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Mini Christmas trees out of tomato cages


Light_addiction

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On 7/14/2017 at 9:46 PM, Al Saunders said:

I'm sure two cages works fine but I read years ago about using three cages staggered and this is what I do. This gives a lot of attachment points for the zip ties/wires to attach to. Obviously makes them a bit heavier but if that's not a concern three will give you a "fuller" tree and have plenty to attach to without any sags in the wire/bulbs. Just my two cents. :)

Later,

Al

I've put 2 together and it appears to be the right amount. 

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On 7/15/2017 at 8:04 AM, caniac said:

More is always better!! :)   And given that they are usually $1 a cage they are budget friendly.  IMO the fun part was twisting the top and bending it (lack of proper tools at that time).

Where do you find them for $1?  They are $2.50 here. 

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4 minutes ago, Light_addiction said:

Where do you find them for $1?  They are $2.50 here. 

walmart, menards, craigslist, FB for sale pages.

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For me 2 cages were perfect. Cages where I live were about $5 ea at wally world. Luckily I used to have a garden and have or had 60 stored. I am down to just over 50 thanks to deer. Last year a dear got his antlers caught in them and made a mess of a few. LOL

The one thing to consider and it did bite me for the first time last year.

Isolate them from the ground. Until last year I never had an issue with breakers tripping during rain. I commented on that in someones thread. A couple days later monsoon rains came. Trees were out but everything else worked.

After cleaning out my extension cords I also put pieces of 2X4's under my cages, a few more days and monsoons again and all kept working. Not sure if main cause of tripping was cage to ground or extension cord water but my tree are on a slope with great drainage. 

JR

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8 hours ago, dibblejr said:

For me 2 cages were perfect. Cages where I live were about $5 ea at wally world. Luckily I used to have a garden and have or had 60 stored. I am down to just over 50 thanks to deer. Last year a dear got his antlers caught in them and made a mess of a few. LOL

The one thing to consider and it did bite me for the first time last year.

Isolate them from the ground. Until last year I never had an issue with breakers tripping during rain. I commented on that in someones thread. A couple days later monsoon rains came. Trees were out but everything else worked.

After cleaning out my extension cords I also put pieces of 2X4's under my cages, a few more days and monsoons again and all kept working. Not sure if main cause of tripping was cage to ground or extension cord water but my tree are on a slope with great drainage. 

JR

Thank you for the advice. We don't get a lot of rain during that time of the year and I just don't tien the lights on, on rainy nights. 

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I used a single 42" tomato cage for mine and wrapped it with chicken wire.  Very easy to install the lights and you can ziptie anywhere on the chicken wire

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another tip for tomato cage trees:

if like me, you have "concrete jungle" and no where to "plant" you cage trees; get some cheap plant pots and some gravel and 'pot up' you trees.

worked quite well for me last year, long row of trees down the side of the driveway

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On 7/20/2017 at 0:31 AM, uncledan said:

I used a single 42" tomato cage for mine and wrapped it with chicken wire.  Very easy to install the lights and you can ziptie anywhere on the chicken wire

That's a pretty good idea. 

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On 7/20/2017 at 1:30 AM, OzAz said:

another tip for tomato cage trees:

if like me, you have "concrete jungle" and no where to "plant" you cage trees; get some cheap plant pots and some gravel and 'pot up' you trees.

worked quite well for me last year, long row of trees down the side of the driveway

Thanks for that tip, but I'm on 15 acres with very little concrete in site. 

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Thanks for that tip, but I'm on 15 acres with very little concrete in site. 


Oh my. With only 15 acres you'll barely have enough room for a decent display. Good luck.


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  • 3 weeks later...

Flip the cage upside down to look like a tree. Cut all but the bottom horizontal wires and  squeeze the cage together until the tips of the vertical wires touch at the top. Then tape or solder all loose ends together. This will make sure you tree has a nice conical shape.  I have pictures if needed.

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On 7/23/2017 at 6:52 PM, Mega Arch said:

 


Oh my. With only 15 acres you'll barely have enough room for a decent display. Good luck.


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Yea I'm going to run out of room fast. Lol

 

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2 hours ago, beckntrav said:

Flip the cage upside down to look like a tree. Cut all but the bottom horizontal wires and  squeeze the cage together until the tips of the vertical wires touch at the top. Then tape or solder all loose ends together. This will make sure you tree has a nice conical shape.  I have pictures if needed.

Thank you, but I've already started these and they're coming out great. 

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