cages

This is a summary of what we learned from our 2001 tomato project in regards to tomato staking methods. We grew just over a hundred varieties of mostly heirloom tomatoes at the now closed University of California Bay Area Research and Extension Center facility in the City of Santa Clara.

Wire Mesh Cages

This method is composed of a series of reinforced cement wire mesh cylinders of graduated diameters. Cylinders vary by 6-inches in circumference to enable three or more cages to be nested one inside another for efficient storage purposes. Sizes range from 5’ – 7’ tall with mesh openings of 6-inch square. Cages are held together by bending over cut ends or tying with wire. Each cage can be anchored at its base by either a 4’ length of 1”x2” wooden stake, metal rod, t-stake, rebar including by cutting the cage’s horizontal wires and pushing remaining vertical wires into ground.