Can you use tomato cages for staking beans?
While you can use tomato cages for staking beans, they make less than ideal pole bean supports. This is because they are not tall enough for the typical pole bean plant. If you use tomato cages as a way how to stake up pole beans, just realize that the bean plants will outgrow the cages and will flop over the top.
How do you grow runner beans in a tomato cage?
Just like peas, climbing beans such as runner or pole beans will benefit from a sturdy structure to cling to. Make sure you use the largest tomato cages you can get your hands on for your beans. Again, flip the cage upside down, secure it with landscape pins and plant your beans around the outside of it.
Can you use a tomato cage for other plants?
Bonus Tomato Cage Hack Using tomato cages for tomatoes is not the only way, these tomato cage hacks are proof. You can use tomato cages to provide support to other plants like cucumbers, beans, peas, and heavier eggplants, and flowering vines.
What can I use to stake pole beans?
Bean plant teepee. A bean plant teepee is another popular option for how to stake pole beans. A bean plant teepee is typically made of bamboo, but can be made of any thin long supports, like dowel rods or poles.
What can I use for a bean pole?
5:287:095 Best Bean Poles, Frames and Supports for Your Garden - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipUsing long stems such as dogwood willow or hazel. For a beautiful way to grow beans as an attractiveMoreUsing long stems such as dogwood willow or hazel. For a beautiful way to grow beans as an attractive feature in their own.
What other plants can you use tomato cages for?
10 Plants To Grow In Tomato Cages That Aren't TomatoesPeas. Peas need support too! ... Runner/Pole Beans. Just like peas, climbing beans such as runner or pole beans will benefit from a sturdy structure to cling to. ... Peppers. What is this? ... Cucumbers. ... Cucamelons. ... Zucchini/Summer Squash. ... Malabar Spinach. ... Peonies.More items...•
How do you support pole green beans?
Stakes are the traditional support for pole beans. They don't need to be fancy. Purchase stakes or cut long strips of wood at six to eight foot lengths. Hammer them into the ground next to where you intend to plant the beans, then plant seeds at the foot of the stake.
Can I use a tomato cage for snap peas?
0:071:45Planting Peas on TOMATO cages! - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipThanks for growing with us. So the way we are doing peas this year is we have all these tomato cagesMoreThanks for growing with us. So the way we are doing peas this year is we have all these tomato cages that. We got off of Craigslist. For free or $5 for like 50 of them that someone was getting rid of.
Is it okay to use rusty tomato cages?
While it might not look appealing, rust is not toxic and does not present any health concern. So you are safe to plant tomatoes with a rusty cage. With exposure to moisture, metal develops a layer of soft, flaky, orange-brown material, which is nothing more than oxidized iron.
Can you grow cucumbers with a tomato cage?
0:284:36How to Grow Cucumbers With Tomato Cages - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipUsing tomato cages to Train cucumbers for vertical growth gives the plants lots of breathing roomMoreUsing tomato cages to Train cucumbers for vertical growth gives the plants lots of breathing room aids in the formation of perfectly straight fruits and helps keep pests and soil-borne diseases at bay
Do green beans need something to climb on?
Bush beans grow compactly (reaching about two-feet tall) and do not require extra support from a structure like a trellis. Pole beans grow as climbing vines that may reach 10 to 15 feet tall and require a trellis or staking. Watch this video to learn how to support beans properly.
What's the best way to grow pole beans?
Pole beans are easy to grow, as they only require light maintenance and care to thrive.Balance your soil pH. Pole beans prefer a slightly acidic soil with a pH of around 6.0. ... Provide sun. Pole bean plants need six to eight hours of full sun per day. ... Water properly. ... Mulch. ... Control pests and disease. ... Sow more beans.
Do pole beans need a trellis?
2. Support needs: Since bush beans grow short and sturdy, they don't have any special support needs, while pole beans need a sturdy trellis or bamboo poles to grow up.
Will zucchini grow up a tomato cage?
The vine tendrils will support the plants when they are mature but not when they are mature. The leaves will grow upwards, keeping the zucchini off the ground. Hence, you can grow a zucchini in a tomato cage. Using a tomato cage to grow zucchini is possible, but it may not be as effective for zucchini as other plants.
Can squash grow up a tomato cage?
Growing summer squash vertically by trellising or in tomato cages helps to save space, encourages air circulation, and allows the squash to be more visible reducing the chance of overgrowth.
Can I use a tomato cage for raspberries?
A simple trellis, fence, or even tomato cage works to keep raspberry plants (and the fruit) up off the ground. Space individual plants according to their mature width to avoid crowding and competing for nutrients.
What can you do with a tomato cage?
21 Clever “Other” Uses For Tomato CagesFlower Trellis – Tomato cages make for a great trellis for flowering vines like mandevilla and the morning glory. ... Plant Stand – Turn the cage upside down and bend the reinforcing wires to hold a pot or bowl. ... Bird Bath – Make an inexpensive, garden bird bath.More items...
Can you use tomato cages for flowers?
A plant cage can help with growing vegetables and flowers in a backyard garden, experts explained.
Can I use a tomato cage for raspberries?
A simple trellis, fence, or even tomato cage works to keep raspberry plants (and the fruit) up off the ground. Space individual plants according to their mature width to avoid crowding and competing for nutrients.
Can I use tomato cages for zucchini?
Tomato cages can offer some advantages with zucchini and other vine plants. It gets the plant off the ground which promotes good air circulation. Getting the plants off the ground also reduces the insect pressure on the plant.
3. Peppers
Use a few of the smaller tomato cages to support larger pepper plants. Keeping the peppers up off the ground as they grow helps keep soil-borne diseases at bay and keeps abundant fruit from snapping the stems of your pepper plants.
4. Cucumbers
Bush cucumbers benefit from the support that a tomato cage offers. You can train the plants to grow up inside the cages making it easier to find your cucumbers as they grow too. Likewise, flip the cage upside down and use it to trellis climbing varieties.
5. Cucamelons
What? You’ve never heard of cucamelons? Well, it’s high time you grow these adorable little bite-sized treats. And just like peas and beans, you can flip the tomato cages upside down and train tender cucamelon tendrils to climb the outsides of the cage.
Pole
One of the most common pole bean supports is, well, the pole. This straight stick is so often used when staking beans that it is has given its name to the bean it supports. The bean pole is used because it is one of the easiest ways to stake up pole beans.
Bean plant teepee
A bean plant teepee is another popular option for how to stake pole beans. A bean plant teepee is typically made of bamboo, but can be made of any thin long supports, like dowel rods or poles. To make a bean plant teepee, you will take three to four, 5 to 6 foot (1.5-2 m.) lengths of the chosen support and tie them together at one end.
Trellis
A trellis is another popular way to stake pole beans. A trellis is basically a moveable fence. You can buy these at the store or you can build your own by connecting slats in a criss-cross pattern. Another way to build a trellis for staking beans is to build a frame and cover it with chicken wire.
Tomato cage
These store bought wire frames are frequently found in the home garden and are a quick, at-hand way for how to stake up pole beans. While you can use tomato cages for staking beans, they make less than ideal pole bean supports. This is because they are not tall enough for the typical pole bean plant.
Why You Need to Support Tomatoes
Tomatoes need to grow upward. Though they can grow on the ground and actually will create root systems to do this, they are less likely to accrue disease and have issues if you grow them vertically. It also frees up plenty of space in your garden.
My Easy Method For Supporting Tomatoes
I use a very simple and low-material method to support and grow my tomatoes vertically. With this method along with regular pruning my tomatoes aren’t just supported, but incredibly productive and easy to harvest.
The Materials You Need to Support Tomatoes Without Tomato Cages
This method requires such little material and many of which can be store vertically next to the garden through the off-season. They take up a very small amount of space compared to fitting your tomato cages together in some odd place so you don’t run into the spikes in the winter months. Here are the materials you will need:
What Do with Extra Tomato Cages
I think the misconception with Tomato Cages is they are only for tomatoes, but the truth is they offer a lot of help in the garden with other plants that don’t grow as tall but still need support. Here are a few plants you can use your tomato cage for instead of Tomatoes:
1. Tomato Cage Gabion Plant Stand
Did you ever think a tomato cage could be that useful? Make an appealing gabion plant stand out of a sturdy tomato cage and place it on your front porch, backyard or patio. Visit BHG for the tutorial.
2. DIY Tomato Cage Topiary for Year-Round Display
Create a stunning tomato cage topiary for year-round display in your porch or balcony or probably in a living room as well. The tutorial is available here.
3. Easy DIY Tomato Cage Hothouses
If you want to start growing vegetables early despite the cold weather, try this inexpensive yet brilliant tomato cage hothouse hack, it’ll increase the growing temperature for your plants. Find the tutorial here.
4. Using Tomato Cages in Cold Weather
Store the bounty of leaves in tomato cages during fall and winter so that they decompose and provide you with a source to enhance the soil quality. And again next spring, use the decomposed matter and tomato cages to have a great tomato harvest. The detailed version is available at Bonnie Plants.
5. DIY Tomato Cage Lantern
This is one of the best in our list of ‘other’ tomato cage uses. Turn a tomato cage into a beautiful deck lantern, you can place it in your backyard as well, or the balcony. Visit The Washington Post for the tutorial.
6. Woven Basket
If you have an extra tomato cage by your side you must try this DIY woven basket idea. Get your tomato cage cut and weave it the way shown here.
7. Tomato Cage Pot Stand
Cut the top wires of the tomato cage and you’ll have an instant pot stand! A set of them can definitely spruce up your front porch. We found the idea here.
Container Cages
Ready-made cages provide one of the simplest support methods for container-grown pole beans. Most tomato cages work well with the beans, although you should install them upside-down so the wide end is on the bottom. Since this end doesn't have stakes, you must insert stakes into the container and tie the cage in place.
Stakes
Most climbing bean varieties can easily climb bamboo stakes and narrow wood poles. Concrete reinforcing rods can also work well for support. Insert the stakes into the container until they hit the bottom to ensure they are firmly anchored.
Espaliers
Decorative espaliers are primarily made for ornamental container plants, but they also work as an attractive bean support that makes the vegetable container look like an ornamental. Styles vary, with the more traditional ones featuring a narrow bottom and a wide top portion.
Teepees
Bean teepees are a common garden support that also works well in containers. Create a teepee from stakes tied together at the top. Either insert the stakes into the container or use stakes that are tall enough to set around the outside of the pot. Alternatively, insert a single stake into the center of the container.
