Things You'll Need:
- concrete wire mesh
- alt: wire fencing
- heavy duty wire cutting pliers
- rust converter or rust preventive paint
- paint brush (throw away?)
- finish color paint
- Or forget the paint and use galvanized wire fencing (explanation in article)
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Step 1
First, go to the local building supply and buy one or more sections of concrete reinforcing mesh. Each 5' x 10' sheet has 6" squares and costs about $6.50 with tax. Each sheet of mesh makes two cages a generous 18" in diameter. So each cage would cost about $3.25.
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Step 2
The wire mesh is stored outside and is not galvanized, so is most likely rusty. I suggest you paint it with rust-converter paint. It costs $24.56 per quart but is worth the price because it converts rust into hardened material that will never rust again. If you want to go a cheaper route, you can save $15 by using a rust-inhibitor paint like Rust-Oleum, but there's no guarantee it will never rust again. It "inhibits" rust but doesn't "convert" or absolutely "prevent" rust.
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Step 3
To get ready to paint the mesh, first lay down a large tarp and place stubs of 2 x 4 under it to hold it off the tarp.
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Step 4
Then apply the rust-converter paint. You can use a brush, but I found it takes about 30 minutes to do one side of one 5 x 10 sheet. At that rate it would take 3 hours to complete the rust-converter application, not counting the final finish coat.
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Step 5
Using a short, stubby paint roller works a lot better. I made one out of a 14" bolt I had salvaged from a reel of utility wire, and cut off two inches of a used paint roller using a fine-toothed blade on my table saw (and moved the roller past the blade very slowly). I used a 1 5/8" hole saw to cut a 1 1/2" disk out of a piece of 2" x 4" and used it for the hub. You may have to redrill the hole in the middle to fit the wire or bolt you are using for your roller. A similar roller can probably be purchased at Lowe's or Home Depot or a good paint store for about $10.
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Step 6
Using the roller you can coat one side of the wire mesh in 10 minutes. As you finish one, prop it up somewhere to dry and move the next sheet onto the painting blocks. Let each side dry thoroughly before turning over and painting the other side.
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Step 7
The rust-converter paint prevents rust, but is not intended to be left exposed to the sun. So after the rust converter paint is thoroughly dry, apply a finish coat using the same process. I used a forest green.
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Step 8
After the paint is thoroughly dry, use a heavy-duty wire-cutter pliers to cut each sheet of mesh across the middle. Leave a wire stub on each side of your cut. Use these stubs to fasten the cut end to the uncut end. Flex and roll each cage first to get it into a somewhat drum shape before trying to pull the ends together. I protected the finish by putting a couple of strips of masking tape over the jaws of the pliers--although the tape got messed up and had to be replaced frequently. You may not want to bother.
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Step 9
I tried to wrap at least one wire in each cage both over and under the wire I was fastening it to. This prevents the cut end from slipping up or down on the other end.
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Step 10
After your cages are finished, place them over your tomatoes and watch the tomatoes grow. Here I stand with my tomatoes crawling out the top of my five-foot cages. The tomatoes appear to be nearly seven-feet high because they are grown on slightly raised beds.
