Good blog posts work much the same way. Time and lots of it to create quality work.
The time Tom spent researching alone to make garden PVC cages!
But these tomato cages are worth the wait. Promise.
Tom made these tomato cages for our garden to replace some of our old cages and what a difference they make in our garden.
They can be left in the garden all year long so storage will never be an issue.
And you know how it is with those flimsy wire tomato cages. They last one season, maybe two and then you toss them in the garbage.
The cycle of buying, tossing and re-buying the following year was getting pricey and annoying.
Now we have stable trellises that will last a lifetime and surprisingly look sharp, too.
Use these on your tomatoes, eggplant, squash, peppers, cucumbers and even beans and peas.
Best of all, you’ll be shocked at how easy they are to make.
Why make your own PVC cages?
Make your own PVC cages and be set for life! After all, your big, vibrant plants deserve some good support.
Don’t we all!
Supplies needed to make one 50″ heavy duty PVC tomato cage
Sharpie to mark PVC pipe, yardstick, and PVC cutter
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work gloves while cementing
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If you choose to cement the whole tower it will be a stronger structure.
Or, you may just want to cement the bottom portion of the cage which will allow more versatility to adjust the height or disassemble at the end of the season.
20 1/2″ elbows for each 50″ cage
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4 1/2″ tee’s for each cage
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16 1/2″ crosses for each 50″ cage
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20″ wide (40″ and 50″ heavy duty tomato cage)
48- 10″ pieces for the 40″ cage 60-10″ pieces for the 50″ cage
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50″ high and 14″ wide heavy duty tomato cage
40 7″ horizontal pieces & 20 10″ vertical pieces
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Tom optimistically thinks he can get our tomato plants to grow 5-6 feet which is why he built several 50 inch towers.
I am not so optimistic so I wanted a few tomato towers to be a bit shorter.
Plus, these ones work quite well for your peppers, eggplant, squash and cucumbers.
You just don’t need quite the height.
Remember this post on growing the biggest and best tomatoes?
Quick refresher: Tom planted four tomato plants around a buried water tube.
He needed an extra-wide cage to accommodate four tomato plants hence the 20 inch wide tomato cages.
Step-by-step assembly instructions for your PVC tomato cage
Mark all your 10″ and 7″ lines and then cut
Organize all your parts for easy assembly
Cement vertical and horizontal pieces to four crosses
Add and cement elbows
You may just want to cement the bottom square of the cage, especially if you are unsure of how big you want them to be.
This gives you more storage options as they can be taken apart at the end of the season. It also allows you to adjust the height at any time.
Add horizontal pieces
Repeat steps 1 and 2 and then add tee’s on the top square
Connect elbows
Pull the cage out and then take a metal stake and sledgehammer so the cage easily slides into the ground.
How do you prop up your plants? What do you use?
This is an awesome cage for the tomatoes. Easy to make with some of the PVC Pipe we have lying around.
I have the old fashioned cages, but I like that idea and they won’t rust with the pvc.
I definitely need to try this for our tomatoes this year!
I use the wire cages and the wind has destroyed them this year. I wanna try these pvc ones.
Being limited to space this idea will come in handy! 🙂
Awesome idea!
This is a good way to go
Great idea! It’s definitely something I need to do.
Awesome cages for veggies! Thanks for sharing.
great idea thanks
This is a really great, sturdy cage !
What a great idea!
This is a great idea!
What a great idea!! I may have to try gardening again this year!!
What a great idea! Who wants to make one of these for me? 😉
That looks a lot sturdier than wire cages!
Thanks for the info! We love tomatoes.
These definitely look strong. I made stakes with fencing nailed to it as year and they definitely were not the answer. I may have to build at least one of these this year to see how it works in my garden. Thank you for sharing!
Nice idea. I might try it I’m six months when we get rid of this foot of snow.
Different way to grow tomatoes but will try it. Thanks
Great ideas for the garden!
Boy could I use office furniture expecially with home schooling in this pandemic!
nice
This is a very creative solution. Looks like it would work wonderfully.
Definitely have to pin this one for later. Great garden diy.
Great idea for people with limited space.
thanks for the great instructions
Great way with limited area
Great idea! Thanks!
I need to do this in my yard.
These look so much sturdier than the wire cages. I could see using these for climbing vine plants also! thanks for the great instructions!
Wonderful idea. Saving this one in my want to do file!
Should last awhile. I use bought cages, homemade cages and just stakes.
I prefer the wire supports for my plants.
Very clever idea. Thank for the tips.
I like the fact that this is so sturdy.
Excellent tips, ideas, and suggestons!
Great way to keep tomatoes safe from deer and the like.
Can’t wait to try this. The traditional wire cages work great when new, but storing them can be problematic.
I like that these won’t rust. Now to go scope some out!
The cages sure look sturdy.
These would last forever and work well.
Great idea. I will try it
Being limited to space this idea will come in handy!
great way to support your plants
Thanks for sharing…….I love the idea but for those of us who are on a limited income the first investment would be overwhelming. I will have to stick to the tried and true cages at the local hardware store.
This is such a good Idea! So simple I am not creative to think of things like this.
Unfortunately I live in a apartment but this is a good idea and I am definitely going to let my daughter know she has a green thumb
I like this idea so worth it’s so perfect for growing tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and etc..
Great ideas!
Easy and creative…great job!
What a great idea using PVC. You have given me a few ideas.
These are such great set ups.
Crafty, neat way to keep maters off ground
Great idea, I just use the wooden garden stakes
deer stills finds way to get in
I have limited space so this would work great for me thanks .
What a wonderful idea!
Having limited space that gets sun this would work out great.
I love gardening and would love to try this
Cool idea!
Great info, thank you!
Thanks for the interesting ideas.
Interesting idea. I will give these a shot this summer
I like the idea here with the PVC pipe!
Looks like a fun project! Like my old tinker toys.
fun!
We’ve used & reused metal cages. I’m glad Tom did the research then took time to build these well constructed, convenient PVC Cages. They possess a bold and bright modern artistic flair; and will look great all year long! I adore them!
I’m trying to grow from pots and having a lot of difficulty.
thanks for this tip!
Love this idea, very creative
Thank you for sharing!
love your contest praying to win something now lol
Great Ideas !
This is a pretty good idea!
Great tips. My step dad has a garden he prepares every summer. It’s roomy and big and he grows lots of veggies and fruits.
Great idea!
This is a great idea, thanks for sharing.
Ingenious way to do a trellis and so eye catching
I really need desk. Would be a great win.
good idea
Creative idea for sure.
I would feel terrific if I did an Easy DIY tomato, cucumber & squash PVC pipe cage. Such a super idea.
Thank you for doing this
I generally use the wired cages, but I like this idea!
I use fence wire because I have some hungry rabbits and deer who love to eat buffet-style out of my garden.
That is a pretty creative idea! Thanks for sharing.
This is a great idea. It’s nice that it will be sturdy enough for things like eggplant that the wire cages may not support so well. I’ve seen pvc pipe used at the gym to make shelves to hold the large, rubber exercise balls to keep them from rolling all over. This use of the pvc pipes is similar to that.
I never ever would’ve thought of PVC piping as trellises. When I get to have my garden again (very, very soon), I’m taking PVC piping to the next level! Thank you!
This is a great idea
This is a great idea. We made quite a few out of hog wire years ago. I also use some for dahlias and short ones for peonies.
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I wonder if this would work for peas
There’s so much to learn, but well worth the effort for the outcome.
I would love to have a garden designed that the pictures , in my back yard. I have a dog and a lot of other animals that show up in my tree .
this is such a great idea thanks for the advice
great idea
great article, looks simple enough. I usually have green posts with support beams
I’m not much interested in blogs, as such. But this one . . .
So sturdy. Why didn’t I think of this?
This is a great idea ! I should use this to keep out animals in my garden
Is this expensive?
I like the idea of leaving them out all year round, but am probably too lazy to build and will just buy new as mine break.
I’ll have to show this to my husband.
I love seeing this done and seeing the steps you went through to make it looks like a project I could actually do. I like the height of it and how it looks in the garden too.
Great idea, we are planning a garden and this is helpful
These are some great tips! We just use tomato cages for our tomatoes, nothing for the others.
Really appreciate the article. Thank you.