Best way to cage tomatoes

If you go back to my first post on this thread, you will find a link to "Rick's tomato trellis." I thought that his technique was a pretty good one but there is a lot of weight on those cattle panels and the trellis sags late in the season between the metal posts holding it.

The answer for a better way to support a horizontal panel might be to use a small cage for each tomato plant. Then, lay a cattle panel horizontally across all those cages. The tomato vines will grow up inside the cage and then spread out on top the panel.

I suppose that the entire thing could tip over and fruit may be hard to see hanging below the panel, but ... it was an idea.

Steve

Kassaundra said:

I am trying something different this year for my tomatoes. I read about it in article somewhere. I took a 5 gall bucket and drilled holes in the bottom and about 1/3 up the sides. Filled bucket w/ chicken poop, buried it deeper then the holes in a raised bed, planted the tomatoes in in ring around the bucket, used a run of that cement wire fencing to make a big cage (about 4 foot ish across) and caged the whole thing. You water the bucket it waters and fertilizes at the same time. So far it is working well, but it is early. The tomatoes in it are chest and shoulder high and full of blooms. I am so glad I changed to raised beds this year, we have received over 8 inches of rain in 3 days, last week and the forecast is for more rain this whole coming week. Where I usually plant them they would be in standing water, that is how I lost them last year to blight. I will likely have water issues this summer, but I'll cross that bridge if my tomatoes survive the extremely wet spring.

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So how did your tomatoes do last year with this water/fertilize method?

baymule said:

So how did your tomatoes do last year with this water/fertilize method?

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The large planting w/ the cage around the whole circle for support worked great, I am doing it again this year. The bucket O'poop in the center for watering took to long to water the tomatoes w/ the hose, I have laid a soaker hose in the bed this year.

I borrowed @Ridgerunner's idea and used cow panels and T-posts. I laid cardboard down to hold down the weeds, and made a double row.

I use a single row cattle panel, raised up a foot higher off the ground and attached with zip ties. I sucker my maters, so I don't have to worry about shoots running here and there and the vine is just woven through the squares as it grows, so no tying needed.

I've found that past the 6 ft. height, there isn't much big fruit growing anyway, so I just prune them at that height and that keeps them from lopping over. The cukes normally go much higher and have to be strung along the top of the panel a ways but that's not too bad.



I've done all kinds of tomato trellising but I've found I like this one the best...no tying, no worrying about the weight of the plants making the fencing sag or lean, no stress on the vine by the ties and the weight of the plant on the ties, etc.

I use cattle panels as well, 6 of them in 3 rows 2' apart. The panels are about 18" off the ground. I'm done with those flimsy cages and these should last me the rest of my life. Trellis for the tomatoes is on the right spaced closer together, the others are for cukes and winter squash.
I don't sucker mine and just let them go, I do occasionally have to push a branch back in.

Bee, my method is like yours except I use reinforced concrete panels. They work just fine. Can't find cattle panels anywhere near me.

Mary

Here is my strategy for this year. I've still got some in cages, but so far this is going well. I'm actually using electric fence line run between poles in the ground. (not charged, of course) I'll add more rows of line as they grow to train them up. Pretty simple to check the plants every couple of days, and lift the vines over the line.
I've tried many things. The fence circles are nice and sturdy, but tough for me to harvest thru.
As you can see, I use raised beds. Went to those after being rained out two years ago. It paid off big last year. We had an extremely wet May, and nearly everyone's tomatoes in the area were drowned out. Ours came thru well, though.

You might also notice that I am using bio-char this year. Just learned of this process. There's lots of info out there, and lots of reasons for it. In a nutshell it is alleged to be both a growth stimulator and pest control tactic. Basically ground up old-style bulk charcoal (not briquets) mixed with compost. It may be just me, but I feel my plants have done well with it.

Thanks @Ridgerunner for the cow panel idea. This is me planting them. I put up 3 cowpanels and sat in between them to plant the tomato plants. I used a machete to cut through the cardboard. They are blooming now, I can't wait to taste the first ripe tomato! My husband thinks I am a genius for using cow panels, I told him I got the idea from you, but he still thinks I'm brilliant. I guess I'll just shut up and let him keep thinking that!

That looks great, bay!