Cage or no cage
cpartist
9 years ago
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cpartist
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Raybo's Self-supporting Collapsible Tall Cage for the EarthTainer
Comments (3)Very nifty, Raybo! I don't grow in the earth-tainers... but I like the ingenuity exhibited! I've been known to fabricate my own supports and such, too... where there's a will, there's a way! Nice pictorial! Thank you for sharing!...See MoreHomemade Rearing/Eclosing Cage
Comments (26)Sandy ... sorry to be so long in getting back with the results of my project of making indoor butterfly rearing cages. I ended up buying netting at Hancock's. It was on sale at $1.39 a yd and it is 50 inches wide so plenty of netting for not much money. The smallest tomato cage my Wal-Marts is carrying this year is about 13" diameter at the big end, too large to fit in the throw away Pizza pans I purchased. Today I discovered smaller tomato cages at my local nursery and they are the correct circumference at 12 inches. In the photo below, the cage on the right is one I put together using the smaller tomato cage and it turned out quite well. I set the tomato cage upside down in the middle of a piece of netting, pulled up the netting and secured at the top. Then I ran a bead of Gorilla glue around the wire at the bottom, making sure to press the netting against the wire. When dry, I took scissors and trimmed out the center netting to create the opening at the bottom. The one on the left I created by using netting to form a tube with a french side seam, then hand sewed the netting to the base. It required a bit less netting. I don't have a sewing machine so had to do the seam by hand. I think using a sewing machine, it wouldn't take but a few minutes to create the tube and to run a small casing on the bottom of the tube, insert a bit of elastic in the casing and pull it tight enough to fit under the bottom wire. This way, the netting could be gently washed and disinfected, and used over and over. I still might be able to disinfect these in their present configuration but sitting them out on the deck and spraying with a light bleach mix, rinsing well and allowed to air dry in the sunshine. I didn't think I'd have the hand strength to cut the wires so I just bent them back inside the 'top' of the cage. If anyone ever locates the large 5 gal paint strainer that will work with the small tomato cages, please come here and let us know the maker and model #. I've been unable to locate strainers large enough to fit on the tomato cages. After using more than a few types of rearing apparatus, this style provides two important benefits for me. Easy to clean by lifting the cover to clean pan and replace fresh 'diaper' material :-) and for ease of replacing fresh food. The cats will enjoy excellent, healthy air movement plus enjoy being able to climb when they're ready to create their chrysalis. I expect the netting will provide the rough surface they favor when looking for just that right spot to form their J. I'll have to get the baby cats into their 2nd instar before putting them in the big cages but that is something I've always done anyway. I will report back after I've raised a group of little cats and give a summery of how they worked for me. Mary photos of my homemade rearing cages: Here is a link that might be useful: a source for very fine mesh fabric for outdoor use...See MoreDiameters of CRW cages & winter storage
Comments (6)mrs.b_in_wy Maybe it was last year (could be the year before that) that a Garden Webber showed pictures of his tomato cages, and he'd made them triangular from CRW, not round, so they could be folded flat and stored for the winter. I don't recall if he gave the dimensions, but probably around 3 feet to a side. They should be easier to store than round ones. Maybe easier to make, too. Just three pieces of 5-6 foot tall CRW attached at the sides with plastic zip ties and the bottom wire removed so the vertical wires could be pressed into the soil. I think he used one fence post to keep it all stable. You could make a square cage the same way, maybe with two fence posts for stability. They could be two-foot lengths of CRW connected with plastic zip ties. If you decide to go with round cages, maybe the following information will be helpful. Apparently a 23" diameter round cage is optimal for tomato cages. ttlight posted these helpful dimensions for cages made of CRW last year or the year before: If you want to explore other cage-materials, this lady has some ideas for non-round tomato cages made simply of PVC, and it appears that you can take the square one apart. Have fun making your decision!...See MoreTomato stem disease
Comments (6)My answers are assuming it's late post-emergent damping off. (1. All my plants are from seed. I don't put them out till they are 20 cm or taller and well hardened off. I transplant them in pots at least three times beforehand so that the stems are stout and the roots strong. Post-planting damping off seems unlikely - the stems are always thicker than a pencil.) Stem width has nothing to do with damping off. (2. The problem occurs at a particular time, not at a particular height. When I see the problem, I pull out the plant. Antifungal agents haven't ever helped.) Antifungal agents wouldn't help if it was damping off b'c the spores are in the soil. If you leave the plants in do they usually flop over and die? (3. The dry, corroded area looks a lot like alternaria stem canker (except it's only at the soil line) or the stem damage of wilt (except that the inner stem is very healthy looking and the leaves full and green). I wish I'd taken a picture before I dissected it...) While you spoke of a gnawed look above I'm actually glad you now speak of a corroded area b'c that's exactly what the symptoms look like and that corroded area is often constricted and has a brown tinge to it. Since wilt is a general term and doesn't relate to any one disease I'm not too sure I understand that part of your answer. (4. The recent cold spell is my primary suspect(a few of the nights were below 10 degrees C, which is the cut-off for tomato tolerance, although the daytime temps were 15 or higher). But if it is fungal in the soil, then why are some cages disease-free? It is the same soil, same weather. Conversely, it can't really be a critter, since the greenhouse coverings go right to the ground. Also, what critters like to chew on tomato stems, when there is very tasty cabbage and lettuce right next to it?!) Fungi are not evenly distributed in the soil so I can understand why some plants get it and some don't. And I too would pin it on low temps/bad weather. (5. I have never had damping off in pots. I plant seeds in vermiculite, which is pretty close to sterile. The soil is about .5 cm below the vermiculite, and the roots eventually find it. This prevents any fungal spores from sitting at the soil line.) The fungal spores don't sit at the soil line, they infect the plant through the roots of the plant. But I'm not sure what soil you're talking about under the vermiculite in pots, especially since you say you pot up about three times. (6. For the first time, yesterday I lost a young cabbage seedling in the same way. The stem at the soil line dried out and dried through. This seeding was about 10 cm tall and very healthy. It could have been damping off, although cabbage is usually pretty hardy in the cold. Strange.) I haven't taken the time to research what specific pathogens might be involved with damping off of cabbage, assuming it does occur. Cold lousy weather does encourage germination and growth of soil fungal pathogens so that makes sense to me as well. Again, have you ever seen damping off as your seedlings just emerge and if so, what artificial mix or whatever do you use for seed sowing? Alternaria Stem canker occurs almost exclusively in CA and I don't know where you live and garden, but the general color of the lesions would be about the same except that the lesions of Alt Canker are found all over the stems, one sided, not around the stem as you describe, and there are prominent leaf lesions as well. Just trying to help here. If what I've suggested doesn't resonate with you then I'm afraid I have no other ideas to put forth. Sorry. Carolyn...See Morecpartist
8 years agokennethwill
8 years agopetersuzanne2
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agocpartist
6 years ago
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