Materials

• Gardeners can build their own tomato cages out of readily available materials, from lightweight wooden strips or metal fencing to concrete reinforcement wire. They can also purchase ready-made cages from garden stores.
  
  

Arrangments

• For metal wire tomato cages, bend the material to completely encircle the plant to a height of approximately 3 feet. A cage made of wooden strips should form a pyramid or cube to cover the plants, as 3-D shapes support the plants better than a traditional flat trellis.
  
  

Considerations

• Gardeners who plan to use cages should place them around the tomato plants before the plants grow large enough to make the process more cumbersome. A cage designed for a smaller tomato plant can also support other small plants, such as cucumbers and peppers.