If you are planting tomatoes in the garden you will also want to create your own tomato cages to help support the plants as they grow. The reason tomato cages are used is as they mature they become very top heavy with many arms growing off of the plant and then with the addition of the tomatoes themselves growing in, the top can start to pull the plant downward. The goal of the tomato cages is to support all of the upper body and the arms as the tomatoes grow in. This helps ensure you get a healthier crop and are very easy to build on your own. Once built, you can reuse your own tomato cages each year to save money and time.

• To get started in building your own tomato cages you need a wire mesh roll, wire cutters and pliers.
• Roll out two to four feet of mesh and clip it free from the rest of the roll
• Take the ends and using your pliers bend in the metal from each edge to connect the ends forming a circle out of the metal
• Now place a steak in the ground along the stem of your plant and hammer it gently into the ground
• Lower your circle of mesh around the plant
• Use string to secure the plant to the steak and the tomato cage as needed

These are very simple to create and each year you can store them off as they are or undo where you connected the tomato cages so that they lie flat and can be piled for easier storage.

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