PVC cages
 

Last year, I bookmarked this link that I found about building PVC cages:
[URL]http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/con0722035623819.html[/URL]

Although I am going to be using Raybo's pea fence system for my EarthTainer, I will also have some 5-gallon buckets going. Last year, the standard tomato cages I bought were not nearly big enough (and as previously mentioned, the bigger ones no longer seem to be available at all).

The system seems simple enough, but does anyone have any experience with spacing? From the pictures, it looks like the crossbars might be spaced too wide. Also, anyone have any thoughts on the minimum diameter of PVC pipe necessary to support the likely weight? Finally, my thought is to drive some rods into the ground and then place the lowest pipe sections over them to hold them in place... I don't have any way of cutting rebar, though... anyone have any thoughts for where I can find 1-2' sections of such material?

Thanks as always!

"anyone have any thoughts for where I can find 1-2' sections of such material?"

Home Depot, concrete department

Thanks - looking at the website, I see now that they sell it in 2' sections... I had figured it only came in 10' sections like PVC.

elight, here is an excerpt from a post by qaguy on doing the legs:

[FONT=Calibri]"As a guide for the spacing of the verticals in the ground, I put together one of the squares using the crossover sections. I put that down on the ground. Then I push a stake (or a pencil or a chopstick) through the connector into the ground and that gives you the exact spot to sink the vertical pieces. I drive them into the ground about 12 inches. That makes them pretty stable.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri]"To drive the uprights in the ground, I use a 1-¼ inch piece of galvanized pipe with a cap threaded on one end. Slide the pipe over the upright and pound them into the ground. With my uprights, an 18-inch piece of pipe was perfect. Keep pounding until the bottom of the pipe touches the ground and each upright is exactly the same height. Having the exactly the same height avoids problems fitting the first square.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri]"You should (dare I say must?) drive them in very straight and upright. I don’t feel the need for trying to get them perfectly perpendicular with a level though. If they’re off by a lot, you might have some problems getting the first square to fit. The pipe is flexible; so some bending can be done in case if they’re a bit off.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri]"You can use a hammer and a block of wood or a rubber hammer to drive them in. I did for years. Then I discovered the pipe thing. It’s takes away the possibility of breaking the pipe, they seem to go in straighter (did I mention you need to drive them in very straight?) and it’s just plain easier."[/FONT]

We used this method for years. It worked very well for us.

Also: [url]http://feldoncentral.com/garden/tom_pvc/[/url]

It's very easy to cut 1/2" rebar with a hacksaw. Less than a minute a cut. Costs about $5-6. If you need lots of small pieces, it saves a enough money to pay for the hacksaw.

j

Thanks for the link and the info! Interesting that everyone seems to space the horizontal crossbars pretty far apart vertically. I would have thought perhaps every foot, but it looks like 2-3' is more standard.

Driving the rebar into the ground seems easy enough, but I'm also wondering if perhaps I can get away with just putting it on the ground and then tying it to the fence that it will be next to.

Actually, we used 6" pieces for the vertical bars. When you put together 2 vertical bars plus 3 tees, the horizontal supports are about 14" apart on each side. However, since adjacent sides are offset, the plant was supported on 2 sides every 7 inches. The photos from nancysil show this method.

I have been using these "NancySil" cages on both Gardeners Supply Containers and Earthboxes since 2006. I use 3/4" PVC and also extend the bottom corner of each cage 8" into the soil via a piece of PVC and a triple connector at each corner. They have gone thru several hurricanes since 2006 w/o problems.

I also have a couple of QAGUY style cages around some smaller 7 & 8 gallon SW containers.

on the NancySil cages only the bottom set of connectors are glued, all the top ones are just pushed together.

By the time you buy all of the fittings, pipe and glue what is the cost?

Also if you go to certain web sites they have specialty fittings for pvc and they come in colors.

I'm still a fan of the Texas tomato cages.
They fold up nice and neat at the end of the season.

Worth

First of all, you don't need glue. The things hold together just fine without it.

I'm not sure of the cost of the fittings or pipe where you live, but a quick check at
HD's website shows this:

3/4 inch 10 pack 90 deg elbow - $2.48 or $.39 individually
3/4 inch 10 pack T fitting - $2.60 or $.40 individually
3/4 inch cross fitting - $1.22 individually - didn't see a 10 pack but I know they used to have them
3/4 inch 10 foot sections of pipe - $2.15

If I was doing it again, I'd find an irrigation supplier (read wholesale) and see what their
prices would be.

Yes a pipe supply will be cheaper and it comes in 20 foot sections.

No big deal if you have to you can cut it up in the parking lot.

Worth