Honestly. If I could be in the garden all day, learning from those with experience- I would be oh so delighted. Tomatoes are a hot item in the Andres’ Community Garden this season. Ranging from Heirloom tomatoes, Early Girl, Big Boy, Big Girl, Beef Master, Beef Stake, Roma Tomatoes, Cherry, and more.
A heirloom tomato plant, with homemade PVC cage
At the garden, I am learning things need to be done efficiently and sustainably. Although wire cages are relatively cheap they are subject to corrosion, usually too small for the indeterminate tomatoes, and tend to bend and topple over in strong winds. Consider the longevity of the homemade PVC cage versus a wire cage. It is durable, easily stored, and recyclable. Putting the sustainability points aside, these tomato cages are excellent for letting your plant climb so it can produce an abundant harvest. The indeterminate tomatoes will be topped off at a certain height in order to put all the “energy” towards the fruit.
A member of the Arvada Gardener’s garden club (and my gardening mentor) has graciously let me reference the video he made of building sturdy PVC tomato cages.
Garden blogger Bill Bird of Natomas constructed 4- and 5-foot cages out of sturdy PVC pipe.
“I will never go back to using wire cages again,” Bird said. “It is a very strong cage and can handle a full crop of ripening tomatoes with ease. It cut down on the spoilage of tomato plants loaded with tomatoes hitting the ground and rotting,” Bird said. “That happened far too often with me. With the PVC supports, I keep everything off the ground and away from water, soil and bugs.”
This support keeps the vines, and the fruit off the ground to prevent unhealthy plants. In addition, using a PVC pipe cage like the one above will allow for root watering for conscious watering practices.
I can’t wait to watch all the tomatoes grow, and bite into one flavorful home grown juicy tomato!
A row of tomatoes from 2010.
Look at how massive those tomato plants are!!!
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=delicious-tomato-chemistry
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/28/4439632/alert-alert-its-here-tomato-time.html
Related articles
- Heirloom vs. Supermarket Tomatoes: Which Tastes better (friendseat.com)
- The Science of Tasty Tomatoes Lies in the Chemicals (nlm.nih.gov)
- Decoding tomato DNA: Genetics could yield sweeter fruit (csmonitor.com)
- Dollars and Scents: The Chemistry of a Delicious Tomato (scientificamerican.com)
- 10 Tomatoes to Grow in Your Container Garden (treehugger.com)
- Why Do Fresh Tomatoes Taste So Much Better Than Store-Bought Ones? (thesciencebulletin.wordpress.com)
Ignorance is Bliss 
they are huge! what a great
idea, thanks
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WOAH!! Seriously huge. I think we’ll have to try the PVC next year, as I also love the irrigation.
This year rather than hand watering we’re using a sprinkler. It still takes for-freaking-ever.
I was shocked by the greatness of the tomatoes too! You should give the PVC cage a shot next year, I bet your tomatoes will get huge! For-freaking-ever, that is hilarious, I recently watered a garden that took way too long for my liking…Are you growing any tomatoes this year?
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Thank you! I am glad you are delighted in reading the site. Cheers!
Great idea however I’ll throw out an alternative. On this design, the Cross pieces make it somewhat expensive. At my local Menards, each cross joint is $1. That means these are $16 just for those not counting all the elbows and Ts.
I found some other designs online that only use Ts and elbows and no crosses so it keeps the cost down to under $10 each.
Here’s my info:
i see that the tomato is watered by a nearby pipe…just could see the cage doing the same thing with the right fittings?
Hmmm…Possibly?…I will have to ask!
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That is so impressive and very helpful. Just what I was looking for. Thanks for so generously sharing this lovely idea!
You are very welcome. I am so glad to have had a mentor who kindly taught me so much.
I’m impressed with your cages, brilliant Idea, and I’m just have to try this. thanks’ for sharing.
So glad you liked this idea! Hope it goes well for you.
Hi!
On this write-up you go through a couple of
the most important basics..
Fairly simple to read through & packed with important resources!
Thanks for posting How to Build your Own PVC Tomato Cage
| Ignorance is Bliss!
This idea is just genius. What a fantastic way to reuse about 300 ft of pvc pipe on an irrigation system gone bad last year. I am thrilled and what a way to get the kids involved in building and doing something constructive.
Although, I have to make a small investment on pipe fittings, if you are a lifelong gardener, these will outlast any wire cage by years.
Thanks to all for posting some brilliant ideas. The possibilities of what can be done is great. Definitely will be looking closely at replacing the cross piece with the T. Happy Gardening! 🙂
have
used bamboo stakes and wire cages and the cages come apart, lose shape, and the plant usually outgrows it.
Thank you! Happy gardening to you!
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