Luscious Vine Ripen Tomatoes

There are many tomato varieties from which to select. You may find 100 or more varieties listed in garden catalogs. Depending on your garden space and needs, the two categories of tomato varieties to grow are determinate or indeterminate types.

Short bush type growers are called determinate tomatoes. They require no support and you can grow them on the ground or planted in wire cages. Determinate tomato plants grow well in containers. No pruning is required, as plants grow 3 to 4 feet tall. Determinates bear most of their fruit in a short time span, and most are harvested over a few weeks. Many have a short growing season and early harvest. You may plant the same variety weeks apart to stagger harvest dates through summer into fall. Most determinates are hybrid varieties, but a few are non-hybrid heirlooms.

Taller indeterminate tomatoes need to be supported on a trellis or a large tomato cage. They’re often pruned to keep the plant in bounds. Indeterminates easily grow 6 feet or more in height and take up lots of garden space. Flowers develop all summer into the autumn until frost kills plants. Indeterminates are better for those gardeners who just want a few fresh tomatoes every few days over 3-4 months. Indeterminates grow and yield poorly in a container.

Most heirloom tomatoes are indeterminate. Heirloom varieties have become very popular over the past decade. In the Southern Appalachian region (East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and Western North Carolina), varieties such as ‘Brandywine’, ‘Mortgage Lifter’, ‘German Johnson’, ‘Mr. Stripey’, and ‘Cherokee Purple’ show up at the annual Tomato Fest in Kingsport, Tennessee every year and win lots of blue ribbons.