Ah, the age-old debate: determinate or indeterminate tomatoes? If you’re new to gardening, you might be wondering what all the fuss is about.
Determinate vs Indeterminate Tomatoes
Basically, determinate tomatoes are more compact plants that produce all of their fruit at once, while indeterminate tomatoes are sprawling plants that produce fruit throughout the growing season.
Determinate tomatoes are a good choice for small gardens, or if you’re growing tomatoes in pots, since they don’t need a lot of space to spread out. They’re also a good option if you want to make tomato sauce or can your tomatoes, since you’ll be able to harvest all of the fruit at once.
Indeterminate tomatoes, on the other hand, are great if you are looking for a continuous supply of fresh tomatoes throughout the summer. Indeterminate tomato plants are also much more realistic for growers with larger gardens or in a raised garden bed.
What is a Determinate Tomato Plant?
As I mentioned above, a determinate tomato plant will produce one larger harvest as opposed to providing fruits throughout the season. A good way to think about it is they have a “determined” harvest and time frame in which they generally produce fruit.
Determinate varieties are often called “bush” tomatoes because they stay smaller and more compact compared to the much taller indeterminate plants.
Many indeterminate varieties can reach 8-9 feet tall while determinate varieties tend to stay around 4-5 feet. Since they only produce tomatoes during one main harvest, determinate tomato plants don’t need to be pruned as often, if at all.
To make things even more interesting, there are also semi-determinate tomatoes which just adds to the complication. 🙂
Advantages
- They produce all their fruit at once making them great for canning and preserving
- They require less pruning and maintenance
- They plants stay small making them ideal for patio and container gardening
Disadvantages
- They won’t provide fruit throughout the season
- Once they produce their first harvest, fruit production stops
- Most heirloom tomatoes are indeterminate
What is an Indeterminate Tomato Plant?
An indeterminate tomato plant will produce and ripen fruit throughout the season. A good way to think about it is they have a “determined” harvest and time frame in which they generally produce fruit. You are going to get a more slow and steady supply of tomatoes throughout the season.
Growing indeterminate tomatoes can be a little more work because you will want to prune tomato suckers to help the plant grow tall and offer up larger fruits.
Many indeterminate varieties can reach 8-9 feet tall when pruned properly. Some common varieties that are typically indeterminate types are cherry tomatoes, heirlooms, Amish Paste, and more.
Advantages
- They produce fruit all season long
- Many heirloom and cherry tomatoes are indeterminate
Disadvantages
- They require a little more pruning and maintenance
- The plants can get quite large, so they’re not great for small gardens
Determinate Tomato Varieties
Here is a list I’ve curated of determinate types to give you an idea of what types you might want to try growing.
| Cultivar | Growth Habit | Days to Maturity | Where to Buy |
|---|
Indeterminate Tomato Varieties
Here is a long list of tomato varieties and cultivars that are considered indeterminate. I update this list regularly as I find more fun varieties to grow.
| Cultivar | Growth Habit | Days to Maturity |
|---|
How Can You Tell if a Tomato is Determinate or Indeterminate?
There are a few ways to tell if your tomatoes are determinate or indeterminate.
Check Your Seed Packets
The back of your tomato seeds packet or tomato plant tags usually include some good information about the plants. And oftentimes that will include whether the plant is determinate or indeterminate.
Additionally, you can reference the charts above and see if your variety is listed there. Or just go to the seed companies website where you got them from and it should show up there.
Is it Tall or Bushy?
If your tomato plant is already in the ground, you can usually tell whether they are determinate or indeterminate tomatoes by waiting to see if the plant gets bushier, or is growing tall.
Since indeterminate tomatoes grow much tall, it should be a little more easy to tell, but of course you then have to wait for the season to really progress before you know.
How are the Leaves and Flowers Forming?
Determinate tomato plants usually grow leaves closer together on the stems, making them appear more bushy and full. Once flower buds begin to form, the plant will stop growing taller and focus its energy on producing fruit.
Determinate plants produce flowers and fruits on the ends of the stems, as opposed to on side branches like indeterminate plants.
Indeterminate tomato plants look more like vining plants and end up growing taller and faster than their counterparts. If you didn’t add a tomato cage or trellis around your plant, these would grow along the ground.
Indeterminate varieties tend to produce a flower cluster on side branches and stems, as opposed to on any and every branch.
If your plant continues to grow taller after it puts off flowers, then you have an indeterminate.
Tomato Suckers on Indeterminate Varieties – Remove Them or Leave Them?
When trying to get the largest harvest out of your indeterminate tomatoes, it all comes down to the suckers. No seriously, a tomato sucker is essentially an additional branch forming on your plant that will “suck” energy away from others and you’ll end up with smaller tomatoes.
Make sure you’re not confusing the growth stem for a sucker – you do not want to remove that or your plant will have very little growth from there on out.
How to Prune Off The Suckers
You may want to prune off the suckers to ensure you get a larger harvest. Otherwise, you might have a more leaf heavy and pretty-looking plant, but those extra branches won’t produce much fruit and will steal energy from the branches that have your tomatoes on them.
You can see two tomato suckers above – one that just started growing in, and one that has been on the plant for about 5-7 days.
You will want to prune both off of the plant before they get more established. You can use simple pair of pruning shears, or oftentimes I’ll just break them off with my fingers.
If you left both of those, the plant will end up more bushy and with a ton of leaves, but only smaller fruits.
Make sure to check your tomato plants regularly, as suckers can appear and get quite large in a matter of days. I try to make it a habit to check my tomato plants every 2-3 days for suckers.
If you’re growing determinate tomatoes, you don’t want to prune off the suckers. Because determinate tomatoes only produce one harvest, if you prune the plant it will decrease your harvest yield by quite a bit as you’re essentially pruning off new growth that could lead to tomatoes.
Is it Better to Grow Determinate or Indeterminate Tomatoes?
There is no “one is better” when it comes to determinate and indeterminate tomatoes. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but they are just different in terms of their growth habits.
If you’re looking to grow tomatoes for canning and preserving, then you might want to consider growing determinate tomatoes. But if you’re looking to eat fresh garden tomatoes throughout the growing season, an indeterminate variety is more likely to be what you’re looking for.
Or you can grow both types and enjoy the positives of each one!
