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Have a great invention to help with gardening? Are you the self-reliant type that prefers Building It Yourself vs. buying it? Share and discuss your ideas and projects with other members.

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Old December 30, 2012   #1
Organic Mechanic
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Default My tomato cages

I'd like to share the tomato cages I built last year. I only built two to see how they worked after I had problems with the purchased wire cages collapsing. They seem to work really well even after having a wind storm that knocked down half of our corn. I already started making more for the next grow season. The cages stand 6 ft tall and only take two 2x4x10's cut in half to construct. They fold flat for storage. As luck would have it an 18 gallon tote made into a self watering container fits nicely into the bottom suspended off the ground. I plan on testing this set up come spring.
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Old December 30, 2012   #2
Redbaron
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That option for containers is cool, but I suspect it would be better if the container was actually on the ground, due to the weight of the soil and water. Maybe try both ways? See what works best?
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Old December 30, 2012   #3
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Those are vrey nice and I am with Scott, the weight of the container will eventually buckle the container on you. Try placing some bricks or wood planks under the container to support it.
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Old May 18, 2013   #4
Kazfam
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So Organic Mech...how is the set-up working?
They look great...I love the folding up feature.
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Old May 18, 2013   #5
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those are really nice looking! I like anything collapsible too as space is always at a premium for storage.
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Old May 19, 2013   #6
Organic Mechanic
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Thank you, so far so good! I ended up building a dozen cages for the garden and was able to plant my tomatoes a week ago. I spaced them 4 feet apart in the rows and 6 feet apart between the 2 rows. For the self watering container and cage I put 3 screws with flat washers inside the tote on both sides to secure it to the lower rung, that has been set up for 2 weeks and has been working good so far. I'll be sure to keep updating this post throughout the season.
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Old May 20, 2013   #7
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The wood is beautiful material
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Old May 20, 2013   #8
sjoella
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I love your cages, what a great idea! I have a similiar set up for my cucs, squash and the like why didnt I think of this!

I will look forward to seeing them through out your growing season Great Idea!
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Old June 23, 2013   #9
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Five weeks from transplant, so far so good! The variety is 'Santa Maria' from The Sample Seed Shop.
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Old June 25, 2013   #10
Paul R
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Great idea.

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Old July 18, 2013   #11
Organic Mechanic
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What a great season so far!
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Old July 18, 2013   #12
JamesL
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Well done! That is a pretty picture. Would love that view out the window!
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Old July 18, 2013   #13
luigiwu
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What a great idea! Your garden looks fantastic!
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Old July 19, 2013   #14
Crandrew
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Cool update picture. Looking good!
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Old July 21, 2013   #15
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Thank you for the compliments! Here is a pic of the entire garden, it is one of three. In it we have 12 different varieties of tomatoes, glass gem corn, potatoes, pumpkins, sunflowers, carrots, radishes and onions.

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