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Tomato Cages almost all done.


MickinMD

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I cut 50'  roll of 5' high 2" x 4" mesh wire fencing into twelve 50" lengths, joined the ends to make twelve 15 1/4" diameter tomato cages (an online site says 14" to 18" is optimum) and cut hand holes into 7 of the 12 before taking a break for lunch and some time out of the hot, very humid weather.  I'll finish the last 5 today.

The first day, I used a pair of pliers with a wire-cutting area and wore out my hand doing one cage.  Then I spent $17 at Lowe's on a Craftsman 8" wire cutting pliers and it goes through the galvanized wire fence almost like butter.

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I'm staggering 6" x 8" hand-holes as shown in the first picture below. Each mesh segment is 2" wide, so 25 two-inch segments were counted off, the 2" long horizontal wire of the last segment used to tied the ends together.  The hardware stores' 48" tall, $5+ cheaply-made tomato cages only stand 36" tall after pressing their 3 wire legs into the ground and that's WAY to short for indeterminate tomato plants in Maryland.  5' (60") is even a little short but it does a good-enough job.  Each cage will be twist-tied to two 2' long furring strips driven into the ground and the total cost is $8.40 per cage and supports.

The second picture shows one of my completed, 60" tall cages with a yardstick to show how the 36" tall cages compare to it.

The third picture at bottom shows the 6" x 8" hand-holes a little more clearly in the finished product.

I'll start planting some of the tomatoes around the end of May after they've been hardened-off over a week by giving them a little more direct outside sunlight each day.  Some of the plants were planted late and will take a couple weeks more before they're ready to plant.

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4" x 4" wire would have been easier with every opening available for tomato picking.  At least you can finish the job knowing the cages will last for years to come.

We just use the cone shaped store bought cages.  Works for us.

 

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All 12 tomato cages completed, with a small blister on my left ring finger to show for it, but not where the finger touches the piano so it can take its time to heal.

Tomorrow, I'll cut six 8' furring strips into 24 2'-long stakes and make a pointed end on each stake with a jigsaw.  They'll be pounded a foot into the ground around each side of a tomato plant with the stakes' outer sides 15" apart and placed where they'll have the least blockage of the sun - the tomato plant having been planted at about a 45° angle into the ground in the direction of the noon sun so the stakes won't go near the roots.  A tomato cage will then slide over the two stakes and twist ties will be used to anchor the cage to the stakes.

I don't expect to plant the first of my tomatoes until May 30-31 - they still need to be hardened off with increasing outdoor sun-time each day for a week - but I want to be ready ahead of time.

 

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2 hours ago, Kzoo said:

4" x 4" wire would have been easier with every opening available for tomato picking.  At least you can finish the job knowing the cages will last for years to come.

We just use the cone shaped store bought cages.  Works for us.

 

I desperately wanted 4" x 4" wire - which is what I used when I last kept a garden in the 90's and 00's, but could not find it anywhere locally in 50' long, 5' high lengths, nor online for a reasonable price.

Of course, some of my tomatoes will not fit through a 4" x 4" opening, so I'd still cut 8" x 8" holes - the advantage being fewer holes per cage and fewer numbers of cuts per hole.

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