RickCorey said:You're already head and shoulders better than my "sloppy floppy" first try. After they started growing fast, the supports I put in at the beginning were not even VISIBLE. I like your choice of uprights!

I was thinking that IF the taut string or weight of the tomatoes started pulling those stakes together, leaning too far into the center, you COULD add some cross-braces to keep the stakes upright. But don't bother unless it becomes necessary.

I'm picturing you telling neighbors that your very first crop grew SO well, I had to ADD more stakes, and cross-bracing and ...!" Maybe it's just me, but bragging seems like one of the benefits of gardening, like healthy exercise and fresh pesticide-FREE food.

I was thinking of Boy Scout-like lashing to attach cross-braces to the uprights, , but nails or big staples would probably work as well.
Google "lashing poles".

My first trellis was embarrassing: lots of thin bamboo poles with Rube Goldberg lashing holding them together. It was totally overwhelmed by the (? peas ?) that grew over it and crushed it towards the ground. I added more strings trying to hoist it back up, until it looked like Gulliver tied down by Lilliputans. If I took any photos, I hid them well enough that I can't find them now.

Compared to that trellis, this zany scheme is almost sensible, but these overwintered leaf broccoli plants had stems almost strong enough to keep them upright even after flowering.

I wad taking my morning walk today, and saw a lady walking a mini schnauzer. So, went to pet him & the lady had asked me what were all the branches for (that I had collected & was holding). So I told her I was trying to experiment in building a tomato cage with it. Of course, at that point, had to bust out my phone & show her my 'garden baby photos'- which made me recall what you had said yesterday, Rick... Had to have a little chuckle.

Mah BABIES!!!!

I think my favorite baby is the little Fargesia rufa bamboo that followed me home from HD in a half gallon or 3/4 gallon pot.

Cootchy cootchy cootchy COOOO!

2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2013

Rick, you just made me laugh so hard, my ginger ale almost came out my nose! I so needed that. Can't stop giggling! You're awesome.

Rick, I just re read that message & completely bust out laughing again. Is this what you meant by cross bracing?


Since I hardly have tools (except for a hammer, screwdrivers & a few small screws) & very limited resources, I had to be super creative & come up with something that would make the cage really sturdy. So, I found some decent branches & couldn't think of how I could attach them... Then it hit me. Nail glue! Same as krazy glue. It ain't going nowhere, it's very sturdy! Thank god I keep it on hand to mend a broken nail.

Clever!

Nice Job!

Thank you. Very encouraging. I pinch pennies to the point that I can squeeze a booger out of George Washington's nose. So I need to come up with creative ideas to accomplish the same end result. Some come easy, others not. And get frustrated. But when an idea actually works, everything is that much more rewarding. And the challenge is awesome! Need the brain exercise, anyway.

Hi Debbie.

Yeah, cool! Exactly that kind of side-brace, to hold the uprights apart even after the plant gets heavy and bears down on the strings.

Great creativity! Do you think you might make a second circle, if the plant gets lots bigger?
Like a "super-circumferential highway"?

I know there are meticulous, well-equipped wood workers who would drill holes in the uprights and turn the branches on a lath, then glue the branches into the holes like pegs. Like, for oak furniture, not so much for tomato cages.

P.S. this is what I meant by Boy Scout lashing:

Rick, thank you. I kind if had idea about lashing from that tv show 'Man vs. Wild' with Bear Grylls. I recently watched a marathon of that show & learned alot, like making a "Lean to" shelter from what mother nature provides... And tied part of it up with parachute cord in the same way. And after thinking about it, thought a variation of that shelter can be made for tomatoes, with some changes. I will be sure to do the same 1/2 way down with adding cross bracing, like I did the top. I cannot thank you enough for your advice. (and the belly laugh)!

ChefDebbie said: ... like making a "Lean to" shelter from what mother nature provides... And tied part of it up with parachute cord in the same way. And after thinking about it, thought a variation of that shelter can be made for tomatoes, with some changes. ...

Thanks, Debbie! I REALLY hope you send pictures of each invention! I love home-made, home-invented solutions.

Say, maybe the Permaculture forum would appreciate an article about the evolution of tomato cages from indigenous materials!

I try to be smart on how I do things... From a financial standpoint to being eco-friendly. I may fail at attempting some things or it may take me a while to figure it out by tinkering with it... But would much rather fail at trying, than failing automatically by not trying at all. My cousin had stopped by earlier (who is a gardening whiz) & was surprised with what I did with using the branches as supports. He asked me how in the world did I know to do that? I told him "duh, you're the brainiac, figure it out. Tomatoes get heavy, isn't it obvious? The stakes need to be supported because the heavy tomatoes will pull one way & supports will counterbalance that". And said it with a smug look on my face. It was my moment to shine & did so gracefully.

>> My cousin had stopped by earlier (who is a gardening whiz) & was surprised with what I did with using the branches as supports. He asked me how in the world did I know to do that?

Hah! An expert who doesn't expect people to THINK! Or maybe he isn't used to doing that, since he already knows so much!

Fresh eyes see the problem differently.

I think that, in gardening as in every human endeavor, "The Way It Has Always Been Done" is one of the biggest obstacles to overcome, if for any reason you don't want to, or can't, imitate everyone else. Maybe your conditions are different, or your tradefoffs differ, like having more uses for each dollar and nickle than someone else.

That's when being able to think for yourself is better than "The Way Everyone Says To Do It".

That's also why I don't have much use for advice that doesn't come with the "Why" attached.

Maybe that "Why" turns out to be "when the burning Noonday Sun scorches everything down to the ground, you'll be glad that you ...", but my summer is like their spring.

I can confidently say that he thinks he knows it all (he is very smart) & is better than everyone else; also I guarantee he never expected that from me... But love to show off my new found gardening smarts, along with my plant children.

It sounds like you're good for him.

He reminds me of the idea that kids "know" how totally dumb and uninformed their parents are ... but by the time they've grown up, their parents seem much smarter and better informed.

Also of something that happened in college. A bunch of were sitting around a table, mostly freshmen so they had not yet learned to avoid trying to boast. Well, one kid thought his SAT scores were good and boasted. The next guy HAD not been about to say anything, but wouldn't let that go. He just mentioned his scores, which were higher. He was the next one around the table clockwise, so we looked at the next guy in line. He had one "800". The next guy had more than one.

By the time we finished, NO ONE at that table was going to BOAST again.

There's always someone smarter.

Really smart people are modest, because they know there is LOTS more to know than they are ever likely to wrap their brains around in one lifetime.

Absolutely. It was nice to kind of shut my cousin's mouth in a sense & show him he's not the complete know it all. All these years of showing off is coming back to haunt him! I added more of the twig cross bracing, as you suggested.....