How to Make a DIY Tomato Cage The Way My Grandpa Taught Me

Are you sick of those super cheap tomato cages that you get at big box stores? You know, the ones that can barely hold up a pepper plant, let alone a tomato plant!

You are not alone. I totally hate them and will not use them for my tomatoes! Instead, I’ve got a better solution for you.

In this tutorial, I will teach you how to make an inexpensive DIY tomato cage that is quick to assemble and will last a lifetime! Whether you’re growing your first tomato plant or trying to get your biggest tomato harvest yet, you can use this homemade hack to support even the largest tomato plants without the drama and frustration store-bought cages bring.

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• How to Grow Tomatoes

• How to Prune Tomato Plants to Get Amazing Harvests

• How to Florida Weave Tomatoes With a DIY Tomato Trellis

• Expert Advice For Growing Tomatoes in Containers

• Why Do Tomatoes Split & How to Prevent It

• Controlling and Preventing the Tomato Hornworm 

• Why Tomato Plant Flowers Drop & How to Increase Fruit Set

Why Tomato Plants Need Support

It’s no secret that keeping tomato plants off the ground is one of the best things you can do for them. Growing them vertically promotes better air flow around the foliage, improves their health, and even reduces pests. 

That is why virtually all varieties of tomatoes will benefit from some kind of support. The best support method for your tomatoes will depend on the tomato variety you choose and your growing location.

The Problem With Store-Bought Tomato Cages

Ironically, store-bought tomato cages are terrible at supporting tomatoes! I have had some luck using them for other crops, but I will not use them for tomatoes ever again! 

When it comes to large indeterminate tomato varieties, those little cages simply don’t measure up! Indeterminates can keep growing and producing throughout the season, creating tall, sprawling plants that need a support system with plenty of height and strength; store-bought cages provide neither. Even determinate and semi-determinate varieties will often cause those flimsy cages to collapse or fall over under the weight. 

Advantages of Homemade Tomato Cages

Once you see how sturdy and effective these old-school DIY tomato cages are compared with the typical store-bought ones, you will probably never purchase one again. They can support large, heavy tomato plants all season long.

Here are some of the advantages of making DIY tomato cages:

• Strength - When you build your cages yourself, you can use strong, sturdy materials that will be ideal for supporting heavy producers. If you follow the tutorial below, you will absolutely have the most heavy-duty tomato cages you can get for that amount of money!

• Less Work - Good tomato cages reduce your workload by eliminating the need to continuously train and tie branches, which means less work for the gardener in the long run.

• Stability - This design has a wider base than store-bought tomato cages, which makes it more stable to help prevent tipping over.

• Customizable - You can customize the size of your tomato cage for the specific varieties of tomatoes you will be growing.

• Reusable - These tomato cages will last a lifetime and can be reused season after season, year after year.

When to Use DIY Tomato Cages

You can use this homemade tomato cage for any plants in your garden that need support, including dahlias, cucumbers, and eggplants. This design is primarily used for in-ground applications, but can absolutely be used in raised beds as well. 

When growing tomatoes in raised beds, I typically advocate using the single-stemming method to prune tomatoes and the staking method to support tomatoes because you’re planting more densely. But if you would rather use this caging style, just plan to space your tomato plants a little further apart at planting. I recommend planting 4 feet apart instead of the usual 2 feet apart.

Install the tomato cage directly after transplanting your young plants into the garden or soon after. This way, you don’t risk damaging the roots or branches when you put the cage around it.

Supplies Needed

If you’ve seen this method before, you probably never realized how cheap and simple it is! Once you have the supplies on hand, it only takes a few minutes to make a tomato cage. 

Gather the following supplies:

• Concrete Remesh - Concrete remesh is steel wires welded into a pre-formed grid of 6-inch by 6-inch squares. I recommend buying a 5-foot x 10-foot sheet of concrete remesh from a local building supply center. This will make two standard sized tomato cages or one extra-wide tomato cage. Pro-Tip: Do NOT get a wire fencing panel that has a smaller grid size. I promise you will regret that! The 6-inch by 6-inch grid on concrete mesh is far better for not restricting the plant and allowing the gardening to reach in to pick even large tomatoes.

• Bolt Cutters - A lot of building supply centers will cut the concrete remesh in half for you, or you can use your own bolt cutters at home.

• Pliers - You will need a pair of pliers to bend the wire.

• Safety Gear - Work gloves are very important to protect your hands from being scraped by the sharp metal edges of the remesh. Wearing protective eyewear is also a good idea.

How to Make a DIY Tomato Cage

Without further ado, here is how to make tomato cages the way my grandpa used to:

1. Cut - Use bolt cutters to cut the 10x5 sheet of concrete mesh in half right down the center, making two sheets with identical dimensions. Each half will make one tomato cage. Pro-Tip: If you want to make one extra-wide tomato cage instead of two regular-sized cages, cut a 1-foot section off the length to make a 9x5 sheet, then follow the directions below.
   

2. Trim End Off - Along what will be the bottom of the tomato cage, trim off the bottom horizontal wire, as seen in the image above. This should leave vertical wires that will essentially become the feet of the tomato cage that will poke into the ground and stabilize the cage. Pro-Tip: When you cut the concrete remesh, it will create sharp pieces of metal. That is why gloves are essential.

3. Bend Wires - Stand the concrete mesh on the “feet” you just created. Looking at the sides of the panel, you should see one smooth side that ends in a vertical wire, and the other side should have horizontal wires sticking out to the side. Using a pair of pliers, bend all of the horizontal wires that stick out the side into U-shaped hooks.

4. Hook Together - Hook the wires you just bent around the smooth vertical wire on the other side of the panel. This will create a cylindrical-shaped cage.

5. Pinch Hooks Closed - Using your pliers again, pinch each U-shaped hook closed around the wire it is hooked on so that it will not be able to pop apart.

6. Bend - Your tomato cage is finished! If it is in a weird tear-drop shape and you want it to be more cylindrical, simply lay it on its side with the tear-drop point facing up and push the point down to bend it into a nice, beautiful circle.