Build Your Own Sturdy Tomato Cage

You need heavy-duty cages because you're going to grow big tomato plants. Those little funnel-shaped cages at the garden center collapse under the weight of a serious harvest. Build your own that will outlast you.

What You Need

Go to the Building Materials section at Lowe's or Home Depot. Look for concrete mesh wire (also called concrete reinforcing wire or remesh). It comes flat in 3½ x 7 foot sheets.

Buy 2 sheets. Each sheet makes one 7-foot tall cage.

Note: You can also buy 150-foot rolls of concrete mesh wire, which makes 25-30 cages—way too many for most people unless you're outfitting a neighborhood.

How to Build

1. Make the first cylinder
Roll one 3½ x 7 foot sheet into a cylinder standing 3½ feet tall. Make the diameter about 2 feet—roughly 12 squares around the circumference. You'll have extra wire that overlaps, which gives you flexibility to make it bigger if you want.

Use zip ties to hold it together in a circle. Make a second cylinder the same way.

2. Stack them
Stack one cylinder on top of the other so you have a cage about 12 squares around and 7 feet tall. Zip tie the two together where they meet. Clip off the zip tie tails.

Done. You now have one cage: 7 feet tall, 2 feet in diameter. Perfect size for any tomato variety.

Why These Work

These cages are heavy-duty and will probably outlive you. They don't bend, they don't collapse, and they handle the weight of massive harvests.

Little funnel-shaped cages only work for small plants. If you intend to grow big tomatoes—and there's no reason you can't—you need serious cages.

Supporting Heavy Vines

For heavy-producing beefsteak varieties like Better Boy or Big Beef, use zip ties to secure vines to the cage wires. This supports the weight of the fruit.

One healthy plant might have 8-18 vines. A single vine could carry 8-15 tomatoes weighing five to eight pounds total. Without support, that weight collapses vines to the ground.

In the photos above, you can see white zip ties holding vines to the cage wires. Simple and effective.

Questions?

If you have trouble or questions making your own, email me at [email protected].

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Next Steps

Learn the growing fundamentals →
Choose the right soil →
Browse varieties to grow →

Dave Freed / The Tomato Guy