How to Support a Stake Cage for Tomato Plants

Tomato stakes sometimes need extra support.

A tomato stake cage is a type of cage for a tomato that has a stake at the center and a spiral cage surrounding the stake for the branches of the tomato plant to rest on. If the tomatoes on a stake cage are particularly heavy, the plant may need additional staking surrounding the cage to support the tomato fruit. Installing these extra stakes is easy and should not take more than 10 minutes per cage.

Things You'll Need

• Tomato plants
• Tomato stake cage
• Wooden or metal stakes
• Twine or thin wire
• Scissors or wire cutters
• Hammer

Instructions

1. Place the stake cage around the plant when the tomato plant is still small. Once the first flowers start to bloom is a fine time to introduce the cage.

2. Arrange the stalks of the tomato plant around the outside edges of the cage. Place the main stake right next to the main stalk of the tomato plant.

3. Tie the tomato stalks to the stake cage in several different locations. Tie some of the main side branches to the outside cage. Tie the main stalk of the tomato to the main stake of the tomato cage.

4. Monitor the growth of the tomato plant. If any branches start to become too heavy for the cage, tie them in an additional location on the cage. Test the cage to make sure it isn't wobbling or about to fall over.

5. When the stake cage starts to droop with the weight of the tomatoes, add exterior stakes to the cage for additional stability. Hammer several stakes around the border of the cage. Try to place the stakes as close to the edge of the cage as possible.

6. Tie the stakes to the cage with twine or metal wire. Tie the stakes to the cage at several points. If the main stake for the tomato cage is having trouble supporting the weight of the main tomato stalk, hammer an additional stake near the main stalk of the tomato plant.

7. Tie the tomato stalk to the new center support stake. These additional stakes should be strong enough to hold the weight of even the heaviest tomatoes. If the tomato plant continues to grow after this stage, use additional stakes to hold the cage in place.

Tips & Warnings

• Take care when hammering the stakes into the ground. If you hammer close to the tomato plant, you can cut off some of the roots. Pay special attention to this when hammering a new stake near the center of the plant. If it sounds like roots are tearing, stop hammering.

References

• Tomato Cages: Tomato Cages
• Mississippi State University: Staking and Training Tomatoes