The voice of Waite--on tomatoes

Dawn saw some cages in Waite's garden but they are next to useless.

Waite says:

I got all of them free. As a friend of mine said, 'You do not want a tomato plant that a cage can hold up.' In other words, any such plant is too small. As I recall you noticed trouble with cages last year. I think your system with that metal grid last year was good.

What I'm doing this year is planting the one type in rows without staking, as I did last year. They don't look so pretty, but it's the most efficient way for me because I'm doing so many. With the others, I'm doing a post and wire system. In fact, I put in more posts Sunday. Then I'll string two wires on each set of posts, probably at 12 inches high and at 30 inches high. As the plants grow, I'll attach them to the wires with surveyor's tape unless I come up with a cheaper alternative.

One other concept I've had and not yet tried is this: set in the cedar posts and then run a wire the height of the cages. Then set the cages and secure them to the wire so that they won't fall over. I think that's a pretty quick, good-looking method for you if you're only doing, say, 12-24 tomato plants. You could get them all in one row of about 75 feet.