You Asked For It! The Beefiest DIY Tomato Cage (& Bad Jokes)

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.

KEEP LEARNING

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#gardening

[BitRanch]

Check out concrete mesh. I use it for containing plants and it disappears because it rusts. I use it in the flower garden alot

[dls]

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.

[bobdoglangmaid]

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.

[FrnkSanchez]

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

[jt]

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.

[Mark-uux]

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.

[lindabranch]

I have some extra cattle panels this will be great for a trellis for a cherry tomato may plant a Roma this year thanks

[joycebovee]

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.

[Balaams_Donkey]

Fun video. Will definitely do this next year - already too far into this season this year.

[catiepower]

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.

[Alyssasrosegarden]

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.

[steveperez]

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)

[TheEmbrio]

Grass in san diego ? Please se this opportunity to make turf to native reconversion videos

[workinprogress]

How does the average person get that cattle panel home with just a pickup truck?