[RJR_38]

I will be looking to buy a fruit cage this summer so I can get it planted up this autumn. The rough size I will be looking at is 2m by 5-7m (length is flexible). The sites I have looked on seem to vary wildly in price and it is hard to tell what you are getting. Has anyone got any good recommendations? I don't mind spending some money to get something that will last but I haven't got money to be throwing around so I need something simple but good quality

[Trillium]

Wish I could help you out but I'm unfamiliar with UK products. They're impossible to purchase here so we're making our own out of 1x2's for upper bracings and side supports all screwed together then netting laid on top. Lower sides will have 2ft chicken wire inside to deter chewing pests like rabbits.

[RJR_38]

Building my own from scratch would probably be my first choice if there were 2 of us - but it is only me at the lottie. I will have enough trouble talking the OH into helping me put up the shed this summer. At least a fruit cage 'kit' I can do by myself and isn't a 2 person job

[Trillium]

I know the feeling  I have to drag my crowd kicking and whining to get garden help, yet they love to eat all the produce. Last year they got no blueberries or raspberries because the birds got everything so this year they're willing to help....a little.

[VegGirl7]

just a thought but what about buying a gazebo (think I paid £10 for mine in a sale) and covering it in debris netting?
I've just used the upper half of one (put up alone) to put over the brassica bed as pigeon protection and did think at the time it could be used as a fruit cage too...  If you remove the little plastic feet the legs will push into the soil to hold it in place 

[RJR_38]

I did wonder about that but wondered if it would be strong enough to stand winds etc - especially if it going to be 2m by 5m+

[VegGirl7]

looking at some of the ones you can buy they don't look like much more...

for that size I'd get two and stand them side by side so there'd be extra legs for support and push them well into the ground.  I'd probably not leave them up all year - just put them up and have the netting over when the fruit had set and needs the protection.

I'm really considering doing it myself now!  part of timber on the fruit cage I inherited on the plot has been badly neglected and needs replacing and will be quite a big job so this could be a semi-long-term solution 

[Trillium]

I think 2 gazebos butted together would work very well, and taking down the netting in fall is a wise idea considering how badly any heavy snowfall can damage and tear the net. I plan to take down my huge net each fall as it cost quite a lot and I don't intend to have to replace it from sheer laziness.

Another idea is THIS one that I'll be making for my blueberries growing in raised beds. The connectors are simply snapped on rather than glued and are taken down each fall so they don't blow away in winter weather. I do get strong summer winds at times and will peg mine in securely. I already have the connectors and will be buying the piping tomorrow so we can put it together this weekend as my blueberries are already half grown and the birds will be coming by very soon. 

[RJR_38]

Lots to think about! Thanks. More research todo I think!

[Headgardener22]

I bought one from Harrod Horticultural and its been fine.

Look out for their special offers, there can be significant discounts.

[RJR_38]

I have looked theirs and they do look like the best quality ones - also one of the most expensive so I will def keep an eye out for discounts!

[Yorkie]

HH is one of the companies linked to the main website (click Allotment Shop underneath the top banner), and sometimes John secures discount codes for us here.

If you do decide to buy from HH, do click through to the site from the Shop above, because it will encourage HH to keep us as a commercial partner.

I've also seen this sort of thing on the Marshalls website, which is tempting:
http://www.marshalls-seeds.co.uk/easy-connect-crop-cage-large-pid6494.html

[RJR_38]

Yes, I thought about smaller individual ones but I think it will just be easier (and more effective overall) to get a large ones I can walk into

[sunshineband]

Ours is home made (yes I did read your original post RJR  ) with 2ins square posts set into post mix and a top frame screwed into place once the posts are up, made of the slightly thinner profile wood.

Netting is polythene black 1ins square holes (so insects can get in OK) stapled on from a roll, 2m wide

Fairly straightforward and has stood up to the 80mph+ gales we get too. It is 2m wide and the end section has some hooks to hold the netting so it can come off in the winter and let birds in to forage.

Decent price overall (ours is 14m long) and the only time we needed two people was for the stapling of the netting

HH is the best of the  commercial ones I could see, but a tad pricy for the size we wanted though. A shorter one is affordably I reckon.

Make sure you get one that will not buckle under the weight of snow on the poles.. Some of the cheaper versions are fairly flimsy

[Stree]

I have never needed a fruit cage. My fruit seems quite tame and none have ever attempted to escape.
Apart from the raspberries that are digging secret tunnels. I know they are because they keep popping up to see how far they have got.