I think it would be hard to bend into a square, but possible if you are determined! Since the wire comes in a roll, it does form a circle easily, so circular cages are easier to do. If it is the concrete reinforcing wire, that stuff is hard to cut safely, wear gloves and watch your eyes! If nobody it around to help when cutting it, use something heavy to hold the wire down, like cement blocks, so it doesn’t spring back and hit you in the face! I wonder if you could figure out how to make them so they are stackable at the end of the season.
That is a great use for old arrows!
@zendog, sounds like you have gotten a system that really works for you. Thanks for the links. I haven’t used those clips before, they look pretty handy.
So as long as the string doesn’t stretch too much, and can hold up to the weight of the plants, I think I could make that work.
Edit: forgot to ask, are those clips reusable for many years before they degrade or break?
I was trying to figure out if there is a way to make a “snap-together” kind of frame so you can put the supports at the heights you want them, and more importantly, it goes together easily and comes apart for storage. Two T-posts on the ends of the rows for sturdy support and either more T-posts running down both sides of the row, or even rebar cut to length that wouldn’t need a post hole driver to set. If there is some sort of hardware that would snap to the posts/rebar that also has a way to snap a cross piece of rebar to it, then you could add as many horizontal pieces where you want them. That probably doesn’t make any sense at all.
So picture the square tomato cages. Just create a bunch of square cages in a row, but instead of premade sizes that are already nailed or screwed together, you are able to create the cages by snapping the horizontal sides and cross pieces wherever you want them. Because they all snap together, it should have good stability and support.
Well, trying to figure out how to do that is probably more trouble than it is worth!
I take 3 sticks and pin them together at the top. It is like a teepee. There a string supports between the sticks, but the whole thing collapses together for easy storage. Pepper supports are 4’ tall but I should have made them at least 5’. Jalapeños and Tabasco overgrow 4’.
3 Likes
How big do your pepper plants get? Mine only get to be 18-20" tall and rarely need support… maybe I’m not doing it right?
Add: I see your comment sparty about 4-5’… do everyone’s get this large?
1 Like
They’re all different, some max out around 30”, some around 5’.
1 Like
Now I’ll have to see what I’m not feeding them that I need to feed them.
I’m no pepper expert, just fortunate to have a spot on the property with very rich soil. Lots of organic matter.
3 Likes
You have a beautiful place! I love your garden set-up. It is so clean and tidy! I can only dream of keeping mine as weed free! Your teepee system looks great. You grow big peppers! Mine usually top out at 3 1/2 feet.
I enclose them in a pair of plant hoops once they get big enough to bear fruit
1 Like
Hi, sorry I missed this. If you are careful taking them off each year they last for several years. I think the UV makes them a bit brittle over time so I would say expect most of them to be usable a second year, but a lot fewer by the third year. There are various companies offering them, so I’m not sure how much quality varies. There are also some that are brown or green I think, but I’m not sure how that impacts things.
And yes, you can definitely hold the weight of the plants with the nylon string I linked to. I use it for growing my tomatoes as single stems and the string is easily holding up 15 or more pounds when the bigger varieties have set a lot of tomatoes. I may just use a cheap wooden stake at the mid point (4.5 feet) on each side this year, since there is some sag along the way. But the good thing is since peppers are hollow you don’t wind up with a huge amount of weight compared to the tomatoes. I’ll try to take a picture of mine when I get it set up for the year in a few weeks.
1 Like
Notice that I don’t show pictures of the garden at the end of the year, not as picturesque. If anyone is interested in easy cages:
One hole drilled through the end of the sticks. Put wire or heavy string through, leaving room for the sticks to rotate. Spread to a teepee and tie some string from leg to leg. At the end of the season, they fold up and store nicely.
3 Likes
i got a whole pallet of scrap cedar i can do that with. great idea.
2 Likes
I cut the ends at an angle so you can force them into the ground a bit.
2 Likes
@zendog, thanks for the info on the clips. I think I would really like those. I hate tying peppers or tomatoes. I can get breakage when wind and the weight of the plants gets too be too great. Plus I also hate the mess of cleaning up all the string or garden tape I use. I would be more inclined to take care of each clip so I could reuse it the next year. Pictures would be great!
@Sparty, that is a slick way to make a teepee! Like you say, they would be easy to store as well since they fold up. That is really nice feature. I laugh when friends see my garden in the spring and say how nice it looks. Everything is green and mulched, and maybe the weeds aren’t too evident yet. Come back in late July or August… 
It looks like a totally different place!
Love it!!! Looks familiar 
Love your dog too! A pug? Super cute!
3 Likes
Half pug, half obnoxious.
3 Likes
These are the ones i planted 2018. I topped at about 4 ft. So i didn’t have to stake them. In all of the years i grew peppers i always had brittle branches. Had so many peppers on each plant i didnt mind losing 20 to 30 peppers per bush. Lost way more than that to pepper maggot.
4 Likes
Those are beautiful peppers! I don’t think I get more than 30 total per plant.
1 Like