What types of plants do you have (determinate or indeterminate)? How big are your cone supports?

Dude, you're in 9b and your plants are only 18" tall? They should be between 4-6 FEET by now; when did you plant out?? You may soon have bigger problems than your support system. That is, in another month to month and a half your season's gonna be over. You may still get a few, but I don't think you're actually going to have a problem with your plants outgrowing the cages. I mean, they will, eventually, but they won't be producing much either, so...I wouldn't worry about it. Next year start sooner! =)

Why will the season be over in a month and a half? People around here keep getting tomatoes well into Sept./Oct...I planted them about a month ago, right after the last frost.

I think turnd_out is referring to the temperatures in 9b in a month and a half. It will likely be too hot (in the 90's) for the blooms to set fruit. Tomatoes will only produce fruit within a certain range of air temps. Check out the FAQs here on "blossom drop".

But you are right that if you can keep the plants alive through the heat they will start producing again once the weather cools. That is why most in your zone plant much earlier for their spring crop and then plant again after the worst of the summer for a good fall crop.

As to your cages, if the plants are that small you can easily remove them with no harm to the plants. Just don't break off any branches in the process if possible. OR, you can leave them in place and just add the stakes too. The stakes will help support the base of the 3 ring things and then you can just tie the plant to the stake above the top ring. Either will work. ;)

You'll want to contact your local county extension office to learn the recommended planting dates for your area for future reference.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Tomato FAQ's

Yes, that's what I meant =) And that's correct. If you can carry healthy plants over to Fall, you'll might have a second season this year. However, if you're in 9b, your last frost date can't be in April and you still planted out at least half a month later than you should've. In general, you should be able to get away with planting by at least March 10. At any rate, I would expect your plants to be a bit taller by now. Do they get much sun?

I could be wrong about the zone - on a zip code lookup map it tells me 9-10. I am near the coast, and the weather here tends to be much more mild. Those "zones" are pretty broad classifications. Here's a fairly accurate description of where I live:

"Salinas, CA climate is mild during summer when temperatures tend to be in the 60's and cool during winter when temperatures tend to be in the 50's.

The warmest month of the year is September with an average maximum temperature of 74.60 degrees Fahrenheit, while the coldest month of the year is December with an average minimum temperature of 39.40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Temperature variations between night and day tend to be fairly limited during summer with a difference that can reach 19 degrees Fahrenheit, and moderate during winter with an average difference of 22 degrees Fahrenheit.

The annual average precipitation at Salinas is 15.12 Inches. Rainfall in is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year. The wettest month of the year is January with an average rainfall of 3.00 Inches."

We do get some 90 degree days, but only a handful. I had read the FAQ about blossom drop. . .I don't think too hot is going to be my biggest problem. My neighbor (who's in something like his 60th year of planting tomatoes in his backyard across the street - he's 92) said he usually doesn't even plant until around May 1 because it's not warm enough to really get 'em growing; in his words, "they just sit there and look at ya."

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the term "frost date." Is it a technical term, or just the last time that you wake up to frozen stuff around you? Stupid question, I know, but I have a feeling I'm not communicating something correctly.

Yes, the plants get direct sun for at least 6-8 hours a day (I need to be a little more scientific about it), but it's been a cold spring - it's been in the 50's all this last week with a high of 63 projected for the next week. On the few hot days we have had, the plants have practically grown before my eyes, but they don't grow much during these chilly times.

So. . .I can put in a stake without messing up their little root systems?

Thanks,

Christopher

I am in 9b and my tomatoes are about the same size as Christopher's. Here it doesn't make much difference if you plant March first or April first. The March plants will just sit there and wait for April to arrive.

Night time temps have only recently moved into the fifties. Early starts generally don't set tomatoes early. My Big Beef are the largest at about two feet but have no sets. First Lady was first to set about three weeks ago, followed by Sun Gold and Early Girl.

I am still planting tomatoes. I'll be picking til December.

Remove the cages and don't worry about damaging the roots.

Zeuspaul

Christopher, oh, I see. You're on the Cali. coast! Ok. Yeah, I was worried about your temps soaring into the high 80's or 90's before long, but sounds like that shouldn't be a problem. I've never even been to Cali., much less tried to grow anything there. I assumed you were somewhere south of me in Texas or Fla.

Your "frost date" question isn't stupid. Yes, it's technical. It's the "average" date of the last frost in your area from year to year. In any one year, your last freeze could happen sometime before or after the "frost date". Therefore, it's just a guideline. Some people plant out only after, some like to gamble and do it before depending on their location and other factors, such as if they have walls-o-water to protect their plants.

Frost date is the average last day that you get frost for a given area. Averages are made up of extremes. So, to be safe what you do is take the last frost date and add two to three weeks (depending on who you talk to) and use that as your planting date.

Good luck.

Randy

Near Salinas, CA you are a USDA zone 7 so you are in good shape time wise. Mid-April to Early May planting dates for tomatoes. If close to town and the water you are a Sunset 14 and from what I have read many CA folks find the Sunset zones to be much more helpful to them than the USDA zones so you might want to investigate the sunset.com gardening info.

And yes you can stake them just don't drive the stake in right up next to the plant base. Good luck with your garden. ;)

Dave