Determinate vs Indeterminate

Alright, some of you may have no idea what I'm talking about, or to be correct what am I to talk about today. Tomatoes. If you know me, or have been following me for a while, you probably already know that tomatoes are my favorite vegetable to grow. I know, I know, technically it is a fruit, and could be even classified as a berry. And in my house we sometimes treat them as a fruit (well, we like to munch on them, on them homegrown ones though). But I still consider it a vegetable cuz we mostly use it as such.

  There's so many varieties of tomatoes. Big tomatoes, small tomatoes, tiny tomatoes. There's the traditional red, the pink, the brown, the yellow. There's the round shaped, the bell shaped, the sausage shaped and even ribbed shaped.  There's tomatoes for pickling, tomatoes for slicing (aka eating fresh), tomatoes for drying and tomatoes for salsa and pastes. Tomatoes are incredible, they come in many shapes and sizes, and colors, and are used in so many different ways. Tomatoes are used all over the world. Ok, I think you already know I LOVE tomatoes, and don't judge me, once you try a homegrown tomato (if you haven't already) you will understand why.

  Growing tomatoes is easy. Give them what they want and you're good to go (oh shall I say grow?!). I won't be discussing about growing tomatoes in this post, I'll leave that for some other time. Today, I want to discuss about the growth pattern of tomatoes. In botany, there's such a things as determinate and indeterminate growth. When growth is not terminated then a plant is said to have indeterminate growth habit (in other words it just keeps on growing). On the other hand, determinate growth is determined by genetics and it usually stops at a certain point. Tomatoes can be either determinate or indeterminate. Determinate tomatoes usually have a bushy growth habit, don't require staking and the tomatoes usually ripe together over a short period of time. Indeterminate tomatoes grow into long vines, need some sort of support, and will produce for a long time, often until heat (or cold in colder climates) or something else kills them. Technically they are perennials (plants that live for over 2 years), though rarely grown as such, due to them being tender.

Here you can see Tiny Tim tomato growing in a pot

  When you buy your seeds you can check the seed packet to see whether the variety is determinate or indeterminate.  It may not say it directly so look for keywords such as "short' or "compact" for determinate tomatoes, and "very long" or "need staking" for indeterminate tomatoes. This information is usually written on the back of the seed packet. It's important to know what variety you're getting so you can plan you garden better. For example, if you're growing tomatoes to make sauces then you'd want to consider indeterminate tomatoes as they usually ripen together rather than over a period of time. You need to provide more space for determinate tomatoes as they have bush growth habit. Indeterminate tomatoes on the other hand will need a trellis or other support. So knowing what type you're getting is very important.

  Happy Gardening
Yana