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Re: Re[3]: Tomato varieties for taste.

Hi Dot,

> Hey gang, Sorry to be asking this question that you all probably will think
> is something I should know, but being a newbie to gardening and especially
> since I've already started to growing tomatoes seedlings, can someone
> explain exactly what is a indeterminate and a determinate?  I keep reading
> posts that mention these two types, but I'm afraid I don't have a clue what
> you're all talking about.  If you like you can email privately.  Thanks, Dot

> Dot Geib
> Pitt Meadow, BC Canada
> USDA Zone 7/8
> jeweller@cyberstore.ca

Indeterminate and determinate refers to the growth habit.

Indeterminate, whether referring to a tomato or any other kind of plant, means
that the mature size of the plant isn't determined by it's genes.  For tomatoes
that means that all growing tips will continue forming leaves and flowers until
the plant's life is ended by weather or disease.  This is the ancestral habit
of tomatoes, and is how the wild tomato species of Peru grow.  For growers this
means that the plant will require staking and pruning to keep it from sprawling
rankly through the garden.  They are sometimes referred to as "vine tomatoes."
The flowers are formed and the fruit is set over a long period of time, so the
harvest is spread out from first ripe fruits until frost.  For a small garden I
think indeterminates are a good choice.  Besides the extended harvest a single
plant can provide, they can be staked and pruned to have a small "footprint" in
the garden, with most the growth occurring vertically on single or double
leaders (vines).

Determinate means that the mature size of the plant is determined by it's genes.
The tomato plant is going to get so big, produce so many leaves and so many
flower clusters and then stop.  Some varieties are large and some are small, but
all determinates follow this habit and are commonly referred to as "bush
tomatoes."  Determinates may be staked or caged but they should never be pruned.
Most of the flowers are formed on the ends of the branches, so pruning will
severely limit the production of fruit.  Most of the flowers and fruit are set
in a short period of time, so while there are always some early fruit to
harvest, most ripen over a short period of time.

As a sidenote, used to be all tomato varieties were indeterminates like their
ancestors, with the occaisional determinate plant emerging.  Through the efforts
of selective breeding we now have many varieties that are exclusively
determinate in habit.  San Marzano is an interesting variety.  It is
predominately indeterminate in habit, but we always seem to get at least one
plant each year that grows as a determinate.

   ____________________
  |                    |
  |     Bob Carter     | Kootenay Bay
  |  bcarter@awinc.com | BC, Canada
  |____________________|


... Behind every great man is an amazed mother-in-law.
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