I’m curious if there’s anything wrong with these style of tomato cages? https://www.homedepot.com/p/42-in-Ring-Tomato-Cage-89748HD/323365048
I also see much larger, heavy duty cages for more serious gardeners, but I’m curious if I can get away with just using the Home Depot style or if it’s gonna cause me issues down the line? Thanks
by similarities
18 Comments
They’re okay for determinate tomatoes, they’re great for certain pepper varieties. They’re useless for indeterminate tomatoes. Stake & twine.
Nothing inherently wrong with them but it really depends on the characteristics of the tomato you’re growing. I’d say suitable for a short determinate variety.
Absolutely useless if you’re growing a indeterminate variety like Sweet 100s… mine are well over 10 feet tall by the end of season.
There are a lot of factors involved, but if you’re growing indeterminate varieties, most types will quickly outgrow those cages and need additional support of some type. I believe they could work for smaller determinate, bush, or cherry tomato varieties.
Definitely buy the the heavier gauge hoop cages. They’re more expensive but they’ll last forever. I’ve thrown out all of my thin gauge cages because the welds fail making them useless. If you only plan to grow tomatoes ince, then the cheaper ones are fine, but if you plan on growing them every year, invest in the good cages.
They’re way too small generally
I have found ace hardware to have taller & sturdier cages . Indeterminate plants can become wonderful monsters if fed correctly. Some have lasted 4-5 seasons so far .
They are not even adequate for my determinant varieties. My smallest size are 48” square cages of heavy wire. South Louisiana Zone 9 (a)
Apart from the fact that this cage design totally sucks, no, they’re fine. Totally insufficient for indeterminate tomatoes. Instead, buy a 5’x5’ remesh panel and bend it into a cylinder.
They are shor, don’t really last more than a few seasons., top heavy because of narrow base. I used them for years but have replaced them with both square and circular cages for my pots. Much taller and sturdier and the fold flat.
If you’re planting in the ground, I’d look at a Cattle Panel Trellis.They are 16 ft long and 50 inches wide. You can also use them to make an arch. A panel runs around $40 @ Farm Supply
I bought those the first time I grew tomatoes. First the tomatoes collapse them, then they come unwelded. It’s just trash after 1 season.
I use 1” bamboo stakes. They are about 10 feet tall. I got them on Amazon. They were great. I tied the tomatoes up with plant Velcro also from Amazon. I prune nearly all the suckers leaving just 1 or 2 main stems. I hated cages plus I had 36 tomato plants and bamboo stakes were a lot less money.
https://preview.redd.it/m1qey6dtynye1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e87b55b7794f0ae78725dc4521ab18980055d9c6
Rust and plastic mmmmm
I might use them for peppers…..that’s it
For tomatoes, they’re far too small for anything bigger than one of the smaller determinate varieties or a semi-dwarf type (something like Husky Cherry Red — which will get about 4′ high and maybe 3′-4′ wide — works well in those cages).
The larger ones are GREAT for most peppers (yet still a bit too small for some varieties that are larger plants, particularly larger plants with larger/heavier pods).
A tip for using them — clip off all but about 6″ from the “legs”, then bend a hook on the end of the cut pieces and use those to stake down the bottom ring (pushing them into the ground outwards at like a 45 deg angle). Helps make the cage less likely to overturn in wind. Better yet, leave the legs intact and push them all the way into the soil…..then get some pieces of 3/8″ rebar, bend a hook on one end, and use *those* to stake down the bottom ring.
They really are great for peppers, though (and possibly eggplant? Not something I really grow, tbh). I actively search for those “tomato” cages on trash days in fall and spring — people inevitably buy them, use them for tomatoes for a year or two, then throw them away in disgust after realizing they’re too small to get the job done for the vast majority of tomato varieties you’re likely to grow at home.
Easiest/cheapest way to make effective cages is with either concrete remesh, weld-wire fence (if you can find some that’s heavy enough gauge these days), or pvc pipe. With remesh or wire fence, use hog rings to fasten; makes things much easier.
Make them big — in my opinion, a good cage should be 30″ diameter and 8′ tall above ground level. In good conditions, a caged indeterminate tomato can easily get to be 8′-10′ tall (or much more than that)….but the cages should be as tall you can reach (picking tomatoes on a ladder is no fun, and you can just let them flop over the sides once they reach the top of the cages)
I get rolls of concrete wire and just cut to length. They are super strong and will last years and years.
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They’re too small for the tomatoes I grow. 100 feet of 4 foot galvanized fence can make 25 tomato cages. Just need stakes and zip ties.
Tbh I only use those for peppers and peas
They arent enough on their own for indeterminate varieties but they deff can help if used in combination with bamboo stakes or stringing them up with string. I grew most of my biggest indeterminates last year up 10-12 ft using the bamboo stakes and cages at the bottom. The cage can even sort of help with keeping the stakes in place.