[MissMagnolia]

I only had 6 tomato plants last year and I scrounged up 6 cages that my mom wasn’t using. My plants grew ‘great guns’ and ended up collapsing the cages .... quite a mess! I laughed when I saw the rebar .... hadn’t thought about using something like that, but for sure, it won’t bend or break!!

One more question .... what do you use to tie the tomato plants to the rebar?

[JustaDumbBlonde]

"One more question .... what do you use to tie the tomato plants to the rebar?"

I use a velcro tape to tie the plants to the rebar. It is reuseable from year to year. I am going on year 4 with some of the pieces.

You can see the new rolls, as well as the bundle of used pieces. I've also cut up old pantyhose to use as a tie. They do allow for plant growth without cutting the stems. If you cut your velcro long enough to start with, you can simply loosen it as the plant grows.

[JustaDumbBlonde]

For me, tomato cages ended up being nothing more than a perch for the birds that enabled them to ruin ever tomato they could reach. I haven’t had a bit of damage by birds since changing to rebar! My tomato cages always bent and collapsed or fell over. They are okay for smaller varieties of peppers though.