Wow, I did not think so many people did not clean them, well I mean disinfect, not clean for prettyness. Non of you guyshave a problem? Maybe the chance of carrying over semething from last year is not that high? Anyway, thanks for your responces. I still like to disinfect them anyway so not to take a chance and have something happen after all my hard work. I just hate using bleach because I always ruin some kind of clothing no matter how careful I am, plus I live on a lake and I try not to use stuff that can harm the wildlife. But it is not like the amount a bleach I use could hurt anything. I was thinking maybe an organic fungicide might work but I guess not. I also have this stuff called Physan 20 which is suppose to be an awesome disinfectant for plants and tools but I see no mention of being used on veggie plants so I was afraid to use it on my cages/stakes. For some reason, the hydrogen peroxide link does not seen to go to where I think it is suppose to go? Thanks! Christy

I made cages from concrete reinforcing wire a few years ago (after running into the exact same issue with discovering that the little cages are inferior.) Mine are the round style, which involved a lot of bending, bolt cutters and sore hands, but MAN are they great. Totally worth the effort. Anyway, to address the orignal question, I drove poles into the ground next to the little cages and simply tied up the plants to the pole the rest of the season. Actually, come to think of it, I tied the cages to the poles first, and then I sort of tied the vines to either the little cages or to the pole as I needed to do so for the rest of the season.

Nice PVC cages...I understand fully what you're saying about my HD cages. You are correct in that they are only a support system, very specifically with these smaller ones I use. I don't mind helping a branch here & there by moving it above a ring or whatever. I very much doubt there will be constant upkeep with the cages. I am well aware of the size tomato plants get. One of the main reason I did 6 of them (2 each of 3 varieties) is that I know container gardening on a tiny porch means (for some plants) limited production due to space. Anyways, guess i'm trying to say I pre-planned quite well & bought items I specifically wanted. My hopes are to have plenty of matoes by football season. :) See, drtomato & macheske, it's not hard to talk like a normal adult. Start out by asking questions first though, like "Why do you use the small HD tomato cages?" instead of saying something like, "Those little HD cages are funny... My plants are over 7' now. I don't think I would be able to find them. They might be big enough for some of my peppers." Then maybe, by asking a few questions first, you'd know why I bought the materials I did, instead of just starting a bunch of crap in this forum. And I wonder why it's been so dead the past 2 weeks.

To Labradors: Are you urban or rural? What quadrant of the U.S. do you live? Describe the hole? Armadillos most often dig a small golf ball sized hole that is somewhat cone shaped like their head. Sometimes they can dig something 8 to 10 inches in diameter at an angle going down, typically around cover like bushes, but not always. I purchased a system called "Dakota Alert" which has a receiver in the house and a transmitter outside. They also sell a hand held receiver. They can be set to zones one through four. They can transmit a quarter mile through trees, bushes and other plants. I have four of them spread out. When the armadillos wake me up I can handle them. They are also great security systems.