How do you anchor your tomato cages?

[wsmoak]

After going round and round trying to figure out how I'm going to support all these tomatoes I've started from seed (35 at last count!) I've pretty much come back to the tried and true cylinders of concrete reinforcing wire.

There were some left around this place when we bought it, they're still usable, and if I just buy a roll of wire and make more, they'll last a lifetime.

Here's a comparison I ran across: http://www.mastergardeners.org/picks/tomato_staking.html

One problem I've had with them is that they want to fall over when the plant gets very large.

What do you use to anchor them?

T-posts work, but are expensive. How far up the side of the cage do I need to secure it to keep it from falling over?

Or would it be better to anchor just the bottom at 2-3 places around the circle?

What works for you?

Thanks, -Wendy

 

[AmyRey]

Would several bamboo stakes work? That's pretty plentiful around here if you look around and ask.

 

[ninnymary]

I was tired of those flimsy cages that you buy that are too short and don't work. So this year, my husband got the reinforcement wire panels and edged the top and sides with pipe. He used wire to tie the pipe down. The pipe "legs" extends about 18" and were pushed into the ground. I plan to tie my tomatoes on to it. If the legs are not strong enough, the panel is against the fence so we can tie it to that if necessary.

Hopefully this will work alot better than those dumb cages.

Mary

 

[SweetMissDaisy]

Last year, I had only one cage made from fencing in the garden -- the rest were standard round tomato cages.

I put a wood stake (4'-5' in length) on each side of the cage and attached the cage to the stakes w/ twine. It was the best support in the garden, and stayed in place all summer. I'll be using more of them this year.


For what it's worth, I won't be using the standard round tomato cages we have on anything bigger than pepper plants this year! They're just not strong enough, or big enough, for tomatoes.

 

[bid]

I use concrete reinforcing wire cages and I just bury mine a few inches in the soil. I just kind of twist the cage around to make an outline of where it will be and use a shovel to loosen up that outline. Put the cage in place and twist it back and forth to work it down 4 or 5 inches.
With my clay based soil, after a few rains the cage stays put and I haven't had any problems with the wind blowing them over after the plants get large.

 

[vfem]

I got so much extra bamboo like Amy said, we just stake them with bamboo.

Then again, we use bamboo for everything... trellises... fence posts... FREE!

 

[thistlebloom]

You can use short lengths of rebar also. Just put two on opposite sides of the cage and pound 'em in.

 

[beavis]

Do this:

Here is the cage out of reinforcement wire:

the bottom has 6 inches of "pokey" wire that gets inserted into the ground...

works for me everytime

 

[bootstrap]

I make them out of american wire field fence. i weave a section of a sapling or a stake through the wire and pound it into the ground. some I just let them go on the ground. I lay down ground fabric so there is no issue with dirt or rot due to the ground.

 

[RAY2310]

You can use short lengths of rebar also. Just put two on opposite sides of the cage and pound 'em in.

I second the rebar. If I don't secure the cages they end up tipping over once they get bigger with the first good wind.