You Asked For It! The Beefiest DIY Tomato Cage (& Bad Jokes)
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2024
- Tomato cages.
Are they worth using in the garden? Let's talk about it!
KNOW WHAT YOU GROW
Indeterminate tomatoes are quite a bit different from determinate varieties. They'll continue to grow - and produce fruit - over time. These are sometimes called vining or pole tomatoes.
We like to prune the plant down to one leader that we control. The suckers that we take off can be used to root out new plants!
2:03 DETERMINING WHEN TO USE CAGES
Tomato cages make more sense for determinate varieties. Even though they're usually smaller, they can still grow to be 4 or even 6 feet tall and really bushy. That's why your typical tomato cages may not cut it, and we decided to get beefy!
3:01 FENCING IN TOMATOES
Let's start off by saying we didn't come up with this idea. We're not that smart! It's something we saw online and wanted to try out.
We're using 16-foot cattle panels along with bolt cutters, a post driver, t-posts, and zip ties.
We're gardening on a budget like most people out there, and we're not going to lie and say this is the cheapest option. However, it's going to last for YEARS. Flimsy tomato cages don't really work that well, and they can get beat up after one season.
So assuming you have some of these materials on hand already, you're going to pay about $140 bucks to make 7 cages.
Making it is pretty simple. We're going to cut up the cattle panel into sections that are 6 cells wide for each half of the cage, and then we'll end up with a 3-cell piece at the end (four of those will make up a whole cage).
Give those 6-cell pieces a bend down the middle, and you have half the cage done! After zip-tying the pieces together, we drive in the t-post and link those pieces up together.
They're looking promising for these determinate tomatoes, and we're excited to use them for other crops in the winter too.
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#gardening
Check out concrete mesh. I use it for containing plants and it disappears because it rusts. I use it in the flower garden alot
Such a good idea! We used it on top of a pergola to give our passionfruit something to grab onto, but we've never even thought to use it for a trellis!
-Jon
I use the concrete reinforcing mesh in cylinders but the downside is they don't store nicely like your hinged versions. Not sure I'd bother doing hinges on the concrete mesh though since the lighter weight and rusty wire doesn't seem like it would hold up as well being hinged pieces compared to cattle panels. But as one piece tubes they've lasted over a decade (minus some tines that broke off the bottom).
You can cut the panels down the center of the square. Bent the metal stub back onto itself over the next panel. No zip ties needed.
Ah ha. Good tip!
Made a few of these two-piece cages last year too. Main difference was removing the bottom lateral section so what’s left are spikes. The cage stabs into the ground well. No t-post needed.
OoOh! That's so smart! Love that idea
I'm trying the low and lean method on one, the french twist on one, a regular cage on one, and just vertical support on others.
Awesome! Keep us posted on how the different systems perform
@@SanDiegoSeedCompany Will do!
Tractor supply offers cattle panel ties for free with purchase of the panel. It lasts for ever where the zip ties can lose integrity over time due to elements.
Oh man. Definitely need to make sure we get those next time!
Interesting design for the cages. When you cut off the zip ties the parts can be stacked for storage.
If you raise the cages 10" or so above the ground and then attach them to the stakes, it is much easier to weed around the bottom of the plant/cage. It also, in effect, makes the cage 10" taller.
Yes, great for storage. That's a really interesting idea to stake them up too! We hadn't thought of that, but it would definitely make some maintenance easier
I did just a vertical panel for my tomatoes, it did work well, but I used the panels to fence my garden and avoid deer that ate all my peper plants and tomatillo. This year I want to try cages
I have some extra cattle panels this will be great for a trellis for a cherry tomato may plant a Roma this year thanks
I’m growing my tomatoes at the string! This is the first time I’ve done it with the string. In previous years I’ve used Tamara cages and they’re just not big enough.
Fun video. Will definitely do this next year - already too far into this season this year.
I wish I saw this months ago. I just lost my huge tomato plant because of poor trellising on my part, every year I underestimate how gigantic they will be. My harvest this year will be 0. A slight wind = cracked off at the base.
Next year I am copying this method. Out of all of the videos I saw, this one seems the most secure and the least amount of work.
LOL "one big unit" lol
You guys had me laughing.
Great video 😊
Would you use these type of cages on indeterminate tomatoes? We have two heirloom plants that we are getting ready to plant in Menifee ( north of San Diego)
You totally could plant one plant in each corner and prune them to one leader. Downside is you only have 4ft of height, and pole tomatoes can theoretically grow forever tall without disease or frost. I would recommend trellising with something taller like lower & lean. -Jeff
You can use them, but you'd need one panel for one cage. You make your pieces lengthwise.
I keep thinking those T-posts would be nice to use but how do you get them back out at the end of the season?
We leave them in a lot of the time. Otherwise, it's a lot of wigglin' and jigglin' to get them out
You can purchase a T-Post Puller🙂🙋♀️
@@TexasNana2 ah. Well whaddya know? They have something for everything these days! Gotta look into one of those...
Just wet the area or wait after a rain, wiggle like a loose tooth - pull up right hold on tight with both hands and straight back using legs muscles - easy no sweat.
You can use an 8-foot 2x4 and a piece of rope. Wrap the rope about 1 foot from the end of the 2x4 and around the base of the T-post, then lift the opposite end of the 2x4. You may need to put a pad under the short end of the 2x4 so it does not sink into the ground. As you lift the 2x4, it acts as a lever to raise the T-post.
❤️🙃
Grass in san diego ? Please se this opportunity to make turf to native reconversion videos
I just went low and lean this year.
Can't wait to hear how it goes!
@@SanDiegoSeedCompany so far so good. Its been unusually cool for up here most days, but I'm finally getting blooms.
@@PixiePrincessBrat definitely been a slow start to the warm season!
How does the average person get that cattle panel home with just a pickup truck?
If your bed is long enough, bend them into a "U" shape and sit them in sideways. In our case, I borrowed some cardboard to protect the cab from getting scratch, laid them in longways and tied them down tight creating a half-pipe shape in the bed.
Take your bolt cutters to the store or use the ones the store has and cut them there. That might might work for you.