The Gardener's Supply cages are only good for determinant tomato plants or pepper plants. For large indt. plants you would need to stack one on top of another, stake heavily and then prune and pray!

The Texas cages are the best I have ever seen. Worth the money.

Many folks here will urge you to make your own CRW cages. Yes they are cheaper than Texas cages but you have to have the time to go shop for the materials and time to make them. If you are not a handyman type you might not enjoy this measure. Besides, The Texas kill the CRW's in almost every respect.

By the way, I own all three types I mention above so this info is all direct. I use the Texas for huge plants, the CRW's (must also be staked though) for other INDET's that aren't as tall/vigorous and the Gardener Supply's (pens) for pepper plants.

I used CRW cages for almost 20 years. They worked great, but were inconvenient to store in the off-season. They also rusted quickly.

Two years ago I bought Texas Tomato Cages. Love 'em!!! I also use 8' plastic-coated metal stakes for some of the plants.

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like Texas is a winner, since I'm definitely not a handy person. How do you choose b/t the 18" and 24" diameters? Is it 6' tall from the getgo, or do you start short and stack up when the plant grows up?

I also want to make sure that I understand how to use the cage. With normal tomato rings supports, when the plant gets taller, I feed the branches through the support so lateral branches rest on the rings and are held off the ground. Is that how to use the Texas Tomato Cage too? I'm asking because I read on one of the postings about the tomato collapsing inside of the cage and preventing the collapse by feeding branches back into the cage. I'm pretty confused by what that means and can't visualize it.

Also, does the Texas have long legs that go into the ground? Does it hold itself steady without additional stakes? I've never had a tomato collapse inside of a tomato ring support but I've had plenty that toppled over. Then I couldn't right them again and they ended up sprawling on the walkways. Don't want that again.

Thanks,
Gardenerzone4

The "legs" on the Texas cages are about a foot long. No need for extra staking. Each cage comes in two pieces that interlock. I bought the 18" diameter cages. They're plenty big for a single plant. I also read the comments about the tomato plant collapsing on itself and couldn't figure out what they were talking about. No idea why they would feed branches back into the cage.

I use Texas cages and 8' poles...

I think you do have to stake Texas tomato cages, especially on sloping ground. About half on mine developed a lean and were about to fall over so I had to prop them up. Next year I will stake all of them.

gardenzone4, like natal says I never had to extra stake a Texas ever. The long legs anchor well. I got the 24" because I never prune and grow monster size plants. I definitely have to stake my CRW cages though or they will blow over once full of heavy fruit. I space my Texas 4 to 5 feet apart and still the plants grow into each other by August. I have grown at least 100 plants in Texas cages and only once when I had a sickly, wispy, runt of plant did it ever collapse upon itself but it would have been the same had it been in a CRW cage. If you grow tall bushy plants it's not an issue. I construct my Texas fully at transplant time but you could just place the top piece on later if you like. Until the plants reach the 6' top of the cage I will walk by every other day and guide a few branches "up" to the next ring so they stay inside growing upwards and not outwards. Once they grow taller than the 6' top I stop that of course and then they start growing back down.

Here's a pic of Texas in action: Notice the two tallest plants in the center. They are monster "Claude Brown NOT Yellow Giant" plants. One is about 7 feet tall and the other about 8. This pic was taken in July. They got even bigger as the season went on and like I said will grow back down again.

Thanks so much for the pictures! It's great to see in action. Natal, what do you use the 8' poles for?

bigdaddyj, I've read about tomato pruning but never attempted it myself, so I guess I'm getting the 24" diameter too.

Thanks,
gardenerzone4

The poles are for tomatoes not caged. I don't prune/pinch suckers, so my plants turn into a jungle too.

The pic above was taken on April 23, 2010

May 12, 2009...

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The Gardeners Supply cages are not sturdy at all and useless for tomatoes. I bought them years ago and they all got bent and blown over with the first wind storm. The others look wonderful but very pricey for the home gardener, I think.

We make ours with the concrete reinforcement wire that we get in 4'X 8' sheets and they are very quick and easy to make. Storing them is a pain, however. I put two pieces of 6' rebar inside each one to anchor it.

Here's an alternative that uses PVC pipe and fittings.

No way it will fall over or bend. Been using them
for years with great success.

Here is a link that might be useful: PVC Cage link