How to Make a DIY Tomato Cage: Easy, Sturdy, and Cheap!

Come learn how to make a simple, sturdy, inexpensive DIY tomato cage using panels of remesh wire. They're really easy to make, and way larger, more durable, and affordable than pre-made tomato cages you can buy. We've been using ours for years!
This video will show you how to make a large DIY tomato cage, including the supplies you need, tips for installing and using the DIY tomato cages, and a few modifications you can make to the design. For instance, you can double-stack two cages to make an extra-tall tomato cage, perfect for supporting wily indeterminate varieties. Have fun, and keep on growing!
SUPPLIES, LINKS & RESOURCES
Concrete remesh panels: homedepot.sjv.io/LP19aM
Coated garden wire (plant ties): www.amazon.com/dp/B0055F53DO/...
Good affordable bolt cutters: homedepot.sjv.io/LPdaXL
6 Ways to Support Tomatoes (covers cages, trellises, Florida Weave, lower & lean system, and more): homesteadandchill.com/train-s...
How to Make a DIY Tomato Cage (written version with photos): homesteadandchill.com/how-to-...
How to Grow Organic Tomatoes (seed to table grow guide, including pests and plant care): homesteadandchill.com/how-to-...
Simple & Delicious Roasted Tomato Sauce Recipe (freezer friendly): homesteadandchill.com/simple-...
How to Freeze Tomatoes (plus tips to defrost and use): homesteadandchill.com/freeze-...
Please see our our website for even more garden and modern homesteading tutorials, recipes and more: homesteadandchill.com/
Follow on Instagram: / deannacat3

[@marcellacoblentz8433]

Just found your channel and it is one of the very best I have seen. You are clear, concise and no nonsense with the absolute best information!

[@HomesteadandChill]

Thank you so much for the kind words and we are glad you found us!

[@user-cq3qm4ps3z]

I made cages similar to this 20 years ago, and have used them every year since. I think the sheets of re-mesh were 10 feet x 5 feet. Here is a tip: put a garden post/stake into the soil, wire-tie the cage to the post/stake so that its bottom is about 10 inches above the ground. This gives the cage a taller height and it also makes it much easier to weed; you can use a hoe without having interference from the cage resting on the ground.

[@HomesteadandChill]

Thanks for sharing that tip!

[@raylee5860]

These look really strong. I'm excited to try them out! I also just realized that the remesh would work for the arch top of my cattle panel arches, as cattle panel is too hard to bend. Thank you!

[@maewoodbury7824]

Enjoyed watching the variety of flowers and produce.

[@shawnafrazer9198]

Great video! Can’t wait for a garden tour video!!

[@cathyscreationandvlog4224]

This is just what I need ! 😍 Thank you for the tutorial.

[@maewoodbury7824]

It is also amazing the number of fruit trees you have, looks so delicious.

[@ravins1026]

Thank you so much for this video, I have been looking for a DIY tomato cage that is affordable. I will be trying this soon.

[@kushcraft9914]

👍 beautiful property, thanks for sharing 🌹

[@kimwalter1269]

Here in Aus tomato caged are so expensive!! This was a fantastic video thank you so much for showing such an easy and inexpensive alternative!

[@timventura]

EXACTLY what I was looking for. Thank you !!!

[@HomesteadandChill]

So great to hear, have fun growing!

[@feliciabrasuell1997]

Thanks for sharing. I will be making one these

[@Danieexo]

Thank you so much for the detailed video!!!!

[@HomesteadandChill]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@adk4419]

Great video. I think it’s been a cool spring for lots of us. Would love to see a video of everything you planted in those gorgeous boxes. 🇨🇦

[@HomesteadandChill]

Thank you! I shared a "Garden Reveal" video about a month ago that gave a closer look at the beds - but the plants were far smaller, and a lot of new ones have been added since. So yes, I will definitely do an updated walkabout soon! It's actually been fairly chilly for May here too, we had to cover the tomatoes, squash, peppers and eggplant with frost cloth all this week! Thanks again for tuning in.

[@kimbermountains7464]

Excellent! Gonna do this!!

[@HomesteadandChill]

Absolutely! We do it for our determinate tomatoes every year and we will be adding a video shortly of a tomato trellising/training system that we are now using for our indeterminate tomatoes if you are interested. Good luck and have fun growing!

[@meltemtuna2134]

Wonderful educative videos. Thank you!

[@HomesteadandChill]

Thank you so much!

[@courtneyrenegar4329]

Great video! This would make such a great cage; gonna give it a try this year. I mean, if it ever warms up here in the PNW.

[@HomesteadandChill]

Thanks for watching, and let us know how it goes! My mom is up in the Snohomish WA area, and says it's been pouring for 10 days straight! Well... at least things will be lush and green! :) Have a great season ahead.

[@racquelclark7659]

Same! I’m in Idaho and I’m anxiously waiting for warmer temps and so is my garden!

[@kikisoaps6544]

Thank you for sharing this information I'm just starting to go tomatoes after years of not gardening.

[@HomesteadandChill]

That's great to hear and have fun in the garden!

[@smile30981]

Great video and thanks for sharing the links for other methods to support tomatoes. My Florida weave wasn't that successful last year (I'm guilty of not consistently weaving as the plants grew and the wire was too thin - sliced through a stem!) so I think I'll experiment and make a couple of cages too. Thank you!!

[@HomesteadandChill]

Sounds great! We usually bounce around with different approaches each year but a tomato cage is simple and it works great.

[@ttkeeler]

Field Fence wire also works very well and is easy to make into a round cylinder. I have been using them for many years.

[@HomesteadandChill]

Good suggestion!

[@GymFitMe]

Awesome idea thank you! Your Garden is above and beyond awesome! had to watch the video a couple times. Kept focusing on all the great ideas in your garden. lol

[@HomesteadandChill]

Thank you so much, we have since moved to a larger property as we ran out of space but we definitely had to be creative gardening on a smaller plot.

[@GymFitMe]

@@HomesteadandChill Well congrats on the upgrade! 😃Hope your garden thrives and stays as happy, safe and healthy as you and and your family!

[@HomesteadandChill]

@@GymFitMe Thank you so much, the same to you as well!

[@nelsonaguiar4361]

Awesome idea

[@FayeFossay]

Awesome! Can't wait to try this for my tomato plants this year! Thank YOU! Curious... what is your favourite tomato plant for toasted tomato sandwiches?!

[@HomesteadandChill]

I would say Costoluto Fiorentino or Costoluto Genovese. We would love to grow a few other big heirloom varieties but our summers are fairly mild so we typically grow more medium sized tomatoes, 4-8 ounce fruit seem to do well for us but I would love to be able to grow some 14 ounce Pineapple tomatoes or something similar. Have fun growing!

[@andrewkliss274]

Very informative and complete DIY vid! Thank you for offering one of the best DIY tomato cage tutorials I've watched. 👍

[@marissahovenstine2141]

Thanks for the great video! Curious to know if those are solar lights or something else in the raised beds?

[@HomesteadandChill]

They are solar lights, here is a link if you are interested. www.amazon.com/dp/B07BHH2R76?linkCode=ssc&tag=a05d7b40-20&creativeASIN=B07BHH2R76&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.2MO9V238VVCG9&ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d_asin

[@cherylwooden9983]

Just priced the mesh at both Home Depot and Lowes - $24 a panel. Sigh....... I'm in Central Oregon.

[@HomesteadandChill]

Price on the concrete remesh has gone up over the past few years, pricing on construction materials can fluctuate quite a bit from year to year. You can use single stakes and use the Florida Weave system for for training. We have a video on a DIY tomato trellis system that you could modify to using stakes only without the wood frame.

[@6z_0]

❤️.

[@ginobass66]

Another great video. I already have tomato cages with extensions but I was wondering if these will work with pepper plants. Both my cayenne and Jimmy Nardello plants every year grow to almost tomato heights. thank you!!!! gino

[@HomesteadandChill]

Wow, those are some big pepper plants! You can absolutely use them for peppers, you can overlap them a few squares to make a cage with less width if needed.

[@ginobass66]

@@HomesteadandChill Thanks Deanna, you were right the prices have more than doubled. $20-$25 per sheet Home Depot and Lowes. Suburbs Philadelphia area. I have around 20 pepper plants. Yikes!!!

[@HomesteadandChill]

@@ginobass66 You can always look for alternatives, since your peppers get so large, is a sturdy single stake not enough to hold them upright? You can always try the Florida Weave support system which is more labor intensive but should be cheaper overall. Check out our article on different tomato support methods if you are interested. homesteadandchill.com/train-support-tomatoes/

[@ginobass66]

@@HomesteadandChill Thanks Deanna, I’ve used stakes but not only are the peppers tall they are very bushy so I have to use multiple stakes per plant. I top all plants before planting in raised bed and as scary as it was the first time the results are insane. I think your homemade cage would be the perfect solution I just need to find an affordable place to get the sheets. A friend said you can buy rolls instead of single sheets which might be affordable way to go. Thank you!!!! gino

[@HomesteadandChill]

@@ginobass66 Sounds like a good idea, best of luck to you this season.

[@windberbrandt8575]

Thank you for posting. I love the idea, but I do patio tomato gardening and I believe my "pots" are too small to use remesh. What exactly were you using as the support posts?

[@HomesteadandChill]

The support posts on the cages are just steel garden stakes that you can find at most nurseries. If your pots are too small, you could use the Florida weave system which would entail a bit more pruning but it could keep your patio space and tomatoes more tidy. We have another video on DIY tomato trellis which you could likely execute with 3 garden stakes and twine, you just selectively prune suckers to only keep a few main ones growing upwards within the twine and trellis system. Hope that helps and have fun growing!

[@windberbrandt8575]

@@HomesteadandChill Thank you so much!

[@danyellemitchell9503]

How do you guide the up? Do you just lay it on a higher wire?

[@HomesteadandChill]

We just keep pushing the limbs in and up towards the top of the cage, once it reaches the top of the cage, the limbs will just start to spill out over the top or you can add an additional cage to the original one with a foot or so overlap between the two if you want to create an even taller cage. Last season we trained our indeterminate tomatoes similar to a Florida weave mixed with the single stake method. We hope to share the set up in another video before the season starts.

[@mr.ganja42O]

Wonder if chicken wire would work bc that's what I have that's similar rn

[@HomesteadandChill]

The holes in chicken wire aren't large enough to fit your hand through to start harvesting tomatoes. Chicken wire is also too flimsy to stand up on its own so you would need to create a frame for it to stick to using bamboo, wood, or rebar stakes.

[@frogsofindia]

Making these tomato cages now. I planted my tomatoes and basil a few weeks ago and my tomatoes are doing fine, but my basil leaves have fallen off and the stems have turned black :( I wonder if it's all this extra cold, rainy weather we've been having in the Seattle area.

[@HomesteadandChill]

I think the cold and wet weather has something to do with it for sure. Could even be a fungal disease but basil definitely likes warm weather. May be better off getting some fresh basil seedlings from your local nursery once the weather warms a bit.

[@duanehundley]

These unfortunately contain lead. I use to use them but this year I'm trying 10' 3/4" conduit with maker pipe connectors.

[@HomesteadandChill]

I'd be interested to see where you saw that confirmed. I've done a lot of research and haven't seen anything conclusive about lead in these, just maybe a small amount in the solder/welded joints, but since this stuff is all above ground rather than below soil and we get virtually zero precipitation in the summer, there is essentially no way for it to get into the soil. Even if it did rain more here, I wouldn't be overly concerned. Especially since compost and worms are FANTASTIC and remediating contaminants in the soil, heavy metals included. I'd honestly say there is more risk for toxins involved in buying soil and compost

[@duanehundley]

@@HomesteadandChill I bought them at Home Depot and on the price tag it says contains lead.

[@HomesteadandChill]

@@duanehundley ah! Yes probably just the solder. Are you in CA too by chance? Sounds like a prop 65 thing, damn near everything gets a label 🤪

[@duanehundley]

@@HomesteadandChill I am in CA. Solder is lead free now and harder to work with in my opinion. I did like the cages but my tomatoes grew taller than two of them stacked together. I'm hoping the 10' tall emt conduit will be tall enough and if not I will have to use the lean and lower method. Your garden looks great and I will be waiting to see it come along this summer. I only have space for 1 25x3' raised bed

[@Robinicat]

Interetsing...but how do you keep squirrels and raccoons from eating your tomatoes?

[@HomesteadandChill]

We actually don't have tree squirrels in our location and for some reason we never have issues with raccoons either (although we have plenty of those).

[@shashipatel6885]

yeahh.. at 20$ a sheet for the remesh this isn't that cheap anymore.

[@user-ki9um4ju9d]

These are now $20/each at Home Depot. Highway robbery. At that price, might as well just get cattle panel fencing.

[@mrobvious1100]

Tomato cages cost $3.99 and $5.99 what am I missing

[@HomesteadandChill]

The cages you can find that are that inexpensive can't really handle a full grown tomato plant in my experience. They seem like they are more fit for peppers or eggplants versus full sized tomato plants. Yet, if you have access to tomato cages that are that cheap and work well for you, that's great to hear.

[@maiadanna3288]

Hi Deanna! Would companion plants (basil, marigolds) go on the outside of the cage? Wondering because there seems to be enough space inside, but maybe the plants need more airflow. Thanks! Your garden is an absolute dream. 🌿🤍

[@HomesteadandChill]

Hey there! I would put them outside. Did you see the image I added at 0:32? That was still early in the season, and you can see how filled the cages were already! Our cages are always very full and even overflowing, no room for other plants inside. Enjoy!