A couple of years ago, we purchased 8' x 16' sheets of CRW to do an approach for our driveway. Long story short - we ended up not using it for that. (Thank you, Cleveland County road resurfacing!) And then I found out about making tomatoe cages with them..LORDY...was that a God-send! They have the 6" squares that make it so easy to stick your hand thru and tuck in any strays that think they can grow outside the cage! (We tell them often "No arms outside the cage!!") Our panels are 2' across by 6' tall after they were all cut up. We use them as 3-sided cages. We use cheap zip-strips to join them. At the end of the season, just a few snips and they fold flat for storage! This year, we used them in new raised beds and it only took 5 of the panels to make a cage for 2 plants. Imagine an ellongated diamond shape with a line across the middle. They work great and I imagine we'll have them for years & years. Yes, they are rusted...as in VERY. But do you really want something shiney to attract the attention of critters? or worse yet...someone who won't grow their own? LOL! I don't think you'll ever be sorry with your find. In the long run, these are way less expensive than other ways of caging. And so it's not shiney....use the money you save to buy something that is...(like....tell DH you need some new bling!) Paula

Commercial growers worry about things like ease of harvest and uniformity of fruit size, and they tend to have much more intense disease pressures than hobby growers. People who cage generally just let the plant grow as it will. Pruning is reserved for dying or diseased leaves, aside from aggressive removal of leaves from the bottom of the plant to keep foliage away from the soil. Some people will prune off growing tips once the end of the season gets near in order to try to ripen up the fruits already on the plant before frost. Others don't bother and say it doesn't make much of a difference. Some will cut off the tops once the plant grows as tall as the cage, but others will let the vines flop over the top of the cage and continue to grow and hang down. Regardless, the leaves are where the plant produces the sugars and other nutrients that go into making the fruit, so there's some logic to the idea of keeping as much of the foliage as possible. Disease is what you have to weigh against that, so it's a balancing act. Length of growing season is also a consideration. Is there a point in letting a plant get huge and wild and produce a gazillion flowers and set a ton of fruit if you don't have the time for those fruit to mature before frost? Also, if you want to plant a lot of varieties but have insufficient space to let them all grow into huge, caged plants and are OK with a smaller harvest from each plant, you could prune enthusiastically and grow the plants closer together. It's really a matter of what your goals and needs are.

I use CRW and Texas cages and never prune and that includes lower branches. I might snip any that are hitting the ground but it's rare. I install my cages soon after transplant. Even the lowest ring helps keep foliage off the ground so get your cages on early. Every week or so gently bend any branches that have grown out and away from the cage back inside and pointing upwards. After a few weeks you may need to do this every other day because your plants are growing HUGE and quickly. Once the tops of branches grow above the top of the cage just let them fold over the top rung and start growing back down. This may seem like a lot of work but it's hardly anything at all for say 20 plants. The wider the cage the easier it is to keep the branches growing upward and inward. You are going to fall in love with those Texas cages...Congrats!

Why would you want to do that? There could be no infection/infectant on steel in the sun(?!). Besides, in outdoor condition you cannot control things. Lastly, the cage holds/spports the plant not the fruits directly. OK!.Maybe you want to make sure no disease causing fungus from last years crop is on them? In that case I would just spray them with the strongest soap/disinfectant I can find, let them stand for a while and then hose'm down.