water cages for tomatoes

Yesterday, I wrote that I had used water cages for the tomatoes for the first few weeks, while the plants were still in danger of frost. Those water cages must have simmered in my mind all night. Today I went out and cleaned the dirt off the water cages, filled them from the hose, and placed them around the tomatoes again. I made the water cages stand as open as possible (rather than as closed little tipis) so that the plants may still be encouraged to grow upwards.

Even though I haven't done research on the specifics, I'm guessing that tomato plants + heat = more production. I've seen a roadside "pick your own tomatoes" place near Wellsville, Utah, where they cover the tomato plants all season long with a thick greenhouse-looking layer of plastic. At the end of the summer, the plants are thick with huge tomatoes. The people come buy them. When my plants were new and tiny, they grew blossoms. The water cages must have given them enough heat that they thought they could produce. Now that they're bigger, they can better support fruit, and the water cages will provide a lengthened heat day, which will encourage the plants to make tomatoes. Woot!