How to tell if tomato plants are determinate or indeterminate?
Steps to Determine if a Tomato Plant is a Determinate or Indeterminate Variety
- Check the height of the plant. After the plant has been growing for a while and has tomatoes on it, check its height. ...
- Check the leaves of our plant. Determinate tomatoes commonly have leaves that are closer together on the stem, making them look bushier. ...
- Check the flowers and fruit production. ...
- Check the plant tag or seed packet. ...
Which tomatoes are determinate and which are indeterminate?
- Better Boy: Indeterminate hybrid beefsteak tomato. ...
- Big Beef: Indeterminate hybrid beefsteak tomato. ...
- Big Boy: Indeterminate hybrid tomato. ...
- Celebrity: Determinate hybrid globe tomato. ...
- Early Girl: Indeterminate hybrid globe tomato. ...
- Juliet: Indeterminate hybrid elongated cherry tomato. ...
- Sun Suger: Indeterminate hybrid cherry tomato with orange fruit. ...
What tomato variety will produce fruit the longest?
Late-season tomatoes require a long warm growing season and can take up to 80 days or more to bear ripe fruit from transplants. Cherokee Purple, Red Beefsteak, Pink Brandywine and Mr. Stripey are some excellent varieties to grow if you have long summers in your region. Now you know how long does it take tomatoes to produce fruit.
How long do tomato plants keep producing?
Tomato plants grown in controlled environments, such as a greenhouse, are usually kept producing for two years. The grower keeps the plant growing on a string up and will “roll” the plant down.
How many times will determinate tomatoes produce?
Determinate Tomatoes If you plant what are known as determinate (or bush) tomato varieties, you'll have just one harvest of tomatoes before the plants die. Determinate tomato plants are "programmed" to grow, bloom and fruit just once during a growing season, says The Old Farmer's Almanac.
How long do determinate tomato plants last?
The lifespan of determinate tomato plants is 6 to 8 months, while that of indeterminate tomato plants is 1 to 3 years. The tomato plant is a perennial crop, meaning that it can survive all year round while producing many fruits multiple times in its life cycle.
Will determinate tomatoes produce a second crop?
Determinate varieties usually bear lightly the first third of the harvest period, heavily the second, then lightly for the last third, so it is not very productive to plant crops so late that they don't reach their second (main) month of production before frosts.
Do determinate tomatoes come back every year?
As a general rule, tomato plants do not grow back every year since they cannot withstand frost. In areas that don't experience frost, tomato plants can live and produce fruit for up to 2 years.
Will a tomato plants keep producing?
When Do Tomato Plants Stop Producing Fruit? Indeterminate tomato plants will keep producing fruit until disease or frost stops them from doing so. Determinate tomato plants will produce one crop of fruit and then stop producing.
What happens if you prune determinate tomatoes?
Determinate tomatoes need no pruning other than removing all suckers below the first flower cluster because pruning won't affect their fruit size or plant vigor. If you do any pruning at all above the first flower cluster on determinate tomatoes, you'll only be throwing away potential fruit.
What do you do with tomato plants at the end of the season?
The best idea is to dispose of the plants in the municipal trash or compost bin. Tomatoes are susceptible to Early blight, Verticillium, and Fusarium wilt, all soil borne diseases. Another effective management tool to combat the spread of disease is to practice crop rotation.
What tomatoes produce all summer?
Indeterminate tomatoes grow and produce tomatoes all summer long. The plants are extra-large; some varieties reach up to eight feet tall. The fruits appear throughout the entire growing season, so you'll have fresh tomatoes all summer once the plants reach full maturity.
Which is better determinate or indeterminate tomatoes?
If you typically eat your tomatoes fresh and want a season-long supply, go for an indeterminate variety. Moreover, if you live where the growing season is only a couple of months long, determinate tomatoes might be the better growing choice for you.
Will Roma tomatoes keep producing?
They are also known as “vining tomatoes.” They will continue to grow and flower throughout the growing season. They give a steady supply of tomatoes rather than one large harvest. They grow in sprawling vines reaching up to 10 feet, thus requiring sturdy staking or caging.
What to plant after tomatoes?
Any legume is a good crop to rotate with tomatoes. Legumes include peas, beans, peanuts, clover, and alfalfa. These crops will help to restore nitrogen to the soil when planted after tomatoes. You can also plan for a 3, 4, or 5 year crop rotation schedule to further reduce the risk of disease.
Indeterminate vs Determinate Tomato Plant. What Is The Difference?
The answer to this question is a two part. One that you can understand early on, and the other when the plant bears fruit.
Tips For Growing Determinate Tomato Plants
In addition to the smaller size, bushy nature and harvesting time, determinate tomato care has a few other steps to get the most out of the plants.
General Determinate Tomato Plant Care
The basic care of determinate tomato plants is the same as all tomato plants. For a more complete article on tips and tricks for growing great toma...
What Are Semi-Determinate Tomatoes?
What if you look at your plant tag and it says “semi-determinate” as the type? What does this mean? A semi-determinate is sort of a cross between t...
Indeterminate vs determinate Tomato plant. What is the difference?
The answer to this question is a two part. One that you can understand early on, and the other when the plant bears fruit.
Tips for Growing Determinate Tomato Plants
In addition to the smaller size, bushy nature and harvesting time, determinate tomato care has a few other steps to get the most out of the plants.
General determinate tomato plant care
The basic care of determinate tomato plants is the same as all tomato plants. For a more complete article on tips and tricks for growing great tomatoes, see this post.
What are semi-determinate tomatoes?
What if you look at your plant tag and it says “ semi-determinate ” as the type? What does this mean? A semi-determinate is sort of a cross between the two types but is technically an indeterminate variety that does not grow too large.
Determinate Tomatoes: The Basics
Determinate tomatoes are select varieties of tomato plant with a unique gene that designates a predetermined maximum height of the plant (often 3-4 feet tall). Determinate tomato plants tend to reach their mature height as their fruits form. The tomatoes form on the end of branches, signaling the branches to stop growing outward.
When To Choose Determinate Tomato Varieties
Determinate tomatoes are well-suited to commercial farming because all the fruit sets at once. The short harvest window makes the machine-picking, packing, and transport more cost-efficient than if the fruits ripened over an extended period (like indeterminate tomatoes).
Determinate Tomatoes vs. Indeterminate Tomatoes
Determinate tomato plants form a compact “bush” shape. Indeterminate tomato plants grow long, rambling vines which branch freely.
How To Grow Determinate Tomatoes
Determinate tomato varieties are among the easiest tomatoes to grow at home. They need only minimal tomato cages and require no pruning. Still, there are a few tips for growing determinate tomatoes.
Determinate Standard Globe-Shaped Tomatoes
Here are some determinate globe-shaped round tomato varieties (also called salad tomatoes or medium-sized slicers):
Determinate Oxheart Tomatoes
Mary Jane Duford is a content creator and home gardening expert based in the Okanagan Valley.
What Types of Tomatoes are Determinate?
Every tomato plant would spread itself across the ground if it weren’t staked and trained upward. If you don’t do this, your plants can become a tangled mess.
How Long Will Determinate Tomatoes Produce?
Determinate tomatoes will deliver one harvest per season. Depending on the varieties you have, this can take from 7 to 14 (48 to 100 days) weeks from planting to harvest time.
Are Roma Tomatoes Determinate or Indeterminate?
Roma tomato varieties are known as paste tomatoes. You find these have thicker walls in the fruit, contain fewer seeds, and denser flesh. Roma also offers a different shape, and are oblong compared to round as regular determinate tomato varieties.
Are Beefsteak Tomatoes Determinate or Indeterminate?
Beefsteak tomatoes are indeterminate varieties of tomato plants and offer huge fruits compared to many other varieties. Because of this weight, you need heavyweight cages or stakes to support the plants.
Conclusion
In many cases, you may find you wish to grow both types of tomatoes, and then you know you have a good supply while you can also have plenty to use in the kitchen.
A-Z List of Determinate Tomato Varieties
Below is a long list I created of tomato varieties and cultivars that are determinate, and where you can get them. This list gets updated regularly as new cultivars are grown and created. You can search this list in the box on the upper right if you’re looking for a specific variety.
What is a Determinate Tomato Plant?
A determinate tomato plant will produce one larger harvest as opposed to continuing to grow throughout the season. They have a “determined” harvest and set time frame in which they generally produce fruit.
What is an Indeterminate Tomato Plant?
Indeterminate tomatoes get much taller and continue producing fruit throughout the growing season. While they bear more fruit, you will need to stay on top of pruning them as they get suckers that will cause smaller size tomatoes if you aren’t taking care of them regularly.
Tomato Suckers – Leave Them or Remove?
When trying to get the largest harvest out of your indeterminate tomatoes, it all comes down to the suckers. No seriously, a tomato sucker is essentially a new branch forming on your plant that will “suck” energy away from others and lead to smaller tomatoes.
How to Determine if Tomatoes are Determinate or Indeterminate?
It is important to know whether your tomato plant is determinate or indeterminate and when it will stop producing tomatoes if you’re looking for the biggest harvest.
Do You Need a Trellis or Tomato Cage?
Both types of tomatoes do great when staked or trellised in some way as they can get heavy, especially with larger fruits. Tomatoes will grow along the ground if they aren’t held up well, but this can subject them to diseases and tomato pests that make gardening much less fun.
Can You Grow Determinate Tomatoes in Containers?
Determinate tomatoes plants don’t need as much support as their indeterminate counterparts since they don’t grow as tall and are smaller in size.
Short-Season Determinate Cultivars
Although the terms “variety” and “cultivar” are commonly used interchangeably, variety means a kind of plant that grows in the wild; cultivars are grown in cultivation. To appreciate the longer yields of indeterminate tomato cultivars, it’s helpful to know the basics of determinate cultivars, typically dwarf and bush hybrids.
Long-Season Indeterminate Cultivars
Traditional and heirloom indeterminate tomato cultivars continue to grow taller throughout the growing season, reaching heights of 5 to 8 feet. These tall, sprawling plants typically require support with a wire tomato cage or stakes. They grow flowers and yield tomatoes from shoots or “suckers” that grow on the sides of their main stem.
Longest Producing Indeterminate Cultivars
Tomatoes mature in 57 to 100 days after you plant a nursery seedling following the expected last spring frost.
Maintaining Quality Long Harvest
If you plant an indeterminate tomato cultivar, you’ll have to prune the vines regularly to maintain a long harvest of large, quality tomatoes. Indeterminate cultivars should be tied with cloth or soft twine to a wire tomato cage or a 5- to 7-foot-tall stake.
What is the Difference?
So, what is the technical difference between determinate and indeterminate tomatoes?
Which is Easier to Grow?
If you are trying to decide which type of tomato to have in your garden, you should consider where you will be growing. Container growing is different than growing in the ground, so my recommendation is different for each.
Growing Indeterminate Tomatoes
Now, while neither type is more difficult to grow, I do have a preferred type to have in the garden. That would be the indeterminates.
Growing Determinate Tomatoes
While I find indeterminate tomatoes to be more rewarding, some think that determinates require less maintenance. They can be easy to grow, especially in a reasonably sized container.
Supporting Tomatoes
Since supporting heavy tomato plants is so important, I wanted to break down the differences a bit further. Plant support is a major difference between determinate vs indeterminate tomatoes.
Types of Indeterminate Tomatoes
If you like the idea of ongoing harvests that indeterminates offer, here are a few of the many tomato options you have to choose from.
Types of Determinate Tomatoes
If you have decided to go with determinate tomatoes, here are several options for you to grow from seed.
How Long Do Tomato Plants Keep Producing Fruit?
Many things can affect the overall yield of a tomato plant. Sunlight and water are crucial ingredients for a tomato plant to thrive and produce fruit but there is one thing that, more than anything else, determines how long a tomato plant keeps producing fruit.
How Many Times Can You Harvest a Tomato Plant?
How many times you can harvest a tomato plant depends entirely on what plant you have and especially whether it is determinate or indeterminate.
What To Do With Tomato Plants At The End Of The Season
Tomato plants thrive in the warm, sunny summer months and will grow and produce fruit rapidly but once frost comes, it is over. Tomato plants cannot survive frost so make sure you harvest all your tomatoes in time when the temperature gets too low and your plants start to wither.
