****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Worth the money.If you don’t think these will bend and/or break I think you’re expecting a lot. I just put them in today and I’m still using the ones I purchased in 2015 (along with some newer purchases) so this is season four and all are still in very good usable condition. I’ve purchased about 40 of these and will admit the welds aren’t the best but when you weld a rod to another rod there’s not a lot of surface area to actually get a good job. When placing them in the ground the wetter the soil the better and don’t push down from the top… grab the rods at the lowest ring, holding only the portion going into the ground and then push them in slowly and rotate around all three rods so they go in somewhat evenly. I add a twist of wire from a roll of construction wire whenever one breaks and will get around to welding them some time in the future. If you don’t use the hoops to push them in or pull them out it helps to just apply pressure to the vertical rods. I use this for smaller items like determinate tomatoes and peppers and the Panacea 89729 (or similar) for determinate tomatoes because they are larger and heavier. I’ve had no problems with them and if you tend to the plants and help separate the branches through the cage it works quite well. I have never had them fall over and have wired some lengths of 1/2" EMT along the tops or just wired them together for a stronger system. I’ve tried a lot of options like a fence down each row; tying to stakes; nylon trellis; wire cattle fencing; and lines hanging down from overhead pipes and nothing has beat these inexpensive cages that keep coming back for more each year… but, obviously based on other reviews opinions do differ. Similar cages go for a lot more in the closest shopping area that’s 40-miles away and they are no different, do cost much more and are rarely in stock when needed so having them shipped to me is a real plus and I can straighten them if there’s something bent… and pretty much every one I use has some bends after a growing season. I think a lot of folks underestimate the weight of a plant that is full of tomatoes and the year I used heavy gauge steel fencing down the rows I had to tie it up to rebar rods and overhead pipe and it still started to collapse and it was very hard to stand it up so keep your expectations reasonable and use the right type of cage for your plants. I think these are a solid 4-stars but I went with 5-stars because I have no complaints and just purchased another 10-pack today plus some more heavy duty cages because we have winds here that are too much for a plant in the early months so those little ones need some help.Unlike other reviews, mine arrived in-tact and in perfect shape. No bent pieces, no broken weld joints. Works just fine.We used them in a large 30' x 11.5' raised garden that had regular soil combined with garden soil on top. So some of our soil an inch deep is rough, with plenty of rocks, even after tilling it with a front-end tiller. We're using these for San Marzano tomato plants and so far they're working perfectly. We also add a single stake with each cage and looped it between the rings, which makes the structure so much more secure. If you're growing larger tomatoes, I wouldn't recommend these, but for San Marzano, Roma, and smaller, they're perfect.Warning: these easily bend when trying to insert them in soil that contains rocks. Insert gently, and if you hit a rock, even a small one, remove, and start over. Because it doesn't take much pressure to bend these when inserting them into the ground.The only disappointment I have with them is that each and every cage had an annoying sticker tag on with a barcode. Why do you need to label these individually if they're sold in packages of 10? Some tags came off easily, while others were a pain to remove.I’ve recently taken my first foray into gardening almost 40 years on this earth. We purchased out first home last year and I finally put up a raised bed. Over the past few months I’ve been growing and prepping tomatoes and such for my raised bed.Because of the current state of affairs I’ve been staying away from all stores. Based on what I could find online these looked like the best bet and not too over priced. I was a bit worried since there were a lot of reviews stating the pieces weren’t fully welded together. I knew if this happened I would have to DIY some solutions.I’m happy to say these arrived in great condition and quality. I have about 4 tomato plants in these right now and they do tbe trick. They’ve already been through a storm or two and held up great.SAVE YOUR MONEYSadly, these are terribly made. Several of the rings were broken in the box. The solder they used was not great quality and does not hold the loops together. I will try and take a picture to post if I have time.Sadly, I have to keep them because they seem to be very difficult to get this year for some reason. I would not buy these again.I used them strictly for my tomato plant. good starter. Now using stakes to tie my plants.I think the title sums it up.GoodNice sturdy tomato cages.
