What Makes a Tomato Plant Determinate or Indeterminate?

Determinate Tomato Plants

• Determinate tomato plants grow as single-stemmed, bushy plants of usually 3 to 4 feet in height. Flowers develop at the ends of short stems, usually all at the same time. Fruit will develop and mature as a single crop; expect to harvest all the fruit of a determinate plant over a period of seven to 10 days. Determinate plants are often among the earliest producers of tomatoes.

Indeterminate Tomato Plants

• Indeterminate plants are larger and longer growers than bushier determinates. Branches continue to develop over the entire growing season, as do blooms. It is not unusual to prune flowers and tiny new fruit off an indeterminate plant late in the growing season, when maturity has become impossible. The bulk of tomatoes now classified as "heirloom" are indeterminate vines.

Cultivating Determinate Tomato Plants

• Determinate plants provide small-space gardeners with the opportunity to grow tomatoes. Needing the support of a stake or cage only in areas with heavy winds and summer storms, determinates can often be grown in large flower pots or planters. Provide well-drained soil and regular fertilizing if plants are grown in pots; tomatoes are heavy feeders. The single-harvest habit of determinate plants allows gardeners to enjoy the fruits of their labor rather than abandoning them to take a late-summer vacation.

Cultilvating Indeterminate Plants

• Indeterminates offer the whole old-fashioned tomato-growing experience: spacing, staking, caging, pruning, tying and deciding about suckers. Indeterminates need some kind of support unless allowed to spread across the soil. Stakes, cages and trellises need to allow for ample growth; indeterminate plants can range 6 feet high or more at maturity. Pruning side stems (also called suckers) helps plants focus energy on fruit production and saves space. Indeterminate plants will send out new branches, produce flowers and set fruit throughout the warm growing season. Yields are usually higher than those of determinate plants but require more work to achieve.