scubado Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 I started putting together my tomato cages today to make mini trees and thought I'd share a couple ideas for the noobs that I haven't seen mentioned yet.First, if you don't have cages yet, get out and get them while you can. Alot of clearance sales going on. There are two types of cages, the cheap 36" ones are smaller at the base and wider at the top. The heavy duty ones are bigger at the base. You need two cages per tree for the 36" trees and two of each type if you want to make 5 1/2' trees.Take two small matching cages and insert one inside the other with the vertical legs evenly spaced to have six vertical rods. I wired tied the large rings together to lock them together. This next step is not my idea and couldn't find the thread to give proper credit. Fold 2" of the tips over. This is for those of us in the North or for placing your trees on a slope as originally suggested. The folded tips will then fit inside the top of a pipe driven into the ground to elevate your tree for leveling on a slope or allow it to be above some snow cover. My additional idea is to bend two opposing tips back up, form an 'S'. You can drill a hole through the top of your pipe, insert the tree and then add a bolt through the pipe to lock it in so that it can't be easily removed.To make a bigger tree, place the small tree on top of the heavy duty cages. String them separately so you can split the halves for storage.When you go to wrap the trees, fold your string in half, this way if one section dies it won't be as noticeable. Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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