Tomato Cages From an Old Garden Hose

This project is great for when the hardware store runs out of tomato cages. This instructable is also a good way to help the environment by reusing an old garden hose. You can make these cages really easily, so give it a try!

- 4 tall and sturdy stakes for one tomato cage (my stakes were 5 feet each, but the height is flexible)

- scissors and a measuring tool to cut the hose

- a garden hose cut into 52-inch strips (I made 4 for one cage, but you can have more or fewer strips depending on the height of your stakes)

- a drill with a drill bit which is the same diameter as your stakes (my drill bit's diameter was 1/2 an inch)

- a thick piece of scrap wood to drill on top of

You need to drill 5 holes on all of your strips of hose. In the end, the holes will split each strip into four sections which will be the sides of a loop on the cage. Start by drilling a hole at a 1/2 inch from each end of a strip.*** Then you can just fold the hose in half to find the mid mark, and in half again to find the quarter marks (5 holes total per strip). You can drill and fold as you go, so you don't even need to mark with a measuring tool.

***Drilling: Position your scrap wood on the floor, and step on the hose about 1 inch away from where you want to drill. You don't even need a clamp; just be sure to wear close-toed shoes. Try to drill the holes on the same side of the hose so that they are facing the same direction. Drill all the way through both sides of the hose.

A) Take an end hole from one hose strip and push it onto a stake. Push stakes through the 3 middle holes. The last end-hole goes onto the same stake as the first end-hole so that you complete a circular structure.

B) Repeat part A for the rest of your hose strips. You may want to make the cage look symmetrical by starting the end-hole on a different stake each time.

C) Slide the strips on the stakes so that they are evenly spaced. Make sure that all the holes on each individual strip are level with each other.

D) Place your new tomato cage in the garden, and you're done!