This year I planted a variety of heirloom tomatoe plants. Some are determinate, others are indeterminate. Yesterday, Dad and I picked fresh tomatoes! Look at what we got in less than 10 minutes:
I have Early Girl, Beefsteak aka Red Ponderosa, Brandywine, Grape and Cherry sizes (I forget which varieties!), Red Plum, and Aunt Gertie’s (that is the yellow /orange one).
Tomato plants have two basic growth habits: determinate and indeterminate. Determinate tomatoes only grow to a specific height and ripen their fruit in one big flush, which comes in handy if you want to can tomatoes or make sauce. Roma and paste tomatoes tend to be determinate, as do varieties marketed as "patio" tomatoes. Indeterminate tomatoes keep growing all season, produce fruit continuously until you either rip them out of the garden or they are knocked down by frost, and they need super sturdy cages.
Bookmarks