gardenzone4, like natal says I never had to extra stake a Texas ever. The long legs anchor well. I got the 24" because I never prune and grow monster size plants. I definitely have to stake my CRW cages though or they will blow over once full of heavy fruit. I space my Texas 4 to 5 feet apart and still the plants grow into each other by August. I have grown at least 100 plants in Texas cages and only once when I had a sickly, wispy, runt of plant did it ever collapse upon itself but it would have been the same had it been in a CRW cage. If you grow tall bushy plants it's not an issue. I construct my Texas fully at transplant time but you could just place the top piece on later if you like. Until the plants reach the 6' top of the cage I will walk by every other day and guide a few branches "up" to the next ring so they stay inside growing upwards and not outwards. Once they grow taller than the 6' top I stop that of course and then they start growing back down. Here's a pic of Texas in action: Notice the two tallest plants in the center. They are monster "Claude Brown NOT Yellow Giant" plants. One is about 7 feet tall and the other about 8. This pic was taken in July. They got even bigger as the season went on and like I said will grow back down again.

Very cute. I LOVE the picture with the vizsla in it :) Linda

You can look up tomato spirals. I got mine from Lee Valley Garden Tools (online and catalog). When I lived in San Francisco, I did a similar thing to the "Florida Weave" by using those slender green plastic-covered metal stakes and heavy string, building sort of modified "cages" with string to contain the plants and then clipped heavy stems to the stakes using some clips I got at Daiso (Japanese dollar store). We don't have Daiso on the east coast and I'm hoarding my supply but it looks like where you are you can find a Daiso. These clips are really great because the clip end is small and rounded, to clip strongly to the stake, and has a bigger space for the plant stem. It's like vertebrae, with space for the sciatic nerve. Actually there are good small stake options at Daiso too (more houseplant sized), but I got my tall ones from Sloat. Here (DC area), my tomatoes are already bigger and taller but this method is still working for my container-grown tomatoes (we have deer and I'm working on fence options). I'm just using 6-foot stakes and mason line instead of 4-foot stakes and string. :) This is my first year back in DC after a decade in CA so I'm still working it out. It's raining right now but I'll run out and take a pic in a bit.

Robert, I looked at that type wire, I think its called hog wire. But if that's what it is, then my hands could not fit through the openings. I have one CRW cage that is 11 square, with a 24" diameter. And the plant in that cage is not growing as tall as those in my 9 square. And it just looks more comfortable :) . I can't say that its now or will produce more fruit, just have to wait and see. And its only one plant. Far too many variables to draw a conclusion. This year has also been a wacko year for my tomatoes. I've never had a year like this. This one plant in the 24" cage is in the front, in the corner of my garden. You can see the others are taller, reaching to the top of the cages. Same plant from a different angle, its not anywhere near the top of the cage And here's a closeup of a plant in a 9 square, notice the blight is already working on it. I have a theory that plants with better airflow are less susceptible to the leaf blight, but I could be wrong, I'm not a scientist.