Tomato Cages?

[medicineman420]

Anybody ever use tomato cages for support what do you think.....pros and cons

 

thx later

[continuobrisa]

I used them in my first grow. They work.

 

I have change to a single support "pole" structure that the plant is gently tied to. I am currently using bamboo poles about 5 ft. tall. I also have used winter driveway markers, the 4ft. and 6ft. sizes. I like this "pole" technique much better.

[jessiejamez]

I've always wanted to grow a plant in one of those hanging, tomato upside down things.

[Topshelf]

I just ordered custom cages from my hydroponics retailer's catalogue.

 

Custom...meaning I measured my ladies' overall height and then picked these really nice 30" tall, 18" diameter (top), tomato cages. They are going to work beautifully.

 

I have modified a number of tomato cages over the years including collapsable 'square' cages, and regular 54" tomato cages with 4-5 rings.

 

I am really looking forward to the ones I just ordered.

 

Good luck. And get them NOW if you are going to get them. There is nothing harder to find from August-March than tomato cages!!! :-)

 

Peace.Love.And support the flowers!

[BubbleBerryKush]

they work if you use them from the start, they dont offer much support once your plants get bushy, but they do offer up a lot of locations to tie branches to

[MIMEDGROW]

They are expandable and in my opinion the best plant support on the market

 

 

http://www.epinions.com/reviews/Panacea_Panacea_Plant_Support_25_Each_89730

[Kingdiamond]

Anybody ever use tomato cages for support what do you think.....pros and cons

 

thx later

They work awesome from what i hear and from journals ive seen them used in .

[ToadInCan]

I would have to echo what BBK said. They seemed great, right up til the last four weeks of flower. Once the buds got heavy, the cages wouldn't stand straight under the weight. I came in one morning and half the plants had done the domino thing. Great support for the peripheral branches though, until the buds start packing. Maybe try incorporating both a pole and a cage. Let us know how it works out for you.

[Frank R]

I would have to echo what BBK said. They seemed great, right up til the last four weeks of flower. Once the buds got heavy, the cages wouldn't stand straight under the weight. I came in one morning and half the plants had done the domino thing. Great support for the peripheral branches though, until the buds start packing. Maybe try incorporating both a pole and a cage. Let us know how it works out for you.

Yah, I had been thinking about them cages.

My biggest concern for failure was the Domino Effect.

Them cages are heavy metal, and its tight quarters in the grow room.

To prevent the Domino Effect, you have to take all load off the plant, and have the cage attached to a heavy base to provide counter balance.

Tooling time and cost seemed prohibitive.

I've been having good success recently with those 5 tier plactic shelves Meijer sells for about $50.

I only use two shelves to make a plant stand that holds two plants, and provides 4 post holes for 4 6' foot plant stakes.

I use binding wire to wrap around the stakes to create a cage, and then can tie the stalks directly to the stakes for vertical support.

I've also modded so the run off goes through a hole in the top shelf to a catch pail on the lower shelf.

Just need to come up with a good high-value low-cost caster solution.

Got to keep costs down wherever possible

[shishka]

Tie the top of the cage to the ceiling. can't tip over.

[peanutbutter]

If you have an outdoor caged grow, then you would probably have a roof on it.

 

If you have a wire fence roof then the cages can be attached upside down from the roof.

[1337Gr33n]

great wisdom, OD. thanks.