Tomatoe cages?

[jack]

Gidday

Can someone tell this dumb old Kiwi what are tomatoe cages, and how do you use them and for what reason?

[Deleted]

Mater cages(or stakes) are put around your plants to keep them growin stright and to keep the fruit off the ground so it don't rot. I have used just sticks and string lots of times.
Someone here will find a pic, i'm sure.

[Pharmer Phil]

Jack, it's really a pity, the tomato plants grow so well in there natural state, which is sprawling on the ground. However, most people here in the states do stake, or cage their tomatoes.
I have let them sprawl before, and you have to be very careful that they not rot, from contact with the soil, or even straw.
I had better luck with this when I lived further south, the climate there is much warmer, and drier than Minnesota. Here, your'e fighting early and late blights, septoria, a multitude of cool-damp weather related fungus and disease problems.
But, The fact is:
Tomatoes will produce Better, if left to sprawl.

[Deleted]

I agree phil..........when i was growin up we never stak'em and had more than we knew what to do with.

[douglas]

Wel at least dey help keep most of da maters off the ground

[jeanette]

i let mine sprawl... i'm starting to think it takes them much longer to ripen though.. so next year i'm gonna get them in the ground alot sooner..

[jack]

Gidday

Yeah down here almost all maters are staked or have an overhead wire and wound round a string hangin from that. It's just the cage I have never seen or heard of down here. Just wondering if I should try a few.

[Deleted]

jack, the cages need to be rather strong, because of weight of the fruit and wind. Give'em a try, ya mite like'em.

[Songbird]

I didn't have enough cages this year, so some of mine were left sprawling. I didn't notice any difference in amount or timing of produce!

[douglas]

Some of mine out grew the cages so I added some small ones on the side to catch the hanging vines

[ceresone]

our local electric co=op paper had a article on a guy here in missouri that grows his in 16 foot cages--now, granted, the heirlooms i plant might grow that high-- but how do i explain to doctor i fell off my tomato cage and broke my arm???

[douglas]

The tallest I can find is the "4" footers, dang I sure could use larger ones

[ceresone]

Use concrete reinforcing wire, and make your own, it comes 6' high--and if you have support posts, its heavy enough to stack.--and reuseable for "generations"!

[mckenzygirl]

Hunter63, a member of this forum, had an article in
"The Mother Earth News" Magazine, he built some tomato cages.
If I can find the article in the Archives, Ken and I are going to build some for next years garden.


Oh Hunter63.......where are you???
We need your input on those tomato cages you built!!!

[Compost Pharmer]

I made a bunch from concrete reinforcing wire. They are 5 feet high. They work good but the maters will grow out of them. Keeps the vines and maters off the ground. Easier to pick also.

[jack]

Gidday

Like I said they are usually staked down here. As for the height, in a glasshouse situation where they are wound around a string dangled from about, when they get to about 6 feet they let the string loosen a bit and move it along so the old trunk will go along the ground a few feet before going up and sometimes the plant will be up to 20 feet long. We always kee our to a single trunk by cutting off all the laterals.