BenGman wrote:

I'm wondering: If your tomatoes are growing on the ground, wouldn't
they get full of bugs that would eat them? And Lyn, how do you keep
all your tomato plant branches on one stake? I tried the same thing
this year, but there was too much foliage to put on one stake and i had
to squish all the branches on to three stakes (which still didn't work
very well).
Next year, i'd really like to grow more tomatoes, but cages seem like
the best thing, becasue the foliage will grow inside the cage and it
won't touch the ground. Any thoughts?

Ben

The first year I grew tomatoes the snails got more than we did then the
birds took over. Now I use either cages that support the lower growth
along with stakes to support the higher growth or the tomato ladder. I
grow all my tomatoes vertically now and have had no problem with snails.
I like growing the tomatoes vertically as the crop is a lot more
productive.