Wood stakes about 6 to 8 feet long and 1 1/2 inches wide can be used. Push the stakes into the soil about 2 feet.

Stake tomato plants before they get too large and before roots can be damaged by stake.

Tomato plants in wire cages. Be sure openings are large enough so you can pick fruit. Cages are stored in off-season for re-use.

Tie soft twine or strips of rag tightly around the stake 2 to 3 inches above a leaf stem, then loop the twine loosely around the main stem not far below the base of the leaf stem, and tie with a square knot. Plant ties, made of tape reinforced with wire, may also be used to fasten plants to stakes. Six-inch mesh concrete reinforcing wire may also be used to support tomato plants by forming a circle 18 inches in diameter around the plant.

If you wish to prune staked tomato plants to 1 or 2 stems, about once a week remove by hand the small shoots that appear at the point where the leaf stem joins the main stem. Grasp the shoot with your thumb and forefinger and bend it sharply to one side until it snaps, then pull it off in the opposite direction.