How to plant tomatoes & build tomato cages

You may have to click on the smaller drawings to see them better. Trench planting tomatoes is the only way for me. I don't even plant them as deep as shown. The deeper you go down, the colder the soil is, the longer it takes for the plant to get going. The soil on top is nice and warm, so why not pull up a pile over the plant. Don't try to hard to straighten up the top if it seems sideways, it will straighten on it's on.

 The plant above looks very healthy but a bit big for going into a garden. The bigger the plant, the more difficult the adjustment can be. A plant in a 3-4" pot is about the biggest I would recommend for the garden. The quart/gallon size above would be better suited for a container. You should only plant tomatoes when the night temps are consistently above 50 degrees. For zone 4, we can get frost up to May 15th, our 'mean' date. Tomatoes will take NO frost. Trying to rush them will only stress the plants and they may have long slow recovery if at all. Time wise, you gain nothing. Much easier and less stressful for you to just wait, unless you want to stand outside with a blow dryer all night. =)

Above are samples of planting systems. I prefer the straw method. Once you start using straw in the garden, you're addicted to using it. The benefits are huge when talking about prevention of moisture loss....like 90%!  Instead of having plants wet-dry-wet-dry, the mulch helps to keep the moisture in and provides a steady supply to the plants. Plus, you can cut your watering in 1/2. Also, by keeping the soil moist, it stays loose allowing easier root growth. A layer of 6" or more will also help with weed control. With at least 6" of straw, most of the sunlight does not reach the soil surface so weed seeds don't sprout. Bonus.

Tomato cages. Above is the best type. The junky ones most places sell are better suited for peppers than tomato plants. You do not have to cage tomatoes. They are a vine plant and their natural habit is to sprawl. That's what I do......let'em sprawl! I sometimes plant them in geo-tech materials with straw on the top for superior weed control, and sometimes just straw. The straw also prevents the fruit (yes, fruit) from sitting on the soil and rotting. There usually are a few rodents who will eat some of the fruits, brats. The fruit are also easier to spot, them trying to fiddle threw all those leaves stuffed in a cage. Sprawling does take up more space though. The most I planted in any one year was 600.
My favorites are Celebrity for a gorgeous slicer, Sungold a supersweet orange cherry, Juliet for salsa and canning (so juice and sweet). Earhtworks will have tomato plants for sale early-mid May, and tomatoes in the summer.