased with how it turned out. I can break it down easy at the end of the season to store it flat and out of the way. I have cross panels to divide the length for the separate toms, and also to help strengthen the cage crosswise. The orange 'poles' are there to anchor the cage and help to prevent it from tipping over. They are 4' fiberglass driveway markers (the faded poles are the same, but I'm using them as corner pins on the raised bed sides). Should I need to, I'll anchor the cage to the side boards.

This is a cage from last year...AFTER I straightened it up. I can't complain too much though, they did last 4 years, before failing to support my toms.

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Comments (6)

chuck60
12 years ago
Divot,

That is a neat job. Should give your tomatoes good support. I do like the idea of being able to take it down and store it. I made my last standard CRW cages so I could unhook them and flatten them out for storage....and then I just left them in the garden because even that was too much hassle.

Question: Is that galvanized wire? My CRW came all rusty. Your old cage looks like galvanized field fence. The new support looks like CRW except it is so much cleaner that any I've seen. I've even thought of cutting up some cattle panels I have to make cages, but that would make some pretty pricy cages except that I already have the panels.

Chuck
divot_kf6jxf
Original Author
12 years ago
Nope...my CRW is not galvanized. There is already some rust on them ...but not much. I considered cattle panels too (they are super heavy duty - we had to use some hog panels for one of our pens). Cost was my main hurdle though. I don't plan on painting them either. I DO plan on pushing them to thier limit (if last year is any indication). If I can find a pic, I'll post it.
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chuck60
12 years ago
One of my friends uses cattle panels in arches, like has been shown here in other threads. He just plants his tomatoes along the arch and guides and weaves the branches into the panels. I think he places them at about two foot intervals, but even that close I'd have to have lots of arches for the 40 tomatoes I put out. I may try that for a few one year because the thought of having tomatoes hanging down from the arch waiting to be picked is intriguing.

Chuck
divot_kf6jxf
Original Author
12 years ago
I'll appologise for the poor pics up front. I took them with my cell phone at the time. It was decent enough for noting happenings...but not really good enough for much viewing.

I said my toms crushed my cage last year...here's the proof. I had 5 cages in the tom bed...all tied together.

This was AFTER I had picked the tom off the ground and stuck a T-post to help hold it up.
{{gwi:1339676}}

{{gwi:1339677}}

{{gwi:1339678}}

And one final shot...after I had trimmed the tom back to help keep it from falling...again...
{{gwi:1339680}}
chuck60
12 years ago
Wow! I have never yet had tomato plants grow that big and bushy. I have had decent years with crops I thought were OK, but my plants tend to be sparsely branched and spindly compared to those.

Chuck
divot_kf6jxf
Original Author
12 years ago
My toms usually look pretty well filled out like that. The tom on the end that I pruned back...filled the blue can to the right there twice...after compacting it down. Each can weighed close to 40 lbs, so I essentially trimmed ~80 lbs. of plant off.

I had a total of 6 plants (one didn't produce at all for some reason), and picking every other day, I'd get close to 30 lbs of toms (I had 2 Early Girl, 3 Cherokee Purple, 1 Black Plum - didn't produce any and 1 Brandy Boy).

CRW multi-cage built...

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CRW multi-cage built...

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chuck60

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