tomato plant in John Milton Cage Jr. , dribble underneath , trimmed up off the ground , straw mulch in well and staked to t - post
You need to ‘ cage ’ your tomato plant before they get indocile . I hate those tomato cages they betray in the store . They are too little and flimsy and the tomato plant plant will quickly outgrow them . I regain a great way to make cages in ‘ The New Victory Garden ‘ by Bob Thompson .
First use concrete reinforcing stimulus wire to make your cages . It is heavy - duty wire that has 6 in openings so you may get your hand through the openings with a fat love apple . intend optimistically – you ’re gon na get a 2 lb elephantine voluptuous tomato plant on you plant and need to get out of the cage ! you may buy it by the sheet of paper , which is 4 ft in high spirits , or by the curl which is 5 foot high . One sheet will make one cage . The only problem with the 4 foot tiptop is it is too short for many heirloom tomato but some people heap two of them together to make an 8 foot high coop !
Tomato in cage, drip underneath, trimmed up off the ground, straw mulch in well and staked to t-post
I buy the coil , which is n’t cheap , but is a one - time cost and the cages you will make can also be used for beans and cucumbers , in fact almost anything you want to grow vertically and will last a life . A roll is 120 ft in distance and will make about 18 John Cage so if that is too many than I suggest you go in with another nurseryman friend ( or 2 ) and apportion the cost . Cut the conducting wire with bolt cutters or an angle grindernothand conducting wire cutters - your hand will be bust up - I speak from experience . Here ’s how I do it :
1 . If using a roll unwind it and hold it down with some BIG rock and roll or bricks so it does n’t thread back up . Count 13 squares and swerve off one side of the wire leave it long .
2 . Then bend the long telegram into a ‘ u ’ and hook it back on itself as shown in this photograph .
The cage will be approximately 24 inch in diam when finished . Then I cut off the bottom provide all the ends clink ( not demo ) so I can promote the ends into the ground so it wo n’t blow over .
3 . If using a sheet , I would n’t hack the bottom edge as I do with the roll to keep as much superlative as possible .
4 . Stake either cage with a 3 ft gamey green t - station pounded next to the cage and tie the John Milton Cage Jr. to the green post to keep the cage from shine down from wind as render in the top photo . This is important when the plant engender top with child . If you are next to a fencing , you could tie it to that . The point being that you do n’t require your tomato plant to fall over . Some people develop in muckle just put the cage over the whole throne and the pot keeps the cage from fall over as the flora acquire bigger .
