cage or stake?

[pepper4]

I read all the opinions on staking and caging and am still deciding. I went into this blindly but have learned alot since. Anyhow I started seedlings in the house. Too cold to move out for awhile. I went with beefsteak and super sweet 100 Hybrid tomatoes. Not sure how big they get so any input would be great. I was planning on putting a few in pots and a few in my small garden. I was thinking of staking the plants in pots but not sure about in the garden. There seems to be advantages with both methods. I am open for suggestions. Thanks!

[tomatodude]

I would put both into the garden, unless you have a 20+ gallon container..
Using the containers has some advantages, good potting mix and no soil diseases...the drawback is that containers have to be watered more often and fertilized...and that it's difficult to support such plants by means of conventional cages..the soil is just too loose.
IF you plan to plant into large containers, drive a T-Post into either side of the container (in the ground) and run some twine between them creating a sort of trellis to support the tomatoes.
If in the garden, You already read the opinions about caging and staking...

Beefsteak can grow very large upwards to 6 foot...and the super sweet even larger..

[hendi_alex]

I always put a few tomatoes in containers, but as you say use my biggest nursery pots, somewhere between 30-40 gallons. They are large enough to allow a concrete wire tomato cage which is tied to a pergola that is over half of my main gardening area. Would do just as well to drive a post beside and twist tie the cage for support. I'm just too lazy to use anything other than the tomato cages, and am excited about the prospect of extending them to 7-8 feet tall this year. That should contain even my most vigorous plants.