Mini tree question - wrapping tomato cages

[Klayfish]

A few weeks back, I was at Wal-Mart and they had crates of tomato cages on clearance. I picked up about 15 or 16 of them dirt cheap. They're 54". I'll give a few to my wife, you know, to actually use them as tomato cages. But I plan to turn the rest into my mini-trees. Last night, I tried to mock up my first one. First lesson learned is that I need zip ties... lots of zip ties. From what I could tell, I'm going to need about 600 lights total per mini-tree to make them look good. But here's my question.

The cage has 3 vertical supports, and 3 rings going around it. The top was easy to wrap in a circle, but below the second ring, there's nothing but the three vertical supports until you get to the very bottom. When I tried to wrap that area, it took the shape of a triangle (made by the 3 vertical supports) instead of a circle. I tried leaving some slack, but then the light string just sagged. Pulling it tighter made it hug the vertical supports, again giving me that triangle shape. How do you wrap the cage in that area so that it's still a circle shape?

Edited September 26, 2012 by Klayfish

[GaryM]

Use two tomato cages, and stagger the vertical supports, so you have 6 rather than 3.

54 inch tall cages make for some tall mini trees....

[DownTown]

Use two tomato cages, and stagger the vertical supports, so you have 6 rather than 3.

54 inch tall cages make for some tall mini trees....

Agreed - use two cages stacked... and I cut my cages down to a more reasonable size...probably about 32 inches, if I remember correctly.

D.T.

Edited September 26, 2012 by DownTown

[GaryM]

Lowes has a 33 inch size, its perfect. Have tried the bigger cages, and it never really seems to be worth the extra lights and work...the extra wow factor, IMHO, just isn't there.

[Klayfish]

For cryin' out loud, where's the "do'h" smiley face when you need it! Such an easy solution it went right over my head. Staggering two cages is perfect, thanks.

Yeah, 54" is a bit tall. I bought them thinking long term. I've got a rather large yard to work with. I'm only using a small portion of it this year, as I have limited supplies. But as time goes on, I plan to add more and more. I won't be getting a mega-tree until next year, and when I get one I plan to get the 20' kit. So I figured the 54" trees won't look too tall next to it. Also, I'm planning on adding 42" mini trees in years to come too, so the 54's will be used elsewhere (or in my display, I may wind up with a "row" that goes from 24" trees up to 54" trees). So for this year, as I'm just starting out, the mini-trees will be one of the focal points of the display.

Edited September 26, 2012 by Klayfish

[BillyT]

Are you using different colors on the trees? I have three colors on mine. I've found that they are easier to work with from year to year by bundling then wrapping them bundled. If I have some lights out at the beginning of the year, I just unwrap the tree and trouble shoot the string on the floor. Also, using some sort of lazy susan device to string them helps a lot too

I also epoxied the trees at the top where all the straights come together.

Edited September 26, 2012 by BillyTRichVa

[caniac]

For cryin' out loud, where's the "do'h" smiley face when you need it! Such an easy solution it went right over my head. Staggering two cages is perfect, thanks.

Yeah, 54" is a bit tall. I bought them thinking long term. I've got a rather large yard to work with. I'm only using a small portion of it this year, as I have limited supplies. But as time goes on, I plan to add more and more. I won't be getting a mega-tree until next year, and when I get one I plan to get the 20' kit. So I figured the 54" trees won't look too tall next to it. Also, I'm planning on adding 42" mini trees in years to come too, so the 54's will be used elsewhere (or in my display, I may wind up with a "row" that goes from 24" trees up to 54" trees). So for this year, as I'm just starting out, the mini-trees will be one of the focal points of the display.

don't know if you are doing this so I will go ahead and suggest it anyhow, on my mini tree's I had an issue with "slippage". The solution to that problem is as you start "wrapping" the trees do the spines first, up one and down the other. Then as you wrap the lights round and round it gives them some extra bite.

[Klayfish]

I'm only doing one color this year, as I only have 16 channels total. As I get more controllers, I plan to add more colors and will definitely bundle the strings first, then wrap. Good idea on the epoxy. I'll bet I can use something like JB Weld, which any AutoZone or Pep Boys sells cheaply.

Great idea on the slippage. Yes, I noticed the same thing when I was doing it yesterday. As I worked from top to bottom, the lights didn't really want to stay in place and started to slide down. Hence why I was thinking zip ties, but I'll try the up and down the vertical supports idea. Thanks!

[caniac]

I'm only doing one color this year, as I only have 16 channels total. As I get more controllers, I plan to add more colors and will definitely bundle the strings first, then wrap. Good idea on the epoxy. I'll bet I can use something like JB Weld, which any AutoZone or Pep Boys sells cheaply.

Great idea on the slippage. Yes, I noticed the same thing when I was doing it yesterday. As I worked from top to bottom, the lights didn't really want to stay in place and started to slide down. Hence why I was thinking zip ties, but I'll try the up and down the vertical supports idea. Thanks!

Thought the idea was crazy when I first heard it but when I tried it, it worked!! After that making the rest of the mini trees was a breeze.

[PaulXmas]

I wrap mine in chicken wire then put on the lights.

Lots of pokes and blood doing it this way.

[wallleyes]

I also wrap mine with chicken wire.

[Crazydave]

Thought the idea was crazy when I first heard it but when I tried it, it worked!! After that making the rest of the mini trees was a breeze.

JB weld didnt work on mine

[caniac]

I wrap mine in chicken wire then put on the lights.

Lots of pokes and blood doing it this way.

Tried chicken wire but I tend to injure myself with that product. My mini-trees are version 4.0, previous three versions involved a whole lotta cussing but 4.0 finally had the wow factor.

JB weld didnt work on mine

Wasn't referring to the JB Weld product but wrapping the spines first.

[GaryM]

I tried plastic chicken wire, seemed like too much work.

Tyraps on the top spikes seem to work well.

[Crazydave]

I zip-tied the tops of my trees.

[magish01]

Zip tied the tops, then epoxy, then covered in plastic dip. Overkill? Maybe, but it keeps me from impaling my forehead when I set the minis out and bend over to plug them in!

[George Simmons]

Zip-tying the tops has been a 100% success for me. I also work the spines first and then wrap. After the spines are secured, a few strategically placed zip ties is all you need to hold the lights in place nicely.

And while on the topic of mini trees, I've found that putting a sheet of bubble wrap between the trees when stacking does an excellent job of keeping them injury-free and easy to lift and separate.

[TGabriel]

This is what I did to the top of my tomato cages so I can hang them up or attach something to the top as a small star.

Thomas

[Scott T]

I buy my zip ties at Monoprice.com.

4" 100ct for $0.30.

[Crazydave]

My Wal-Mart and home depot are sold out of tomato cages I dunno what im gonna do