VIDEO: Don't Buy Expensive Tomato Cages ~ PLUS Garden Walk-thru and Japanese Turnip!
Expensive Tomato Cages
I can not believe the cost of tomato cages at some gardening stores. usually between $3-5 for the large ones. If you grow 20 plants, that's over 100 bucks. Homesteaders on a budget need a better plan and cheaper option.
I highly recommend either using cattle panels or buy animal fencing and use that for your tomato cages. The cost will be much cheaper per tomato cage and they will last forever.
3/8 inch rebar is also very cheap and affordable. But it and use those for the stakes to hold the cages in place during storms and winds. Believe it or not, it will also provide a source of iron for your soil over the years as you can use them each year over and over. Win/Win.
Beware most gardening stores. There are some good ones out there but you can find cheaper alternatives. Also, keep an eye out for Dollar Stores like Dollar TREE as they will have good sales on gardening items in the spring.
I'm guilty. I'm a victim of corporate america tomato cage industry haha. Here they are.
They make me feel like Christmas with the red and green colors. Well the good thing about overspending is they are very sturdy and should be the last cages I'll ever have to buy.
I do also make use of these old fence rails for my tomatoes also.
They were free so you can be proud of me for these. Great video though. You have a plantation going. I'm going to look into those turnips.
I like how you have paths between the raised beds, makes it easy to walk around and looks very neat. Good job! @ironshield
Thanks. Hard work up front but very little weeding now.
Love gardening 2 and following you.
Thanks following you also
Nice photos, thanks for sharing!
Thank you! A lot more in my feed if you're interested.
Nice photos, thanks for sharing! @ironshield
I so love this. I may give this a try this year with a row of my tomatoes. THANK YOU!
Works great. I use this method only on my ID tomato plants. The determinant ones I just homemade cage. When I plant I always lay the plant on it's side and bury 3/4 of the plant sideways leaving only the very top of the plant out. This makes a better and stronger root system. As my ID ones grow I keep adding the horizontal strings at the bottom being sure to weave 2 at a time in and out alternating the strings to be on each side of the stem. I take off quite a few leaves near the bottom as the plant grows to help with production along with taking the suckers off. I stop my Horizontal strings where my leaves begin. If my plant splits I try to single stalk it by selecting which stalk will be a better producer. I then untie the top of the string and keep (Training) or wrapping the tomato plant around the string carefully as it grows. This method works very well for me and holds the plants great while not restricting the plant in any way. I have always ended up with way too may tomatoes to eat and give loads away.
I agree! Spending time in my garden makes me feel closer to God. Thanks for your tomatoes cage tip. Upvoted you.
Thanks for the upvote. It means a lot!
Zac, I have a few of the store bought ones but just the really cheap ones and found that they are too short. I already have fencing, I just need to get some rebar or something to use for a stake and give this a try! Thanks for the tips and useful information!
The local hardware store should have the rebar. Just get the 3/8 inch size. Should be pretty cheap. Come back and post a picture when its done!
Will do!
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I used bamboo and twine for the first time last year instead of cages, and it worked extremely well. Bamboo can be bought extremely cheap online, and is still affordable at a local big box store.
I like the idea of using animal wire for tomato cages. Growing up my father planted 400 tomato plants a year and it was my job to keep them watered, tied up to an old tobacco stick and pick them as they ripened. When you have 400 tomato plants ripening at the same time you use a wheelbarrow to pick them. About every 2 days he would take them to work in the back of his pickup truck. He never sold them, he planted them so I had to work to keep me out of trouble. Seems to have worked.
Love this!
I agree! And tomato cages have often damaged my heirloom tomatoes when the wind was strong - they bent and cracked at the cage ridges. Good post. Upvoted. 😊
Totally agree, Zach. It's outrageous how much they charge for those flimsy things. I do mostly container growing nowdays. I use 4 foot bamboo rods and zip tie them to the sides of the container and I swipe my wife's yarn and tie the limbs loosely to those bamboo rods for support. Works great, and I get the bamboo for free from a neighbor. Upvoted and Resteemed.
I did T-post on the ends and 4 wires. 6 rows of tomatoes. Love the cattle panel idea! you can actually see a stack of them in the weeds next to the corncrib... DOING NOTHING!
Always use what you have! No sense in buying stuff if ya don't have too.....