Will a Tomato Plant Break When Gravity Pulls It Down From Trying to Get to Sun?

Determinates

• Tomatoes of all hybrid and heirloom varieties fall into two basic types: determinate and indeterminate. Determinate tomato plants have stiff, thick limbs and stems that flower at the tips. Once the flowers appear, the stems stop growing. Determinates produce bush-type plants of limited height, and all the fruit matures at roughly the same time. The stiffness of the vines and the sudden load of fruit make determinates more vulnerable to vines breaking under the weight of fruit.

Indeterminates

• Indeterminate plants produce flowers at the sides of the vines. Therefore, they do not stop growing and may continue to grow and produce fruit throughout the season, although at a slower rate than determinates. Indeterminate vines grow quite long, but bear a lighter load of fruit. Their flexible vines tolerate fruit loading better than bush-type determinates. The steady production of fruit weights down the vines and helps prevent them from curling upward.

Fruit Size

• Various tomato varieties produce fruit ranging in size from grape and cherry tomatoes to large beefsteak types. The larger types, of course, place a heavier load on vines than the small to medium-sized tomatoes or indeterminate varieties. Smaller-sized fruit helps prevent overloading and potential breakage of the vines.

Preventing Breakage

• For bush-type determinates, vines can be weighted or tied down to prevent the sharp curling up toward the sun that makes the stiff vines vulnerable to breakage when fruit ripens all at once. Providing support like tall tomato cages underneath the plant will help bush plants support the weight of fully mature fruit. Indeterminates will grow long flexible vines if you clip all the suckers except for the two main vines early in their growth. Tie the two vines to a trellis or nearby fence for support. The plant will focus all its growing power on the two vines, producing long, tough, flexible vines and steady fruit production throughout the growing season. Choose smaller varieties to ease the load on branches. Finally, proper watering and fertilization produces healthy plants, which resist damage from the weight of fruit.