Kim, I've only made round cages so this is opinion only as compared to Daves actual experience, so beware!! I have decided I prefer the cages I constructed using 11 squares (66 inch circumference, 21 inch diameter, and an inside area of 2.4 square ft) better than the smaller ones of 10 squares (60 inch circumference, 19 in diameter. 1.9 sq ft). Making a triangular cage, three 18 inch panels will yield a little over 1 sq ft and seems a little small unless you are pruning. Three 24 inch pieces would give you 2 sq ft which (at least on paper) sounds better to me. The very first cage I made I used the protruding wires for hooks to fasten the cages together and felt they were a royal pain to deal with. They never seemed to stay fastened to the other side of the cage but would "hook" absolutely ANYTHING and everything else! After that first one I cut the protruding wires off flush and used cable ties to secure the ends. You lose six inches of CRW for each cage you make but I think it is a lot cleaner. I also dont cut the bottom laterals to make spikes. The stuff in my raised beds is too fluffy for them to be secure and the soil(?) in my yard is too rocky to drive the wire in -- and once again, in my opinion not having all those nasty spikes makes a cleaner and safer(!) panel. I also found using a three dollar metal cutting blade on a circular saw to be far superior to the rather small bolt cutters purchased specifically to cut the CRW to make my cages. The saw allows a closer cut and if necessary you can use the side of the blade to quickly grind any sharp areas. Terry Light Oak Hill, Virginia

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.

Homier sells 300# cap. 2 wheel dollies new for $15. I bought one just to move a mini-lathe out the door to the jeep and ended up putting a stone moving bucket on it...moved about 9 ton of 2B limestone and firewood around this summer with it. that import dolly is nothing to brag about quality-wise but it's well worth $15 as a useable tool...should work well for your thought.

Looks good but I would amend the soil a little; the leaves on the picture look like they have iron chlorosis. You could try some greensand, garden sulphur, aluminum sulfate, liquid acidifier compounds, etc. I would also add some mulch. I share your last comment.. it is sooooo hard trying to decide when to remove the winter protection!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I try to wait 2 weeks after my avge date of last frost but Mother Nature works off a different calendar...