Staking Vrs Caging observation

[Volvo]

Seeings as how i'm back into my vegypatch again with a vengence, this year decided to halfe stake and halfe cage my Tomato's mainly due to persistant arguing with my BIL that staking is best!!??..(his opinion)
Caged Tomato's i have left to do their own thing and have not pruned in any shape or form except to cut away or snap off yellowing leaves..
Staked Tomato's i have left to two main stems and continuousely picking off any side shoots that appear..
Apart from one variety to another growing faster the caged Tomatos do continuousely show more yellowing of the leaves mainly lower down and with fruit size being a wee bit smaller on the average..
The staked Tomatos so far have given me very little worry regarding yellowing of leaves especially four plants round the back o the house which still have all original leaf and must admit have been a tad surprised by the difference in the size of the fruit(larger)..
I put the leafe problemo to the fact that the staked tomatos are getting more air curculation hence the greener folliage lower down. And would it be true that the larger fruit due to the fact that nutriants /feed doesnt have to be shared with more plant????..
Main reason for posting this observation is due to once reading that staking/pruning versus caging didnt make all that difference unless i missread the post??....
Previousely i caged near all plants with the stakes mainly being used to support the cages...
To make it a tad more interesting i purchased another lot of stakes today 9&10 footers & just need to sus out how i'm gunna get to the top of them n tap em into the ground ..
But then again varieties planted are different to previous years, could this be the reason for the difference??...
What are others experience as i havent really taken all that much interest in past expressions as to which way is best to go...
Thereya go!!, not bad for five in the morning ey ....Needed something to jot the eyes open till me relief gets in ..

[bbjm]

Sounds like you have settled on staking. You said the staked plants had less yellowing leaves and bigger fruit. Any observations on the number of fruits on staked plants vs. caged??

[tomatoguy]

I haven't staked in many years but I have used trellises. The results should be similar to staking since it also involves pruning and provides more air circulation. Here are my observations. One caveat for caging is that you must use cages that are big enough. Where I live that means at least 6 feet tall.

I haven't noticed much difference in the number of yellowed leaves at the bottom of the plants. The only time I observe much of that at all is after a lot of soaking rains. Since I have gone to a raised bed it isn't usually an issue since I have good drainage now.

I get more tomatoes but they are slightly smaller on average when caging. That did not prevent me, however, from having Ashleigh and Granny Cantrell's German Red fruit over 2 pounds last year. On the other hand, my all time record Mortgage Lifter Red at 3 pounds, 6 ounces was trellised.

I find that disease tolerance is poorer on trellised plants. I attribute this to the extensive pruning that leaves open wounds for disease infiltration.

It also seems to me that caged plants don't play out as early as the trellised ones. Again, that could be due to the disease factor.

I have come to prefer caging now that I seem to have an adequate support system for large cages. It allows me to have more plant mass in a given area in my relatively small garden. There is less work involved since I don't prune at all.

I will have one staked plant this year. It is called Stick.

mater

[Volvo]

bbjm, yep the caged seem to prooduce more tommies in the past and now with some varieties ..
Tomatoguy, good point you raised about open wounds when pruning!!, must keep an open eye out with that one and see if there aint some merit in it..
Cheers

[dcarch]

In trying to understand some other variables which might make a possible difference in tomatoes’ health, production, and maturity when we are comparing supporting systems:

1. Caging system limits wind caused branch movements, will this decrease pollination?

2. Staking with treated wood poles; will the chemical leeched from the wood limit soil micro-organism activity?

3. All chemical activities are electrical in nature. Will caging, supporting with metal encourage or discourage chemical activities?

dcarch

[Volvo]

Climate for that particular season might as in the past i havent paid much heed to this and was and still think caging is much tidier and leaves less work..
BUT!! if one has or does spray then cages are much more difficult to get in amon the plants without some bruising or nudging of fruit..
Being in a tropical climate i do think poses a problem far as plant or ground moisture which may attract such pests as white fly which has always been a problem here...
Like said, i was amazed at the difference between plants at the side of the house versus plant round the back which have more access to breeze, sun and dont have any heat reflected from the brick wall of the house....
Dony know whether i should be so concerned as it dont look like i'll have a shortage of Tommies for the season lol..