"DigitalVinyl" wrote in message
...
(James) wrote:

I grew a few tomatoes without stake or cage this year. Seems like
it's a better method. You get a lot more tomatoes because the stems
root themselves on the ground and multi-stems also increases the
number of fruits.

So is the one stem on a stake method just a waste of time?

I had both and I really prefer the cage to a stake. tying them
appropriately requires more than a stake..a stake with nails studding
its length would work better. I and my neighbor both found the wieght
of tomatoes to eventually slide down collapsing some on the ground and
other plants. However my caged ones worked beautifully. I pinched out
early in the season on my indeterminate one but eventually I had three
major vines from one plant. Two were staked, the third grew into the
cage of the next tomato plant. The staked ones slid, hung over,
collapsed on other flowers and veggies. THe one in the cage was held
high. Next year I'm buying more cages, it kept my gardening neater
(especially in containers).

Having them slide and collapse didn't hurt my yeilds. My
indeterminate(1/8 lb fruit) has produced 40 tomatoes with 3 dozen on
the vines now(about 8 ready to pick). My determinate(1/4 lb fruit) is
finishing up, 39 so far, another dozen+ on the vine, 4 almost ripe. My
third plant, I grew as determinate(1/3 lb fruit), but it suffered from
wilt. It yeilded only 10 beefsteaks(slightly small), with another 8
greens on the plant.

For the past few years I have used only cages, an this year I wanted to try
a staked vs. caged trail but both plants died. For some reason this year
most of my cages fell over and crushed other tomatoes, so it's been a mess.
It's made me really consider doing all staked next year, but I have
reservations since your posting.