The only size mesh I see in my local HD/Lowes is 5’X150’. That won’t work I think. Another option is cattle panel but that costs $30 per cage plus the bolt cutter 
2 Likes
That’s a good video - I watched it through. I’m glad you shared it.
I probably won’t end up trying them but I do like the concept. Nice job. And I have to say I loved your editing whenever you catch an error!
:-)M
1 Like
I am going with a bunch of relatively new varieties this year:
Red Torch:
I grew Red Torch last year and had great success with it. Huge quantities of very high quality fruit and essentially zero splitting even in a year when I had lots of splitting on some other varieties.
Prairie Fire:
This one is new to me.
Sparky:
New to me.
Sweet Million:
I grew Sweet Million last year and had good success. They also resisted cracking well.
Early Girl:
Little needs to be said.
I use Texas Tomato Cages. They are impressively huge and heavy duty. Expensive if you plan to plant more than a few tomatoes.
1 Like
I use old tobacco stakes, usually about 4ft tall. I tie branches to them, and they usually work okay, but I have some varieties that tower over them, so I just let the branches droop.
I started tomatoes on April 1 indoors in a 36 cell planter indoors. It took a long time for some to sprout, but now there are 33 cells with at least one sprout. I think it’s bad soil mix.
Some have gotten too big, so I plan on putting those in cups shortly. It’s been too cool and wet to plant out en masse. But, yesterday my wife did plant out three orange KY beefsteak plants she picked up at a local store.
Last night I sowed some more in a different mix, some were those that didn’t come up, plus some seeds I had just got in the mail. Also, replanted some peppers and some brassicas and herbs.
Here are the toms we have going, and sowed-
On 4/1-
Chocolate Cherry
Boxcar Willie
Better Boy
Black, and Pink Brandywine
Russian Queen
Azoychka
Omar’s Lebanese
Hillbilly
Mortgage Lifter
Watermelon
German Strawberry
Sister Miriam
Aunt Ruby’s German Green
Dr Wyche Yellow
Last night-
Black Cherry
Kellogg’s Breakfast
Giant Belgium
Orange KY beefsteak
Big Pink
Pink Oxheart
Jubilee
3 Likes
I string my tomatoes up. Here’s a video explaining the general principle. I personally use two ten foot T-posts with laundry line linking them. The string is tied on then hangs down, and you twirl the plant around the string as it continuously grows up. This supports the plant entirely. Pinch out side shoots (in the tomatoes “arm pits” is how I think of it) and pinch off lower leaves to avoid blight. I have not tried this with cukes as he describes but for tomatoes it works like a charm.
I have growing:
Super Sweet 100
Gemini
Black Vernissage
Opalka
Sungold
Saucy Lady
3 Likes
24" works well for me, with ~30" spacing between plants.
For constructing the cages it helps to have two people, but cinder blocks work as well - just be real careful so it doesn’t spring back on you. If you buy the 100’ roll like I did, the cages are pre shaped for you when you cut them off the roll. For cutting I would recommend an angle grinder with a cutting wheel, using bolt cutters leaves razor sharp points. Finally, I just ziptie the ends together and then do my final shaping on the ground - the cages are pretty light.
@bleedingdirt my bad, 5’ is the correct height. The 150’ roll goes a lot faster than you think. I made 4 cages and a few melon / cucumbers trellises and used up almost half the roll. Sold the rest on Craigslist for a slight discount- it went pretty quick. If you go the bolt cutter route, definitely hit the cut ends with a file to dull them.
I just planted my tomatoes, this is what it looks like:
10 Likes
Used the 8 ft cattle panels the last few years. The work Ok but I’ve had problems later in the season getting the tomatoes to climb the panel and not punch off branches as they grow. A few years I used that green plastic garden tape to assist the panels. I’m going to try the concrete remesh tubes this season
As for varieties. I like the medium sized tomato’s.
18 Rutgers and 18 Celebrity. Bought them the last few years and I have no problem getting buckets worth to work
2 Likes
I’ve always used a combination of tomato cages and 6 foot cedar stakes. The cage works well while the plant is small and getting established. Once the cage is out grown the stakes take over. I’ll admit this method isn’t flawless in long growing seasons with indeterminate varieties, but it gets the job done.
2020 Varieties:
Pink Bumblebee
Sunrise Bumblebee
Cherokee Purple
San Marzano Lungo No. 2
Kellogg’s Breakfast
Copia
Classic Beefsteak
1 Like
This is the first time I have seriously tried growing tomatoes. I bought some of those big heavy-duty cages and have planted Cherokee Purple, Early Girl, and Chocolate Sprinkles (a cherry tomato).
2 Likes
That’s what I used to do but it evolved over time. Now that I’m starting over, I don’t wanna make the same mistake again.
1 Like
I use the concrete reinforcement wire in 150 foot rolls like many up above. Not sure on the diameter of the cages I make, but around 6 to 12 inches wider than a five gallon bucket. These cages will last a long time. The most important thing when I put my plugs in the ground is to put 5 gallon buckets with the bottoms cut out around each plant. These buckets stay around the plant until I pull the plant in early winter. I sink these buckets in the ground an inch or two. I then put the cage around the bucket a while later, usually as late as I can without hurting the plant. This bottomless bucket protects against all wind and even some hail until they get taller than the bucket. The wind protection in Kansas or anywhere that gets terrible wind is a game changer. I can also slip a trash bag over the bucket if we have a late frost to save the plants. I also use 3 gallon buckets or #10 cans with the bottoms cut out for my pepper plants.
5 Likes
I’ve considered going with the cattle panel route as well but the expense gave me pause considering the amount I’d need. If I were to upgrade my method though, that would be the way I’d go.
1 Like
I use left over fencing material that I fenced in my garden with. I have tried making large round cages, but the spacing between wire is a little small for me to easily fit my hands through. People with smaller hands it’s a little easier, but overall I have found that unless it’s very easy to tie up vines, things become easily too crowded.
For me, it ended up WAY easier to just put another line of fence inside my garden, and grow flat on a fence. I feel tomatoes are also a little more productive, but it could just be that it’s easier for me to prune and pick off horn worms etc this way. Also very easy to harvest.
2 Likes
@Ozymandias
Mike, I grew Sweet Million years ago. They were Amazing. So much ‘tomato taste’ !!! 
- and they kept forming tomatoes all summer long and into the fall. Then . . . (like most things I find that I love) . . . they disappeared. For years! All I could find were Sweet 100. No millions anymore. ???
And then this spring . . . they were back! I bought one Sweet Million plant - and an Early Girl - to supplement the seeds I started. I just hope that they are the same ‘sweet million’ that I grew in the 80s.
Prairie Fire sounds interesting. I haven’t seen that one - or the seeds - around here.
@Katie_didnt_Z4b
I have watched that British guy’s YouTube videos. (He is so C A L M . . . that he makes me sleepy!) Trying his cardboard ‘mulch’ solution this year. And thinking of using it to create a ‘border’ around spaces like my blueberry bed.
(Did you know that Walmart will not let you have their broken down box cardboard???) Ridiculous. I thought the guy was kidding me when I asked if I could have a few broken down boxes - and he said he was not allowed to let me have them!
And he was serious.
Guess there must be big money involved in selling the cardboard for recycling. ???
Staking with hanging string . . . I would like to try the string method on a few of my tomatoes. I may try sinking 2 very tall metal posts for the ‘top line’. I’d be interested to see if I get less - or more tomatoes - per plant. ???
Planted my fabric pot tomatoes this past weekend - and my in ground plants yesterday.
All seem very happy so far. Big storm coming today, though. 
3 Likes
Charles Dowding does have the most soothing voice! I really enjoy watching British garden shows in general but he was the first one I discovered. I’ve made most of my gardens doing sheet mulching with cardboard and compost from the municipal site. Have had good results. I usually have too many boxes from Amazon and such, and I have gotten them from restaurants before too. I think smaller operations that Walmart are usually happy to pass off some boxes!
As for tomatoes I think you get less per plant but can put the plants closer together, so overall you get more fruit. They look really neat and tidy which I like, and long strings of tomatoes really stand out and look nice because excess foliage gets taken off.
3 Likes
They probably do it as a matter of policy to limit liability. From what I’ve heard the only thing that makes money in recycling these days is metals (see article below).
If you want to get free cardboard you are going to have better luck asking smaller businesses.
2 Likes
I use cardboard mulch for the paths in the raspberry patch. Until it gets saturated a few times, I put large rock down to anchor it, so the wind doesn’t blow it to oblivion.
I use Florida weave for the few determinates I grow and the overflow. In the main tomato crop, I use electrical conduit to hang bailing twine to each plant. Each plant gets suckered to grow into a single vine (intil it is 5ft or so). Growing them in this fashion allows planting much closer together, better air circulation, and potentially larger tomatoes.
Second time is a charm for uploading pictures.
9 Likes
Every year I get some tomato plants going from seed myself and buy some from a local guy that sells heirloom tomato plants from his house. Every year I plant too many and they get out of hand. This year I was going to plant fewer plants and try to focus more on caring for them, then I come across a local company that will be selling tomato plants at the township park near my house. You have to pre-order them then pick the plants up. I figured they would only have a few of the common varieties, but I’d support them and buy a few. Then I checked out their catalog. Yikes!!! They have well over 200 varieties of tomatoes plus about a hundred peppers. Can’t believe I’ve never heard of them before. Check out these .pdfs: If anybody sees any winners, please let me know.
3 Likes
Wow! Some very unusual tomatoes! I don’t think I’ve heard of 95% of them! I wish they would include descriptions.
That is a really interesting place. 'Wish I lived nearby. Have fun!
1 Like
About 4 hours work to turn 150 spool of remesh into 24 cages with a 6ft Tpost between each pair. Now just waiting for tomato’s to get growing
4 Likes