Homemade Tomato Cages

Tomato cages are used to provide support to the growing tomato plants in order to facilitate vertical growth instead of horizontal growth. Tomato plants tend to sprawl as they grow, and eventually the tomatoes start rotting when they come in contact with the ground. Therefore, it is necessary to provide them some a sort of support for vertical growth and tomato cages made of wood or steel are ideal for this job. These tomato cages also secure plants against strong winds. Using tomato cages makes it easier to harvest the crop and minimizes the spread of insects from one plant to another.

There are different types of tomato cages available in the market, which include wooden tomato cages, plastic tomato cages and steel tomato cages. But most of them are either inefficient or too expensive. The easiest solution to this problem is to build your own tomato cages. Knowing how to make tomato cages will not only save your money but also provide you with good quality and reliable homemade tomato cages.

How to Build Tomato Cages?

Making homemade tomato cages is not at all a difficult task, you just need to arm yourself with a few tools and the material from which you plan to make your homemade tomato cage. Tomato cages can be made from various materials including wood, bamboo and metal wires. Depending on your budget you can decide which material to use. Ideally, using wood or bamboo can be relatively cheaper than using steel or metal wires.

Cut two 8 feet long, 1 x 3 inch stripes of wood in order to make pair of rungs for the ladder of the tomato cage. The first two rungs of the tomato cage should be 21 inches long; the next two should be 19 inches long while the last two should be 17 inches long. Cut two 20 inch boards to make braces which will support the sides of the ladder. Take another two 8 feet long rung, 1 x 3 inch stripe of wood to make the legs of the ladder and attach them to the either side of the 8 inch 2 x 4 scrap board piece. Take a drilling machine and drill holes in the wooden legs and fix them to the wooden board using some 3 inch deck screws. Make sure that you reach pivot point when you drill the screw to fix the legs.

To assemble the tomato cage, take the largest rung and position it at the bottom and with the help of the drilling machine, screw the 21 inch wooden board at an approximate distance of 7 inches from the bottom. In the same method fix the 19 inch board at an approximate distance of 12 inches from the first rung and 17 inch board at an approximate distance of 15 inches from the second rung. This will ensure that the base of your homemade tomato cage is broader than the top and hence the wooden tomato cage will stand straight effortlessly. Repeat the same procedure on the other side of the ladder. Once you are done with this, make the ladder stand straight and spread it out and fix 20 inch 1 x 3 braces of wood at an approximate distance of 27 inches from the base of the ladder on either side. Now that your tomato cage is ready, you can place it on the tomato plant. While placing, make sure that the two legs of the wooden tomato cage are staked outside to provide proper balance to your homemade tomato cage.

You can also opt to make a tomato cage from steel or wire mesh. You can use simple materials such as poultry fencing wire to make a good homemade tomato cages for your plants. The procedure will be the same, but instead of screws you will have to use welding machine to attach the parts. Making tomato cages at home can help you to ensure that you get a reliable product at a relatively low price.