It was probably the most disappointing sight I've ever seen in a garden.

Several years ago, a friend's tomato plants - heavily loaded with fruit - collapsed to the ground after a summer thunderstorm. Flimsy supports just weren't enough to hold the weight of rain-soaked vines. Green tomatoes survived the fall, but the nearly ripe tomatoes were crushed beneath cracked and broken vines.

The moral of the story? Stake 'em strong, stake 'em deep.

Indeterminate variety tomatoes grow as much as 6 feet or more and produce fruit until frost nips them in the bud. These sprawling plants need sturdy support from staking and caging to carry the weight of the fully loaded plant.

Tomato plants left to crawl on the ground are susceptible to foliage disease and insect damage. Supporting the plants allows better air circulation and reduces disease problems, improving fruit quality.

Cages should be at least 4 feet tall and 2 feet across. Set them over the plants early in the season. A strong wind can rattle the cage, so use stakes to secure the cage. Then stake the plant.

Pound the stake a foot or two into the ground, about 2 to 3 inches away from the plant to prevent damaging roots. I've see tall metal fence posts, wooden 2-by-2's and thick bamboo rods used effectively as stakes. These stakes are stout and won't bend from the load. Skinny garden stakes, on the other hand, just don't have the heft.

Chicken wire is just too flimsy as a cage, and it's too hard to reach through the holes and harvest fruit. Invest in a few tomato cages, even though they're a pain to store in the winter. You can also make your own cage from concrete reinforcement wire.

If you have lots of tomato plants, consider creating a long tomato cage, constructed from two wire fences placed a foot apart along each side of a row of plants. It should keep plants growing upright and won't be difficult to reach in and pluck the fruit.

Mulch beneath plants.

Tomatoes are described as "vining" but unlike real vines, they don't tendril or cling. Plants need to be tied in order to climb the stake. Cut off legs from old pantyhose or use strips of soft cloth to tie the stem to the stake every foot along the stem as the plant grows.

Use a figure-8 shape with the stake in one loop and the stem in the other to avoid girdling or damaging the stem.

Some gardeners religiously pinch off suckers - leaving only one to grow into a second stem.

Scott Meyer, editor of Organic Gardening magazine, told me in an interview several years ago that removing the suckers is no big deal. There may be a little benefit, but if you don't, "you won't notice the difference."

If you're compelled to prune, pinch off suckers at 2 inches or less. Otherwise, simply tuck long stems back into the cage.

Just don't pinch determinate tomato varieties. Pruning reduces fruit yield. Cage for support, but don't stake because plants are compact.

Often labeled as "bush" or container tomatoes, determinates reach a certain height and stop growing when fruit sets on the top bud. The crop ripens at the same time over a two-week period.