Tomatoes should be supported. Whether you cage or stake them is personal preference. Regardless of the method, plants with foliage and fruit supported off the ground will produce more than unsupported plants. Caging has several advantages. It involves less work than staking. Once the cage is placed over the plant, no further manipulation of the plant is needed — no pruning, no tying. The fruit are simply harvested as they ripen. Other advantages of caging over staking include protection of fruit from bird damage, by more vigorous foliage cover and less fruit rot. Caged tomato vines produce more fruit of a smaller size, but staked and tied plants produce less fruit which mature earlier, yet are larger. In many areas, staking and pruning of the plant to a single or multiple stem results in sunburn when the developing fruit is exposed to excessive sunlight.

Browse related Faqs by tag: horticulture, tomato, vegetables and herbs, cages, staking