[Part time dabbler]

I will be putting in a permanent fruit cage this autumn and have been thinking about materials. The obvious one is wooden posts but I have been thinking about building the structure out of rebar used in construction.
 
Has anyone used rebar or any other material to keep the costs down but will last many years?

[mapahutchins]

Sorry never used it but was chatting with my father-in-law and he was of the opinion that it would be a bugger to work with (cutting and fixing). Also he pointed out the ease of using wood to fix your netting etc compared to the bar...

Maybe you already factored all those considerations into your thinking?

[Perris]

I use those bars with hooked tops (the sort often used around building sites) for all sorts of temporary uses - fencing, plant support, netting etc. They are easy to push into ground, you can fix netting with plastic ties or string, and they're practically invisible. Long bars might not work so well with something high enough to walk into though...

[Scotsdumpy]

Depending on how big your fruit cage is have you thought of using an old greenhouse frame. We were lucky to find a large greenhouse frame when we moved in and now use it for a fruit cage. We covered it with fine fishing nets (lots round here near Fraserburgh). I'm always on the lookout for a cheap/free polytunnel frame to make a larger protected area for brassicas etc.

[Foobar]

Scaffold bars?

[Part time dabbler]

At a rough estimate, I have not measured the area yet, I am looking at 20ft * 30ft