Tormato! Tomato Cage With Trellis and Nutrient Delivery System

The Tormato replaces ugly wire cages or stakes with an aesthetically pleasing cage, trellis, and a nutrient delivery system!
More info @ www.itsatormato.com.

Step 1: Gather Tools

Chalk line

Measuring Tape

Saw (Hand or Jigsaw works fine)

Marker

Drill

5/8 drill bit (NOT speed bore)

3/16 drill bit


20 ft of 1/2 inch Pex tubing per Tormato

10 ft x1 1/4 PVC (8 ft will work fine if that is how your store sells it. 10 ft is more common)

Hands - Two works best for me.

Comments

[fireman1979a]

nise design i am going to give it a try this weekend. i also wanted to say you should try a uni bit or a step bit. its alot better and easier than a paddle bit. you can get a set of them at harbor freight for like 10.00. and worth every cent lol.

again nice design. i have a feeling my dad will be making some as soon as he gets a look at mine lol

[LobbyDizzle]

Oh man, you should be wearing a cup!

[e_doe19]

I love the tormato! I have built 3 so far using PVC and pex (blue). I was not crazy about the blue pex but that's all I can find around here. So I decided to try for something more rustic using wide-diameter bamboo poles (from pier 1) and grapevine (from a wreath I deconstructed). I think it will be OK for the smaller tomato plant I set it up with. I am going to try to find some thicker-diameter grapevine. If you do decide to make one this way, you need to soak your bamboo and your grapevine because the bamboo will crack while you are drilling it if you don't. And go slow with the drill. I used a drill press to give me more control. At any rate, these are great and so much better than the other options I've tried. I wish I had found this before my other set of tomatoes got so tall and bushy. Thank you for sharing it!!

[gdsmit1]

I checked out your site and see you used it last year. Was there any sag from the weight of the tomatoes? PEX isn't the most rigid material. This is in the running to replace my cages next year. I doubt I'd use the nutrient system, but I really like the collapsible design.

[axydlbaaxr]

Due to the tension of the spiral, there is no sagging of the pex--you can grab it and give it a good pull and it will flex a bit, but there is no noticeable sag when they are loaded.

[Schmidtn]

Might be a silly question... I'm no gardener, this is for my Mama. Do the holes or the 45 degree angle face the roots of the tomatoes? Thank you for the 'ible!

[axydlbaaxr]

The long part of the spike would face the tomato pant, and so would the drilled holes. Though basically any way to get water underneath the soil, the plants will find the source.

[Bowfin47]

Why not cut-in a pvc "t" in at the point of the nutrient hole, and then add 2-3 inches of pvc pipe to the horizonal section of the "T' . To the end of that smaller section of pipe, add an elbow with the open end facing up. This will allow you to pour nutient into the open end of the elbow, and therefore the system, much easier. Kyle M.

[axydlbaaxr]

cuz T's are like $1.50 @ the 1 1/4 size. Go for it though...you might have to glue the pieces together to keep them from getting wobbly. If you're gonna do it, i'd suggest gluing everything together before you start drilling.

[domestic_engineer]

this is really clever i can't wait to try it.

[topcat5]

Thanks for taking the time to post this, but could you please add some photos of it zoomed out a bit. I can't figure out how it is supposed to work.

[axydlbaaxr]

there are more photosat the website

[axydlbaaxr]

updated photos here.

[Weissensteinburg]

I'd like a less artistic photo of the finished product, just a zoomed out shot of everything.

[axydlbaaxr]

I've added the photos your requested into step 9.

[Weissensteinburg]

Those really help clarify things. Thanks!

[axydlbaaxr]

I'll take one later this week....does the picture in step 7 help at all?

[saabstorey]

yes please. Thanks a lot. Also, I'm a bit confused about how it delivers nutrients to the plant. perhaps you could add some pics of the whole thing, and pics of you watering/feeding it? Thanks in advance!

[axydlbaaxr]

Step 9 now has a picture of the water/feed system at work.

[explosivemaker]

it's a very clever design....