I let my cucumbers sprawl on the ground for two years and ended up with hidden yellow softballs and slug damage on a third of them. A simple DIY trellis made from stakes and twine fixed all of that for under four dollars and freed up six square feet of bed space.
Store-bought tomato cages fold over by August and cost way too much to do it so dramatically. Here are the cheap alternatives that actually hold up, including the one made from concrete reinforcing wire that costs about $2.19 per cage and lasts forever.
Those flimsy green wire tomato cages from the hardware store cost $4 and fall over by August. Here are five cheaper alternatives that actually hold up an indeterminate tomato without embarrassing everyone involved.