'Mater Cages

[oakley]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Folks I think we need to sit back take a deep breath and ask ourselves.
What would Martha Stewart do?
Worth

Yet she would say how perfect one method worked, (by her gardener....team)
then the next month at great expense say yet another method is the best.

If it isn't pretty i suppose they lose their job.

(if you google 'perfect hard boiled eggs'...she changes her mind dozens of times)

[salix]

To add to my previous post - I do not prune, remove suckers or thin foliage (too busy/lazy/arthritic). Up here we do not have the disease pressures so prevalent in the south or the humidity which exacerbates it. I suppose one day my sorry habits will come back to bite me, but in the meantime I save a lot of time and get good harvests.

[Rockporter]

I'm finding that my tomato plants in front of my 10' wide by 8' tall trellis are doing great. This trellis was built by adding horizontal and vertical 1"x2" boards on a 2"x2" frame we attached to four existing upright 4"x4" posts that were already in the ground next to my garden. There used to be a patio cover we took down after buying the house because it was rickety and not built to windstorm code. Windstorm insurance would not cover us if we kept it and damage was caused to our home in a storm. So, we took it all down except the outside 4"x4" posts that were in the ground already. They are in an L shape with one side 10' long and the other is 15' long. Our plan is to finish building our patio chairs and have them in an L shape setup on the patio.

Anyway, I have 6 tomato plants against this trellis with those cheap wire cages purchased at Lowe's years ago and I use the green stretchy ties to tie them to the trellis. The growth that is long on the opposite side of the trellis I loop with the tie and tie it to the cages. The cages are also anchored to the trellis with the green ties. The openings on the wood trellis are large by about 5" by 8" and large enough for me to get my entire shoulder into them if I need to do so. I have found trimming the branches and picking tomatoes has been much easier than a cage that totally surrounds the tomato plants. The plants are also staked inside the cages for support to keep them upright.

[SuntannedSwede]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, still working on a plan. I will snap a picture of the garden space as soon as the rain stops


EDIT: I was almost too embarrassed to post this because of all the weeds, but here it is. Hard to tell but the tomatoes are all slightly more than 2 feet apart

[SuntannedSwede]

Wouldn't let me add a photo to the edit, it's upside down unfortunately

[Father'sDaughter]

Hard to really tell from the picture, but it looks like those plants might be a bit to close together for caging. How much space is there between them?

[oakley]

...see if this works

[oakley]

Nice healthy plants. Too much work to weed all that. Once you decide on support, that
needs to be done asap, you can start the chore of removing the lower leaves.
Especially those that touch the soil and you need some mulch. (mulch will suppress
and smother weeds)

Southern gardeners can get some massive plant growth. Us in the North not so much.
One or two may reach 6-7 ft and some small fruited vining types can get to 10-15ft
but they are wispy leafed and can be trained up and down and around no problem.

Maybe just staking will work this season.
Did you see Randall's garden posts?...
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=44594

A shame to spent more money than necessary especially if your plants outgrow the
cheaper standard cages.

[bigpinks]

I prefer 6ft oak stakes but have a few cages for container plants. I have 95 in the ground plants set Apr30 and all are staked and tied.

[oakley]

Here is another interesting one, and a very nice garden. Using a post and just a
section of cattle fencing.

http://www.hometalk.com/853437/how-t...ll_questions=1

[Worth1]

Wants me to connect with Facebook or enter email address.
Not gonna happen.
Worth

[oakley]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Wants me to connect with Facebook or enter email address.
Not gonna happen.
Worth

The last link? I just tested and it came straight up to the page. (i don't do Facebook and
would never add my address...if others find the same trouble i'll remove it)

[oakley]

Another quick note and may have been pointed out, the reason we set up any staking
beforehand, before planting, is to prevent driving a stake through the root mass.

Personally i use a trip-pod, teepee, trellis method designed for areas with high wind
and used in tropical climates that get annual hurricanes.

When is see stakes and tomato cages no mater how sturdy, i see this...
so one method that suits some may not work for you, or me.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by oakley

The last link? I just tested and it came straight up to the page. (i don't do Facebook and
would never add my address...if others find the same trouble i'll remove it)

Didn't do it the next time I tried.
I'm on my phone if that matters
Worth

[Worth1]

When I get home I have an alternative way that is cheaper to support homemade ones from field fencing.
Heck I will do it now.
Put up large posts at both ends of a row and run a high wire between them.
Tie onto the cages from above using the wire.
Worth