# HELP Please



## Rosebud (Jul 6, 2017)

As most of you guys know, bud, my sweet husband broke his knee. He is and has been in a wheelchair for a month.  He is my wingman in the garden and I miss his help. Bud was going to build me cages. So... I need a cage or something that i can EASILY put around my plants to train them out not up. Can you guys help me think of something easy? I am thinking a big cage... HELP.  Thank you in advance.  I have outgrown the tomato cages so it has to be bigger.


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## kaotik (Jul 6, 2017)

you said yourself  'train'.. that's what does it.. unless you're thinking of doing an OD scrog.
all a cage does is hold and support them, not train them.

i thought you grabbed some of that netting last year? no good?
bamboo and garden twine may just be the best bet.

need something like this.. but good luck  






*never knew MR RB's name was bud.. how fitting


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## Rosebud (Jul 6, 2017)

Kaotik, yes we are rose bud.  lol  Bud was going to make me some cages, but he can't now. here is what is going on now.  He got hurt before the garden was in..View attachment DSCF4811.jpg


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## Rosebud (Jul 6, 2017)

The "training" i have done is to take the biggest branch and aim it North with  bamboo, that really made them spread nice, I want to keep doing that but don't know how...


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## WoodHippy (Jul 6, 2017)

Rose they sure look nice. Instead of Fence. I use tent stakes in the ground and just keep tying them down. Time consuming but easy and cheap.


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## kaotik (Jul 6, 2017)

good idea word hippy  

you just got the regular small mater cages eh 
 they do make big green ones (but they shape them wrong, goes fat to small.. so i modify them to go small to big  )
if you want i can snap a pic of the ones i'm talking about (i use them for my blueberries & maters)
*still end up with the same problem, just on a larger scale   

someone posted about training plants horizontal with bamboo.. i'm timid of this route and don't think i'd recommend it..  but do you remember the thread i'm referencing?  he had them all tied up to a sort of horizontal cross bamboo.

maybe could gather some ideas from them/that?  
...it's just too early to go too horizontal though, without a scrog setup i fear.. i worry branches breaking under later weight.


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## Hackerman (Jul 6, 2017)

How about if you make a teepee? Maybe 4 pieces of 8 foot long 2x2 wood tied together at the top and stuck into the ground a little at the bottom just to hold them from slipping.

Maybe drill some small holes in them about a foot apart and later you can run twine or whatever to support the plants between the 4 corner posts. You could train them up or down or whatever... as long as the basic structure is solid.

I have never grown outdoors (you guys are soooo lucky) so I don't know the weight and support problems you have but 2x2's are pretty heavy duty. Make like a square pyramid. You can get 8 foot lumber everywhere and if you need taller, they have 10 and 12 foot (at a premium price, usually).

Maybe some of the fence rails that they use with chain link fence. They are 12' and pretty strong. I'm not a big fan of galvanized steel in the garden (looks ugly) but it's an idea.

Like I said, I have no experience outdoors so I'm just tossing out logic stuff.


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## Hackerman (Jul 6, 2017)

Another thing that I just thought of.....

Pot seems to be pretty trainable. Why not just get a pretty garden arch at the garden store and train it on that.  LOL Something simple like the first picture.

Or, go crazy and make an arbor like the second picture.

How cool would that be to sit under your plants with buds all around you. LMAO 

View attachment Image1.jpg


View attachment Image2.jpg


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## 2RedEyes (Jul 7, 2017)

Sounds like all you need is a SCROG of some kind. Could be just a square frame larger than the expected size of your plant and then just weave some heavy twine into a net. Support it with some stakes and keep poking your growth down below until flower time. Then just let it happen. That's pretty much what I'm going to do with my outdoors garden.
It looks like those tomato things are meant to support the weight of tomato juice way up high but not gonna help spread it out much.


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## GhostFacepurp (Jul 7, 2017)

Truee&#9757;

Sent from my SM-G600FY using Tapatalk


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## The Hemp Goddess (Jul 7, 2017)

Rosebud, why not just hire somebody to make whatever kind of cages that Mr. RB was going to make?  If you need help putting them up, there are always high school and college kids looking for extra money in the summer.

Or, I saw these tomato trellises made from PVC.  You might consider something like this as you can make them any size you need.  https://www.pinterest.com/pin/487162884663614505/


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## grass hopper (Jul 7, 2017)

hiya rose, wish we were closer. i am buying a deer fence for that purpose. it has varying size hole openings as the fence gets taller.( i really liked the 6 by 6 inch concrete reinforcement wire although it's very rusty)....my deer fence  is 300 feet long. 78 inches tall... . manuf. by louis e. page..... if i make 4 foot diameter circles (cages), around each plant. 4 x 3.1416(pi) = a little over 12 linear feet per plant. times 12 plants equals about 150 linear feet of galv. fence that should last many years. price is $280. bucks for 300 feet. which seems pretty costly but will last many years and i only need half of it for all 12 plants. i love that it's galvanized....   
 i have always used the 1inch dia. by 8 foot tall green garden stakes from lowes. then made varying height cages or baskets tying around the stakes using (1) inch green flexible garden tape. this worked faIRLY WELL but was time consuming. i loved that the green tape stretched under stress. the taped cages did protect the huge plants well. just my 2 cents. wish u were closer rose..


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## Rosebud (Jul 7, 2017)

Believe me I wish you were closer too.   Thank you for your good idea.  That is what bud and I were talking about I think.


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## grass hopper (Jul 7, 2017)

Rosebud said:


> Believe me I wish you were closer too.   Thank you for your good idea.  That is what bud and I were talking about I think.



company coming. will send link tomorrow.


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## Kindbud (Jul 7, 2017)

I would use a piece of pcs or something similar bang it into the ground or dig a hole place it in fill it up do 2 on each side of the plant then use some kind of string nail a nail to the fence then tie the string to the nail then go to the pvc the to the other pvc pipe then to the fence again do it a few times and your have a cage and can tie the plant off and train it to widen out instead of growin up..... Post a comment if you need more information of what I'm talking about


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## Kindbud (Jul 7, 2017)

Or as grasshopper said you could use a piece of fence instead of using the string you can get a piece of mesh fence at Lowe's or home depo


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## grass hopper (Jul 8, 2017)

lowes and home depot fence have mostly 2 by 4 inch hole size openings. 

i found louis page while hunting for 6 by 6 .. or 8 by 8 inch openings. hole size changes as you get higher up on the fence. i went with 14 guage as was cheaper but plenty strong for reinforcement.

click on the 14 ga. (blue lettering).. then see SKU FFDR14786 ZA @$282.
  78 inch high by 330 feet long. i need less than half. wish you were closer!!

http://www.louispage.com/fences/deer-wildlife


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## Rosebud (Jul 8, 2017)

Thank you, each one... I am back from home depot with this:http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-4-ft-x-50-ft-Black-Vinyl-Welded-Wire-Fence-308382EB/205960866

This is what i am trying to do this year if anyone is interested in a video. HTTPS://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxGfxlb6QHk&t=1s


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## grass hopper (Jul 8, 2017)

Rosebud said:


> Thank you, each one... I am back from home depot with this:http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-4-ft-x-50-ft-Black-Vinyl-Welded-Wire-Fence-308382EB/205960866
> 
> This is what i am trying to do this year if anyone is interested in a video. HTTPS://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxGfxlb6QHk&t=1s



looks like he is using a short deer fence. holes size changes as height changes. i like your fence and like the video also. thanks rose !!


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## Rosebud (Jul 8, 2017)

Thank you GH I really hope i can do this. He had a break in the cage so you can go in and work on the bottoms of the plants. and get to the middle, maybe.  It was too hot to do it today, i will do it in the early morning. Thanks again. If i do a good job i will post up a pic.


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## Kraven (Jul 9, 2017)

Since i don't do OD, I felt my advise would not be too useful, here is a pic of how Sub is running his OD cages....thought a pic might be helpful. Peace


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## Hackerman (Jul 9, 2017)

I can only imagine the harvest from a crop like that.


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## The Hemp Goddess (Jul 9, 2017)

Thank for the video link.  I'm sure you will do a great job.  However, don't overexert yourself and stay hydrated!  This heat is brutal.  And it looks like Mon and Tues may be a bit cooler, staying in the 90s (before we get hit with another long stretch of 100+)


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## Rosebud (Jul 9, 2017)

Well I did one cage today. I broke some branches, rookie mistakes. Took an hour to do one. lol. I will try and do one in the early morning. It is too hot now at 10 am...  I will keep you posted if you guys want.  THG, i am a big wuss, i can't take the heat at all this year. 

I am glad you guys liked that video, i do too.


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## 2RedEyes (Jul 9, 2017)

I feel your pain miss Rosebud, it's been 104 here in my little corner of paradise. I've been working in my garden and yard doing a major overhaul but I can't go past 10 or 11 in the morning and then anything I plant, has to suffer with the heat until it can get some roots down. Then I get a message from a friend in Las Vegas where it's 10 or 15 degrees hotter.... we can just do what we can do.
Looking forward to seeing the support system you come up with.


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## Rosebud (Jul 9, 2017)

Thank you 2RE, I hope the next one goes better, they should have maybe been put on earlier. I will be sure and show you when i get finished.. wish me luck.. Hang in your ownself with those temps. That is HOT.  I hate HOT.. But last winter we had snow on the ground for over 90 days. So what's a little 105, right? You do better then me, i need to work from 5 am to 9 am... but i kinda like to sleep sometimes at that time.


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## tcbud (Jul 10, 2017)

I so feel for you Rose. I really don't know what I would do if my Mr. Tc was laid up. I hope Mr. RB is doing better every day. Just today we thought we had to replace some water lines to the house! Like I could even dig that much. All it came down to was a turned down spicket connect. Dodged a freaky bullet there.

Your doing a great job dealing with your girls. You get a standing ovation from me.

I read the post about the tent stakes, kinda like the horse shoe shaped wires I used one year. Worked real good lots of bud sites from three small plants in one pot. No huge kolas either, the stems held up the buds real well. The buds were four inches long or so I remember. Didn't grow up big enough to get the netting treatment. Maybe try that on a couple? If you run them straight out, away from the center of the garden, you could walk down the line to tend them. They can take a lot of bending I found with no damage. Just moved the wires to the branch tips as they grew. Each plant had three or four wires holding it down.


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