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Old March 2, 2014   #1
jcrous
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Default Tomato cage system question

Hi,
I have been searching for quite some time for the perfect tomato staking system.
I have tried poles, and single wire growing systems as well as a flat grid aginst which the tomatoes are braided. On these systems you have to prune some side shoots out otherwise the plant will get too wide.

I have not yet tried a tomato cage yet.
I have looked at the following three types:

EZ tomato cage:
http://www.eztomatocage.com/index.html


Tomato Ring:
http://

A homemade system:
http://lauravanderbeek.blogspot.com/...-and-long.html


The tomato ring is adjustable (up and down but not side ways. All three appears to be working equally well.
I have just one question: do yoy let it grow as it wants or do you prune some side shoots to make it fit inside the system? My logic say that all three will work well if you only let sya 3 - 4 shoots grow up. Side shoots from these 3 or foor stems should be removed or it will get too big to fit inside and when too dense growth, fungus growth may start and it will be difficult to harvest.

Which one is the most popular?
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Old March 2, 2014   #2
newatthiskat
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I have made some cages with concrete reinforcing wire. I have hod no problems with them
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Old March 2, 2014   #3
ginger2778
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We made my cages with a roll of galvanized field fence cut to size, CRW might be even better if you don't mind the rust, because it goes to 6' tall. My indeterminants can get to 10 feet and even more.
You can sucker trim( sideshoots are suckers), some do and some don't. I trim the suckers on vigorous indeterminates, never on Dwarfs or determinates. But I do keep some of the leafs pruned to keep air flow. The workbench subforum has lots of caging and staking ideas here.

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Old March 2, 2014   #4
Durgan
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There is no perfect tomato support system.

I have tried them all over the years.

The best encountered is an overhead structure with the tomatoes tied with strings. This is fine for about 30 plants. Due to the labour involved.
http://www.durgan.org/URL/?QWGMW 1 May 2013 Tomato Support System
http://www.durgan.org/URL/?VLYDB 21 May 2013 Mulching Tomatoes
http://www.durgan.org/URL/?GZHUS 18 May 2013 Planting Tomatoes Outdoors.

For a large number of plants one stake per plants works reasonably well.

A post system with a strong horizontal rope on both sides of the row is also resonabley suitable.

The rings are useless.

All cages have their own problems but usually better than nothing.

And last but not least lay wood chips under the plant and let the plants sprawl.
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Old March 2, 2014   #5
recruiterg
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I second the concrete reinforcement wire cages. They are a pain to build, but they are pretty indestructable once constructed. You can make them in any diameter you like.
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Old March 2, 2014   #6
PaulF
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I also use concrete reinforcing wire for cages. Of your three choices none wold be nearly strong enough for the tomatoes grown in my garden.
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Old March 3, 2014   #7
jcrous
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I have done some enquiries today and I have visted our building supplies.
They have two sheets of rebar mesh, with a 200 mm (8 inch) grid. The sheets come in sizes 6 m (240 inch) by 2.4 m (96 inch). It comes in two thicknesses: 6 mm (1/4 inch) and 4mm straight walled rod (3/16). The thinner one is also Spring steel.

The height space in my Shade house provides for only 1.8 m (6 feet) high cages and the space of the raised beds in width is 1.26 meters. I therefore can only make square cages of 400 mm x 400 mm or (16 inch x 16 inch). In a bed I can exactly fit 3 in a row.

Providing for the spaces in between (that I will lost due to cutting) I will manage to make 24 panels of 1800 X 400 mm. That will give me exactly 6 cages per sheet. I will galvanise the panels and make hinges from thick wire rings to make it in the shape of a M when folded. This will last a lifetime and will be able to carry my body weight. . I will post pics in the future when completed.
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Old March 3, 2014   #8
madddawg
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If you snip what is going to be your horizontal rods right next to the verticals rods and bend a little hook on the end you can just hook the other end like i do the CRW. there is no waste Then you can also flatten it out when not in use

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