Determined about your tomatoes?

I don't know how it is for you, but most summers I end up with a nice crop of tomatoes without really thinking too much about what varieties to sow or buy.  I may get one or two varieties that worked well for me last year, plus, depending on what nurseries have, two of this, and three of that, and two of that one I have never tried before and often I end up with more plants than I have space for in my garden.  In other words, I do not have a 'tomato plan'.

It would be much more sensible to consider ......

• do I want all my tomatoes to ripen at the same time so I can process my glut and be done with it or do I want a few at the time for salads and so on, from early in the season right up to the first winter frost?
• do I have space for tall large tomato bushes or do I really need more compact bushes because I am using pots and don't have a lot of space?
• do I want to stake and prune or is watering all I have time for?
• are my tomatoes for salads or sauces?
• is the micro climate in my garden such that late varieties will ripen before winter starts?

Well, I did not ask myself all these questions when I went to the Botanical Gardens annual tomato sale (see blog post 'Is this a heirloom tomato record?'), but at least I had a bit of a plan.  I decided that, because of our polar Tasmanian climate ('Tasarctica' I call Tasmania sometimes), I was going to buy 'early varieties'.

Every one of the 157 tomato varieties at the sale in the 2012 Botanical Gardens Tomato Sale had an information sign.  I came home with 6 early varieties and felt good about that, but then I learned I had ignored the most important bit of information on these signs, that is, whether the variety is 'determinate' or 'indeterminate'.

Nearly all tomato varieties are either 'determinate' or 'indeterminate' and there are important differences between the two categories, which help you better plan your tomato crop.

Determinate tomatoes:

• Are often called “bush” tomatoes
• Grow to about 3 or 4 feet high
• The entire crop yields at the same time, usually within one to two weeks
• Plants stop growing when the fruit sets on the terminal bud
• The plant dies after the crop occurred
• Prefer some level of staking or caging, but can function without any
• Suckers shouldn’t be removed, and tomato plants shouldn’t be pruned, or you run the risk of ruining or reducing your crop significantly. Reason is that these tomato plants are wired genetically to produce a certain number of stems, leaves and flowers. If you mess it up, you will interfere with the abundance of the crop
• Compact and bushy plants, you can grow determinate tomatoes in containers, pots, buckets, any kind of container
• Seed catalogues usually refer to them as DET, or Determinate.
• Determinate varieties are favoured by the tomato industry: mass production growers tend to prefer this type of tomato as it allows them to mechanically harvest the entire crop at once
• Many hybrid tomatoes are determinate
• Great for people who want a massive amount of tomatoes all at once for canning, saucing, freezing
• Early varieties are usually determinate tomatoes

 

Indeterminate tomatoes:

• Are often called “vine” tomatoes
• Some will grow to 6 feet tall.
• Will grow and produce stems, leaves, flowers and tomatoes until the frost kills the plant
• Will consistently produce crops until the plant dies
• Need strong staking or other support.  The taller they get the heavier they are and the more support they need
• Are better off if the suckers are removed, however will do well if not
• For better crops, remove the suckers.
• Large plants that continue to grow all season long, therefore it is best not to grow indeterminate tomatoes in containers, pots of buckets. If you want to grow them in pots, make sure you stake or cage the tomato well and get a good handle on the suckers and the new growth.
• Seed catalogues usually refer to them as IND, or Indeterminate.
• Are the pride of real tomato growers: each tomato is checked before being harvested. It is not the most economical harvest process obviously, but it is a sign of true tomato passion
• Most heirloom varieties are indeterminate tomatoes
• Great for people who want to add tomatoes to their menu all season long

Some of this material and other interesting information about tomatoes can be found at http://www.tomatogeek.com/.  It is a really interesting site, worth a visit (thank you Russell, for finding it).