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All About Gardening
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Build a Wooden Tomato Cage
Seven steps to supporting your tomatoes
By: Elyse Grau
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Follow these seven steps to building a wooden tomatoe cage that will keep your tomatoes healthy and happy. You will need:
4 1”x2” pieces of wood, at least 48” in length
4 (or more) 3/8” or 1/2” wooden dowels
drill with 1/2” or 5/8” bit
saw 1. Cut 1x2s into 48-54” lengths. Cut points at one end of each length.
2. Cut dowels in half
3. Drill 4 holes in the 2” side of each 1x2, starting 18” from the pointed end and spaced 6-10” apart.
4. Turn the pieces 90 degrees and drill 4 more holes, about 1” above each of the first set.
5. To use: insert the posts in the ground around the tomato at least 8” deep, spacing them about 14” apart in either direction.
6. Thread one dowel through the first pair of holes. Thread the second dowel through the first pair on the adjoining side. Thread the remaining dowels opposite these.
7. As the plant grows, remove the lowest dowel and move it up to the next set of holes. You can also cut more dowels and insert them all when setting up the cage.
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Support your tomatoes |
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Comments |
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 By
jthomps09 @
Wednesday, May 26, 2010 9:01 AM
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A DIAGRAM FOR THIS WOULD BE SOOOOOOOOOO HELPFUL!
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By
dkyzer @
Thursday, May 27, 2010 1:09 AM
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I am 62 years of age and beleive or not I have just got interested in Gardening,I have roses,and a lot of perrennials.I have the red bells,Hosta,they were all planted in the wrong places but look beautiful.
Last year I did an upside down tomatoe Plane,I had huge tomatoes,but I think the birds kept poking them.My peppers grew like crazy but they kept getting ate.
Is it easy to build a wooden box or is there something earier for me?
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By
pashaw @
Sunday, May 30, 2010 7:11 AM
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I am 69 and have been putting in small gardens for years, and my space has been really limited, I have MD and am at a point of a wheel chair. My garden plans have got to the point of height limit, which is what I can reach sitting down. This seems like a very easy system and I'll try a couple of them. PS, handicap garden plans or Idea's would help.
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By
jsuarez1 @
Sunday, June 27, 2010 1:59 PM
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Is a photo available of the finished wooden tomato cage? I have several tomato plants and it sounds like a good project to make and use.
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By
ellencox56 @
Monday, June 28, 2010 9:53 AM
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By
sdthyng @
Wednesday, July 07, 2010 1:10 PM
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Buy some 8' lengths of 1" x 3" studding. Cut them in half (two 4' pieces) or in 5' and 3' lengths. Then rip them in 3/4" x 3/4" sticks. Use 5' lengths for verticals and 3' lengths for horizontals. Connect them by drilling 1/16th inch holes, and inserting short lengths of stainless steel wire (available in rolls at Harbor Freight). Just bend the wire to secure the connections - there is no need to twist them tight. You can shape your supports any way you want, and you can take them apart and use them again year after year, and it won't bother anything if you have to drill new holes. And you can even save and reuse the wire pieces!
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By
momdrives @
Sunday, July 25, 2010 8:40 PM
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I agree - a picture is worth a 1,000 words! or a least a diagram????
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By
bradynica @
Wednesday, August 04, 2010 10:14 AM
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diagram of assembly would be nice too!
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By
bradynica @
Wednesday, August 04, 2010 10:14 AM
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diagram of assembly would be nice too!
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By
fontime @
Wednesday, August 04, 2010 11:41 AM
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A diagram or picture would be great.
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By
shopsite @
Wednesday, August 04, 2010 12:37 PM
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You really need to show the item being built. The bill of materials and the step by step construction are only two thirds of the plans.
Michael Michaud
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By
icdavilla @
Thursday, August 05, 2010 11:05 AM
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Or if you want to see something similar that will give you useful ideas that you can adapt to your particular needs, visit the Burpee Seeds website. They are very good at answering questions, and providing information free of charge.
Sometimes we join clubs believing that these will be of greater assistance and, much to our dissapointment, it is not as we are made belief. Some of this clubs are just book/items sellers that fill you with unwanted items that you must pay or return.
Good luck to all.
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By
fontime @
Thursday, August 05, 2010 11:49 AM
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I am a new member and already I have to agree with icdavilla about the lack of useable content on the website, Basically it seems it is all about avertising that you get on the web with no membership. So what does a membership get a person??
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By
icdavilla @
Thursday, August 05, 2010 11:51 AM
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To pashaw and others like us which are physically limited (handicapped):
I became paralyzed and wheelchair bound 4 yrs ago after a failed lumbar (low back) surgery. I'm also 24/7 in pain which limits even more my physical activities, but it has made me create some ideas for gardening.
For planting climbers like roses, pea pods, beans, cucumbers, watermelons, squash, pumpkins, etc:
Buy 1" x 2" x 8' or 10' lenghts of studing and have the store (I go to Menards or Home Depowhich do it free of charge) cut them in half. Take 3 pieces (4 or 5 feet lenghts) and tie them at the middle with wire (they sell small rolls of soft, fine wire). Open up the legs and place them over the plants which will grow up and climb by attaching themselves to these legs. (You can practice the ties with toothpicks, and then indoors with seedlings).
I also use a similar approach with these and tomato cage wire for the tomato and pepper plants. Except that I start with the center 1" x 2" x 4' stake which will guide the plant and 4 corner stakes which will help keep the plant straight with wire at different heights, specially if surrounded with chicken wire mesh (the easiest to handle is a vynil coated very fine green wire roll that comes in rolls 3' wide x 15' or 25' long).
Hope this ideas are helpful to you, and others, as well as they are to me. Feel free to contact me at icdavilla@aol.com.
Good luck
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By
icdavilla @
Thursday, August 05, 2010 12:17 PM
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To fontime:
I've been a member since 12/2009 and so far, NOTHING of great value. This is basically a book club website supported by advertisers. They mail you books for you to preview, pay $29.95+ per book or return them. Some give you useful ideas. They should at least provide info on its content and ask you if you want to receive the book. For people like me, wheelchair bound, it is easier to pay than to go the post office to return the unrequested book. And if you, by mistake, accept the 'Free' Life Membership offer, then you have to pay an additional $21.45 per month. They send you a sunflower (logo) keychain, a magnetic sunflower (logo) strip, a membership ID card and, a once in a very longtime magazine full of advertisement. Oh, and they bill you on the internet before you even receive the books.
I hope sometime, something of some value comes FREE of CHARGE. I am now paying for my mistake.
Feel free to contact me at icdavilla@aol.com
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By
jmartin14 @
Thursday, August 05, 2010 1:59 PM
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photos would help greatly....
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By
cbrown24 @
Friday, August 06, 2010 9:34 AM
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Come on!!!!!!! a garden club hat misspells tomoto??chorse451@aol.com
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By
Ihaveagreenthumb? @
Monday, August 09, 2010 10:36 AM
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I agree with the comments that the article could use some more photos, especially of what you're supposed to be building. As someone who's not very handy at all, but willing to try something new, reading the logistical side of it without a diagram to help me understand it made my eyes glaze over. I could still attempt to make it with advice from family and friends but still....
Also regarding all the comments about the club, I can understand the frustration with the website, but I've actually really liked the magazine, it's been helpful and informative for me at least. I am pretty new at this, but I have liked the "Gardening Essentials" book too, although I do understand the trouble of having to pay or send back a book, that is annoying. happy gardening to all!
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By
rnelson3 @
Monday, August 09, 2010 4:07 PM
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I am a new member of this club, and so far enjoy it.
I, like everyone else, have tried a lot of different tomato cages.
I think everyone may have a different sitituation. The one that works best for me is an old 6' steel fence post, a 3' or 4' length of old 48" high woven wire fencing form a farmer neighbor. Roll the fencing to tube which will be 12" to 18" in diameter, and 48" high.
After you plant the tomato plants, drive the post in the ground about a foot, and attach the woven fire tower to the post top and bottom. Plant another tomato on the other side of the post, and attach another wire tower to the same post. Repete for as many plantd you want. No matter what your climate, you should never have to store, or fix the tomato towers.
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