Of all the plants I grow in my edible garden, I have to say, my favorite are tomatoes! But, I don’t love the constant challenge of trying to keep them supported as they get really tall and wild. Yes, I’ve tried just about everything, but nothing worked well enough and at the same time, looked good enough in the garden for my taste…until now. Meet the ultimate tomato cage!
My ah-ha moment came as I was looking for more uses for those incredibly versatile livestock panels. I use them all around the garden, for supporting vining crops like cucumbers and peas, keeping my goats from eating some of my plants and one of my favorite uses, setting them on top of the beds at planting time for a handy grid template.
One of my favorite uses of these versatile panels is for my planting templates.
So why not use them for supporting tomatoes too? They meet all 7 of my criteria for what it takes to be considered the ultimate tomato cage: sturdy, tall enough, wide enough, rust resistant, attractive, storable, and long lasting.
You get livestock panels at the farm and tractor supply stores. Each one is 16 feet long and just over 4 feet wide. They’re made of galvanized metal and super sturdy.
Although I’m sure I didn’t invent this method for supporting tomatoes, I’ve never seen it in use, so my design is just what evolved through trial and error and settling on the ideal size for me. These panels are large enough to adapt to almost any size you prefer.
In my case, I get one complete cage at the height and width I like, with some pieces left over that I can use elsewhere in the garden. That way, the entire panel gets used with no waste. While you might consider the cost of a livestock panel at $20 a bit expensive for a single tomato cage, considering that these will last for years and with all the usable excess pieces, I think it’s a very good deal.
You just need two things to make these cages. One livestock panel for each cage (select the panel style that has a grid pattern approximately 6 inches square). You also need a pair of bolt cutters. My pair cost about $22 at Home Depot and well worth it. I tried a smaller pair but found they made my the palms of my hands sore after a short while of cutting. For the small difference in price and a one-time purchase, the larger size is well worth it.
Here are the steps on how I make the Ultimate Tomato Cage:
1. Place one full livestock panel on a flat surface. A driveway works well. Using a complete panel, count across the width so you have six complete squares and cut away the rest, all the way down the length of the panel.
Large bolt cutters and a flat surface make for quick work.
2. With the width of the long panel now reduced to 6 squares, I count down from one end nine squares, and cut all the way across, just above the horizontal piece at the bottom of this ninth square.
With the width of the original panel reduced to the desired size, now it’s time to cut for the desired height.
I prefer the bottom of this panel to have long vertical pieces that can be driven extra deep into the soil to serve as the anchoring stakes. If you choose this extra deep option, then cut away the horizontal pieces one level up at the 8th square also (the equivalent of two squares deep) as shown below.
Cut away the horizontal pieces, between the vertical pieces. This leaves long spikes to anchor each panel in the soil.
3. I then repeat step 2, starting from the other end of the original panel and count down nine squares. Once you cut across this piece, you now have three remaining pieces. The middle piece is now a nice sized panel with many versatile uses in and around the garden.
The two remaining pieces are what will make up your cage support.
4. Place one of the sections under a piece of straight lumber at least as long as the panel so that three squares are showing against the straight edge of the lumber. I like to have the panel facing up, so the long vertical rib is resting against the edge of the wood edge. This serves as a good guide and support as you bend up the panel from the outside edge towards you until you get a 90-degree angle.
The edge of a board serves as a good anchor for leverage and a straight guide for bending the panel towards you.
Then simply repeat this process for the other panel.
5. Stand the panels, so the lose spike ends are facing up. Take a second to straighten each one so when they are set in place in the soil, they all go in evenly.
Taking a few seconds to straighten the ends will make inserting them into the soil much easier.
Now it’s simply a matter of inserting them in the garden bed around each plant so that when both panels are installed, they form a square cage with the plant centered in the middle.
With straight spikes as the anchors, both panels should match up nearly perfectly.
A final but optional step to make it tidy is to secure each piece together with small cable ties. I use 4-inch ties, one at the top, one in the middle and one towards the bottom of each seam. This holds the panels firmly together and gives added stability and a seamless, solid look.
The tomato plants adapt beautifully while growing into their new homes.
That’s all there is to it. These cages are super sturdy, tall enough and just wide enough so as not to crowd the plant but still leave ample room for other cages in the bed. However, if you prefer even a taller or wider cage, a single panel in its original size allows for both.
At the end of the season, cut away the cable ties, separate the panels and stack them in a neat pile until the next time, and for many years after that.
So what do you think? Do you like? How would you improve upon this? I would love to put all the brainpower out there to work. I’m anxious to hear your thoughts!
Links & Resources
Episode 003: Growing Epic Tomatoes with Craig LeHoullier
Episode 005: What’s Wrong With My Tomato? Mid-Season Care With Craig LeHoullier
joegardener Blog: When is the Best Time to Pick a Tomato?
joegardener Video Blog: How to Top Tomatoes – What to do When Tomato Plants Get Too Tall
joegardener Video Blog: Sunscald-What Happens when Tomatoes are Overexposed
Growing a Greener World® Blog: Meet the Ultimate Tomato Cage Support
8 Responses to “The Ultimate Tomato Cage in 5 Simple Steps”
Interesting. What size is that wire material for your cages, again? You said the panels are 16′ long and 4′ wide, and to use 1 panel per cage. Well, if I tip it one way, my cage would be 1′ wide on each side, and 16′ tall!! The other way would be 4′ wide per side and 4′ tall!! Could you be a little more specific on the details, please?
The part you’re missing is that the original panel is cut into two pieces that make up the finished cage, with an additional piece that can be used to make a second, smaller cage (for peppers,etc.). As I wrote in the post and demonstrated in the video, you have to cut the large panel down into the two main pieces which are combined to form each cage.
LOL! Man, do I feel silly! Thanks for responding!
Interesting. What size is that wire material for your cages, again? You said the panels are 16′ long and 4′ wide, and to use 1 panel per cage. Well, if I tip it one way, my cage would be 1′ wide on each side, and 16′ tall!! The other way would be 4′ wide per side and 4′ tall!! Could you be a little more specific on the details, please?
The part you’re missing is that the original panel is cut into two pieces that make up the finished cage, with an additional piece that can be used to make a second, smaller cage (for peppers,etc.). As I wrote in the post and demonstrated in the video, you have to cut the large panel down into the two main pieces which are combined to form each cage.
Its a wonderful idea, is there a better way to be doing this on a larger scale though. My husband & I have farmed organically on a small scale for 20+ years, in November of last year we bought an 83+ acre organic farm in the finger lakes region of NY. Trying to find a way to stake a variety of different size tomato, eggplant and pepper plants (about 400 plants). I thought about using long panels staked with rebar, we have wind usually from the north-west off the great lakes. The wind would push the plants into the panels, they could be tied to them and either bamboo or rebar could be used on the open side for additional support. I thought this may give the added benefit of open area for picking. If we were growing all the same tomatoes, say a determinate variety like Rutgers, I would probably use wood stakes and twine all the way down the row, but we wanted variety for the farm stand & farmers markets and some of the indeterminate types are huge, I cant see making a cage for every plant. Is there a better way?
Hi Amy. I agee. While it would take a lot of expense and work up front, it’s one and done from there on out. I’m not sure many cages seems practical. In my many farm visits around the country where vast amounts of tomato plants are growing, the Florida Weave seems to be the most practical and widely used method when growing many plants. Although I do like you idea of running complete panels along rows and securing each end with a sturdy support. I have seen that option as well on occasion. Good luck.
Thank you for your reply! This gives us an added option, we found another method that seems to be used as well although I’m not sure how organic this would be considered even though the material is inert. Finnmeadowsfarm.com has a page titled “Our Favorite Way to Trellis Lots of Tomatoes” and they describe how they trellis using horticultural netting with use electric fence insulators for t-posts. This may be a better way for our big ramblers, and also a good option for the cukes. Have you ever seen it in use this way? They seem to believe that it is a better for air flow and picking, although we would need to buy more metal posts & insulators as well as the netting.
Hey Amy. I have seem this system in use. I’m sure it works well. That plastic is tough stuff! Full disclosure, I have never done either method in large scale (or the plastic ever).
My two-cents is just this – the Florida Weave method is very easy to implement, although you have to come back every so often to add the next layer of weave. But at the end of the season, there’s no issue with storage and dealing with all that plastic netting. Maybe not a big deal at all. Just thinking it through. I’m sure if you fully considered both options you’d have pros and cons of each.
Perhaps you try both methods during the same growing season and evaluate at the end of the season. That’s what I would do. Good luck.
Its a wonderful idea, is there a better way to be doing this on a larger scale though. My husband & I have farmed organically on a small scale for 20+ years, in November of last year we bought an 83+ acre organic farm in the finger lakes region of NY. Trying to find a way to stake a variety of different size tomato, eggplant and pepper plants (about 400 plants). I thought about using long panels staked with rebar, we have wind usually from the north-west off the great lakes. The wind would push the plants into the panels, they could be tied to them and either bamboo or rebar could be used on the open side for additional support. I thought this may give the added benefit of open area for picking. If we were growing all the same tomatoes, say a determinate variety like Rutgers, I would probably use wood stakes and twine all the way down the row, but we wanted variety for the farm stand & farmers markets and some of the indeterminate types are huge, I cant see making a cage for every plant. Is there a better way?
The part you’re missing is that the original panel is cut into two pieces that make up the finished cage, with an additional piece that can be used to make a second, smaller cage (for peppers,etc.). As I wrote in the post and demonstrated in the video, you have to cut the large panel down into the two main pieces which are combined to form each cage.
Hi Amy. I agee. While it would take a lot of expense and work up front, it’s one and done from there on out. I’m not sure many cages seems practical. In my many farm visits around the country where vast amounts of tomato plants are growing, the Florida Weave seems to be the most practical and widely used method when growing many plants. Although I do like you idea of running complete panels along rows and securing each end with a sturdy support. I have seen that option as well on occasion. Good luck.
Thank you for your reply! This gives us an added option, we found another method that seems to be used as well although I’m not sure how organic this would be considered even though the material is inert. Finnmeadowsfarm.com has a page titled “Our Favorite Way to Trellis Lots of Tomatoes” and they describe how they trellis using horticultural netting with electric fence insulators for t-posts. This may be a better way for our big ramblers, and also a good option for the cukes. Have you ever seen it in use this way? They seem to believe that it is a better for air flow and picking, although we would need to buy more metal posts & insulators as well as the netting.
Hey Amy. I have seem this system in use. I’m sure it works well. That plastic is tough stuff! Full disclosure, I have never done either method in large scale (or the plastic ever).
My two-cents is just this – the Florida Weave method is very easy to implement, although you have to come back every so often to add the next layer of weave. But at the end of the season, there’s no issue with storage and dealing with all that plastic netting. Maybe not a big deal at all. Just thinking it through. I’m sure if you fully considered both options you’d have pros and cons of each.
Perhaps you try both methods during the same growing season and evaluate at the end of the season. That’s what I would do. Good luck.
LOL! Man, do I feel silly! Thanks for responding!
Thanks for the idea of using the bolt cutter. I have been using a sawzall and find it very difficult. I will put the bolt cutter on my home depot list.
This is a great idea but very costly – galvanized cattle panels here in northern Ohio run over $20 each and they’d make just one support as they are only eight feet long and my tomatoes need about two feet across. I purchased a whole roll of concrete mesh from Lowes for about $130, spray painted it black (as I’m not a fan of the rust look) and cut it into pieces of 12 squares-wide lengths (or 72″ x 60″) using bolt cutters. I cut it in such a way that the last square of the 72″ section leaves a “leg” and that is bent to hold the whole thing into a circle form. I also cut away the bottom ring which leaves six inches to stick into the ground and, because it’s very balanced in weight, that has easily held tomatoes that have grown well over 6′ – even in high winds (I come from the Columbia River area of Washington/Oregon and the winds were really strong which is why it’s the windsurfing capital of the US). I’ve even tied on additional two foot lengths at the top and it’s stayed up though sometimes I do have to trim the tomatoes when they get that tall or I can’t get through the garden as they will grow sideways to the next cage. At the end of the season, I just bend back those pieces and lay it all flat until the next growing year and I usually detach the extensions so it’s all in one neat pile for winter. One roll of remesh makes 25 tomato cages that are 5′ tall and about 2 feet across but I had some cages so this year I still had plenty of wire to make pea, bean, and berry/grape trellises too. I’ve used this heavy mesh for about 20 years and the only thing that has happened is that some of the wire “legs” have broken off from repeatedly bending them season after season, and so for those cages I use zip ties to hold them in a circle though most still have enough of the wire to hold them. I do like that the cattle panels don’t rust as the remesh needs to be repainted every five years or so, and the spray paint for the whole roll was fairly costly – about $60, but to make the same amount of supports with cattle panels would have cost me close to $500 dollars which would have negated the whole reason I garden which is to eat organic food for a low cost.
That’s a great option and widely popular. I’ve used this system for years as well. But as you said, I’m not a fan of the rusty round cages and I don’t like working with that wire.After 5 years of using my cattle panel style of cage, they are as good as new and stack neatly in a very small footprint off-season.I expect to get a lifetime of use from each cage. So if you assume a 20 year life per cage (and I get 2 cages per panel because I use the leftover pieces to make a pepper cage or for dwarf tomatoes) the cost per year per cage is fifty-cents. While the upfront cost can be hefty, the long term value is fantastic for growing organic food inexpensively.
Joe, I thought you suggest putting the cattle panels over raised bed gardens to keep rabbits and squirrels out of the plants. Did remember that correctly?
yes! The cattle panels have 1001 uses. lay them flat over your raised beds to deter digging critters and cats. Or make cages out of them like this video show. That’s my favorite application. But there are many Clifford!
How about rabbits? Will it help keep them from eating lettuces? I am a brand new gardener. Last year I lost all of my lettuce to the rabbits so I put up a fence which worked. But then the squires climbed over the fence and ate the roots of most of my other plants. I have been told that putting ground cyan pepper down will keep both out. Is that true?
No it won’t. The openings in the panels are too wide to stop rabbits. You need poultry / chicken wire around your plants that you want to protect from rabbits. or even hardware cloth with 1″ square openings. The livestock / cattle / goat panels are for larger critters as protection and best for using to support plants.
I thought so. How about the ground up hot peppers for the squirrels. Does that work?.
Joe, i have been so intrigued with all of these. I am a just jumping into serious gardening and I’ve been loving your podcasts and Youtube content. so very helpful. I find myself asking questions in my head as I’m listening and lo’ and behold, you bring up my question very shortly after i think of it almost word for word and answer it. Every time! Thanks for all the educational and fun content.I am looking at these tomato cages and I love the idea! I have piles of these on my farm from an old fence. I’m wondering why you wouldn’t you just cut “short” way 6 squares a piece. then you wouldn’t have to cut “length” wise plus you’d get 2 cages from one panel. Maybe I’m missing something though as I’m sure you have a reason! Thanks!
Thank you Branden! So glad you are enjoying all of the content. And really glad you’re getting your questions answered.
As for the cut question, I probably not understanding it correctly but I determined for my raised beds and need to get 4 cages so that determined the width of each panel to make it work. But really it’s what works best for you. So if how you do it is a good fit, that’s the right thing. I do know there are a number of ways to make this work. For me, I like the height and width of each one as the fit in the beds and I do get a second, shorter panel that works great for my peppers and eggplants.
I love this! Question: do the 6” openings still allow you enough access to prune the plants? I usually trim the lowest branches and then other greenery later to enable air to flow through the plant to keep blight at bay as long as possible. Thank-you for sharing with us!
Glad you like this Sheila. And yes, absolutely those 6″openings are plenty big for pruning. I’ve got my hands in there pruning and removing diseased foliage and branches all the time and it is never an issue.
Hi Joe – First time here. Think i will subscribe. I have a question. How far apart do you space your caged Determinate tomatoes? Also how far apart do you space your caged Indeterminate tomatoes?
Hi Alan. I space both indeterminate and determinate tomatoes 3 ft apart. That allows cages to 36″ apart when I can. 30″ works too but the more room I can provide between plants for light and air circulation is a plus to cut down on diseases and improve production.
Hi Joe, We want to make tomato cages using cattle panel however cannot seem to find cattle panel with 6 x 6 openings if this is what we need. HELP please and thank you.Debbie
The openings are 6×8
Hi, Debbie. As Brandi noted below, the openings are roughly 6×8. This panel is $23 at Tractor Supply and they stock a lot of these. It usually goes by the name “livestock” panels. But I think it should be the only one priced around $23. They are 16′ long and a little under 5′ wide I think.