definitely, it'd keep them from being pushed over. i think the problem would be when they are strong enough to stand up to strong winds they'd be so grown into the cage you couldn't remove it. it might be a major pain to try to get them to have all those branches/leaves stick out of the cage. a stake would be better, tie them up and then remove it come say early july. but any strong thunderstorms would have the ability to push them over and once 2-2 1/2' tall they'd be less likely to grow straight up like they do when smaller. so maybe just leave the stake in place? i have plenty of 1" X 1" x 5 or 6' wood stakes i could cut down to say 2', never thought of this until now!
hummmm?
tom