Supports for plants in and out of beds

**jimmy cee** 12/20/2014, 9:30 am

I kinda thought this may be a help to some, so here goes

Last 2 seasons I worked with a roll of wire I picked up at Lowes.
There are many different ways to go on this, let your mind run wild.
Round, square, short square, tall square, etc. etc.
I've found the bottom spikes running into the M.M. has been sufficient for my needs.
Wind, summer storms hasn't affected them at all.
There are smaller squares, and I think larger squares, and a good variation at Lowes.

Here's the roll intact

Supports for plants in and out of beds Wire_c21

Here is a round cage cut to fit this container for peppers.

Supports for plants in and out of beds Wire_c22

Here are potato cages I made to high

Supports for plants in and out of beds Wire_c23

A few square cages for peppers in a cold frame.

Supports for plants in and out of beds Wire_c24

A few more.

Supports for plants in and out of beds Wire_c25

A round cage that does nicely for cucumbers.

Supports for plants in and out of beds Wire_c28

A couple newly made

Supports for plants in and out of beds Wire_c27

Notice the bottom pieces have been snipped to for legs for insertion into MM...This has worked for me.

Supports for plants in and out of beds Wire_c29

When first tried this I tied sides together with twine, then discovered pieces can be cut to twist.

Supports for plants in and out of beds Wire_c31

Carrie B. 12/20/2014, 9:40 am

1) what medium do you have your potatoes growing in? 2) how would you make a bean trellis with that wire?

I sure hope I can use lineman pliers to cut the wire...

**jimmy cee** 12/20/2014, 10:02 am

Hi Carrie and welcome to our forum.

I use nothing but M.M. in anything I try to grow, it has worked so well for me I will work with nothing else.
Seeds are even planted in it.

This wire is soft, any wire cutter will cut it, I use regular pliers to make the rolls.
Take your cutter to the store and try it.

As far as my telling you how to make anything? I can only put things together as I go.

CapeCoddess 12/20/2014, 10:29 am

Jimmy, are those squares in your wires 2 by 4 inches? Did you find it difficult to harvest veggies through them?

Hi Carrie! happy hi

I see that is your first post. Welcome to the forum. In case you were wondering, MM means Mel's mix.

CC

**AtlantaMarie** 12/20/2014, 10:41 am

Thank you, Jimmy. Good pix!

Hi Carrie and welcome from Atlanta, GA!

No reason you couldn't use this for beans. You could bend it over to make a tunnel over the bed (OR aisle) or just use it straight up & down. Just be sure you don't cut yourself on sharp corners...

Cajun Cappy 12/20/2014, 11:01 am

Wonderful report Jimmy. We use that wire and chicken wire bot from Lowes as well. The chicken wire is for kitty fences letting them know that our garden boxes are not litter boxes. The 2x4 wire we use for trellises etc. We have some grape vines growing on some that has been there for 10 years or so so its durable as well. What you can do with it is limited only by your imagination. I use your tip to cut them so they have their legs and it does do the trick. I just step on the horizontals and that sinks them down. I most definitely will use your twist to connect trick too. I never thought of it and the wire long out last zip ties. So thanks for that tip.

**jimmy cee** 12/20/2014, 2:53 pm

CapeCoddess wrote:Jimmy, are those squares in your wires 2 by 4 inches? Did you find it difficult to harvest veggies through them?

CC they are 2 X 4 inch spaces, and yes I can barely get through them, ( and a side note I forgot ) I get lots of little nicks on my arms from the sharp points left after snipping, I'm hoping someday to be more careful.
It's a good product, inexpensive and easy to work with, however the nicks are almost unavoidable.
I am going to open them up by snipping the next square so I can get more nicks....
A long sleeve shirt will prevent that.

**sanderson** 12/20/2014, 3:19 pm

Jimmy, You always come up with comething clever. I especially like the "hinges" you designed. They have got to be easy for storage.

Carrie, Welcome to the Forum from California! $glad you\'re here$

CapeCoddess 12/20/2014, 4:18 pm

jimmy cee wrote:
CapeCoddess wrote:Jimmy, are those squares in your wires 2 by 4 inches? Did you find it difficult to harvest veggies through them?

CC they are 2 X 4 inch spaces, and yes I can barely get through them, ( and a side note I forgot ) I get lots of little nicks on my arms from the sharp points left after snipping, I'm hoping someday to be more careful.
It's a good product, inexpensive and easy to work with, however the nicks are almost unavoidable.
I am going to open them up by snipping the next square so I can get more nicks....
A long sleeve shirt will prevent that.

Thanks for this info, Jimmy! I've been eyeballing this wire roll at HD for years now since we don't have cattle panels in my area. I hesitated buying it because I heard that the squares were hard to harvest through. But if you are able to do it, I'm guessing I may have an easier time of it since I have pretty small hands. I suppose the next time I'm at HD I'll stick my hand through a roll and hopefully they won't have to come cut me out. Laughing

Maybe I could avoid the nicks and enlarge every other square by bending the sides of every other square outward? of course, that would make the in between squares smaller and the trellis or cage not quite as wide or tall as it would be if left alone.

CC

**jimmy cee** 12/20/2014, 4:27 pm

CapeCoddess wrote:
jimmy cee wrote:
CapeCoddess wrote:Jimmy, are those squares in your wires 2 by 4 inches? Did you find it difficult to harvest veggies through them?

CC they are 2 X 4 inch spaces, and yes I can barely get through them, ( and a side note I forgot ) I get lots of little nicks on my arms from the sharp points left after snipping, I'm hoping someday to be more careful.
It's a good product, inexpensive and easy to work with, however the nicks are almost unavoidable.
I am going to open them up by snipping the next square so I can get more nicks....
A long sleeve shirt will prevent that.

Thanks for this info, Jimmy! I've been eyeballing this wire roll at HD for years now since we don't have cattle panels in my area. I hesitated buying it because I heard that the squares were hard to harvest through. But if you are able to do it, I'm guessing I may have an easier time of it since I have pretty small hands. I suppose the next time I'm at HD I'll stick my hand through a roll and hopefully they won't have to come cut me out. Maybe I could enlarge every other square by bending the sides of every other square outward? of course, that would make the in between squares smaller.

CC

Definitely, can do. Customize them as you want, make squares larger as needed.
If your not into arm nicks, file them smooth and round em off...a few tools does wonders.
Even just a wad of duct tape will suffice.

**sanderson** 12/20/2014, 5:26 pm

Or snip the unwanted section in half. Roll end end into a tight curl with need-nosed pliers.

yolos 12/20/2014, 8:09 pm

There is also some kind of plastic spray (or paint on) that you can cover the cut ends with. Somewhere on this forum it was discussed in the past but I can't find it.

**jimmy cee** 12/20/2014, 10:21 pm

sanderson wrote:Jimmy, You always come up with comething clever. I especially like the "hinges" you designed. They have got to be easy for storage.

Carrie, Welcome to the Forum from California! $glad you\'re here$

The wire wrapped around hinges won't fold, however the squares made with twine will, and their just as good.
If you use twine, make sure wrap is around both sides at the weld and criss cross. This way it won't slide.
With 40 squares to a bed, that makes for a lot of squares hanging around.
I hide them down below from wife, she wants thing nice and neat. I'm more into things.

johnp 12/21/2014, 5:30 pm

You can also buy rolls of what I think they call garden fencing or something like that at Home Depot. It already has the legs that push into the MM. I cut and form a semi-circle to put on the E side of all my peppers etc. when small to keep them up right against the wind. The fencing is 2 ft. tall when pushed in so it works really well for support. At the end of the season I just bend one into the other, kind of like a round stack and store around one of the apple trees. The fencing is green colored.

quiltbea 12/25/2014, 7:35 pm

This is such a good idea Jimmy. Making cages and trellises with it is perfect.
If one gets the wire with narrower spaces, you need only snip the wires in between to make larger openings. And weatherproof.
You can also place a barrier in the bed between plants to make a shade shelter by attaching some netting or cheesecloth to the barrier. Helps to keep greens and lettuces growing longer into the summer and protects tomatoes from the harsh high temps when its 90*F or more in summer.
If you have strawberries, make an arching tunnel over the bed and lay bird netting over it to prevent those pesky birds from eating your harvest before you can. The same for protecting your blueberry bushes from the birds.
Thanks for those great pictures. They make your statement.

Jarrett 1/3/2015, 5:23 pm

jimmy cee wrote:I kinda thought this may be a help to some, so here goes

Last 2 seasons I worked with a roll of wire I picked up at Lowes.
There are many different ways to go on this, let your mind run wild.
Round, square, short square, tall square, etc. etc.
I've found the bottom spikes running into the M.M. has been sufficient for my needs.
Wind, summer storms hasn't affected them at all.
There are smaller squares, and I think larger squares, and a good variation at Lowes.

Here's the roll intact

Here is a round cage cut to fit this container for peppers.

Here are potato cages I made to high

A few square cages for peppers in a cold frame.

A few more.

A round cage that does nicely for cucumbers.

A couple newly made

Notice the bottom pieces have been snipped to for legs for insertion into MM...This has worked for me.

When first tried this I tied sides together with twine, then discovered pieces can be cut to twist.

**AtlantaMarie** 1/3/2015, 8:43 pm

Hi Jarret! Welcome to the forum from rainy Atlanta, GA.

In the tool dept of your local big box store, you should be able to find some dip for tool handles (to increase grip on your tools). It comes in a variety of colors. You could use that on the sharp edges to keep from cutting/scratching yourself & students.

**jimmy cee** 1/3/2015, 11:51 pm

Yes there will definitely be scratched hands and arms..
I had many.
If you want to spend the time there is a way of rounding off the spurs.
Using a fine/medium file and work meticulously it can be done.
Glue sticks may be another method as 2 part epoxy, If children are involved I would do the filing.

Leone 4/28/2016, 7:54 am

Hi Jimmy,

Do the little spikes at the bottom poke through the weed barrier?

**jimmy cee** 4/28/2016, 8:40 am

Leone wrote:Hi Jimmy,

Do the little spikes at the bottom poke through the weed barrier?

Hi Leone
No, just as long as your MM is around 6 inches, length to first horizontal cross piece is only 4 inches, no need to go below that.

Leone 4/28/2016, 10:20 am

jimmy cee wrote:
Leone wrote:Hi Jimmy,

Do the little spikes at the bottom poke through the weed barrier?

Hi Leone
No, just as long as your MM is around 6 inches, length to first horizontal cross piece is only 4 inches, no need to go below that.

Okay, thanks! I don't have anything big enough yet, but I might need to make some of these to support our broccoli and some of the things I want to let go to seed that will get kind of tall. Thank you for the great information and pictures.

**Scorpio Rising** 4/28/2016, 7:52 pm

$glad you\'re here$ Leone! Would love to have you start a thread and introduce yourself!

Leone 5/1/2016, 2:21 pm

Scorpio Rising wrote: $glad you\'re here$ Leone! Would love to have you start a thread and introduce yourself!

Okay, I will do that soon. There are so many wonderful ideas on this forum. I am enjoying poking around and learning new things every day!

**Scorpio Rising** 5/2/2016, 9:04 pm

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Supports for plants in and out of beds

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Re: Supports for plants in and out of beds

Hello Jimmy, I have been wanting to plant potatoes with my students at school. I like the cages you created for that. I am concerned about them getting scratchedup. I work with Elemenatary students. I do not want to have to buy large containers due to

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