DIY Hardcore Tomato Cages

We never have had room for growing tomatoes in 3D, in the round, in cages.  We always grew them up a flat trellis or tied back with hemp string, along the side of our house because that was what space permitted.  But, now we DO have room for freestanding tomatoes and so Matt finally got to put into action a tomato cage plan that he'd been hatching for over a year.

See, Matt is a researcher.  If he has the desire for something he will learn all about it, especially if with a bit of learning he could go ahead and make it himself.  So, after reading the merits of various styles of tomato cages and construction materials, watching innumerable demonstrational videos, and pricing various store-bought tomato cages he, rather predictably, settled on a DIY job.   It was very easy, surprisingly easy in fact, as a two-person operation, but you could do it alone, too, with minimal difficulty I am sure.

You will need:  bolt cutters, pliers, and "concrete reinforcing mesh" (available at hardware and home improvement stores).  This mesh comes in a (large and heavy) roll and has a grid of 6-inch squares, large enough to easily fit a grown man's hand inside for the ease of tending and harvesting the tomatoes.   A pair of gloves is also recommended, but not required I suppose. 

The metal may rust, but if painted will not.

Since the mesh is intended to reinforce concrete you can imagine that it is heavy-duty stuff...well up to the task of supporting tomatoes!  (I don't know about you, but I find the standard tomato cage to be frightfully flimsy things.)  That is not the case here.  These are some real hum-dingers....not going to collapse or bend out of shape very darn easily!

Each square, as I mentioned, is 6 inches across.  We are making our cages in three sizes so that they nest inside each other for easy out-of-season storage.  We are making 4 ft, 4 1/2 ft, and 5 ft cages

When cutting the length of mesh for each cage it's important to actually add an extra square to your desired length.  Thus to make a 4ft cage you cut 4 1/2 feet of the mesh (which translates to ten squares).  For a 5 ft cage you cut 5 1/2 feet of mesh (12 squares) and so on.   The reason for the extra square is that ultimately the flat piece of mesh is made into a tube and you need that extra six inches to make the hook closure that holds the cage in its tube shape.  The extra six inches is folded in half to make a sort of hook that clasps over the square on the opposite end of the section of mesh.  Just wait and see...it will make sense.  (I hope!)

Matt, bending the hook clasps.

A close up shot of one of the hooks being bent.

The video above shows Matt bending the extra six inches into the hook closure.  The video below shows Matt slipping the hooks into the squares on the opposite end of the mesh section to create the tube-shaped, 3-D cage.  The videos are a bit dark since we were working in the garage, but I think you'll get my point.

But before making the cage into its final round, tube form there is one more step.  You want to cut the bottom strand off the length of the mesh so that you have little legs to sink into the ground. 

Snipping off the bottom so that there are, essentially, stakes to be sunk into the ground.

This is what the "stakes" or little legs look like.  It is also what the extra six inches used for the hook closures look like before being bent into hooks.

While these little legs do allow the cages to stand by themselves (ours have been unstaked for several weeks) I do think it would probably be wise to fix the cage to a sturdy stake or T-post...just in case.  We've been meaning to do so since we set them up really, but, well it just hasn't happened yet.  Maybe we'll say it was an experiment to see if we really need t-posts and hope the answer is that they don't.  Or maybe we'll actually get around to it this weekend.

Note the little feet on the bottom.

The tomatoes are filling out nicely in their cages now.  Looking at them this morning (why didn't I take a photo to show you all?!) I told Matt I just couldn't believe how much fuller and happier they look growing all round and bushy rather than be constantly retrained.  I hope they produce like gangbusters!

The whole project cost $100 dollars and we now have 30+ tomato cages.  That works out to be about $3.33 per cage which is a steal for such a sturdy cage from what I've seen priced at the local greenhouses and hardware stores.  We only have 22 tomato plants so the extras are going to be tested in other capacities, possibly pepper and beans.

Update/follow-up review from September 14, 2022, available here.  Spoiler alert:  They are still working great and holding up well a decade later.