What is Determinate or Indeterminate tomato seeds?
Determinate tomatoes are varieties that grow to a fixed mature size and ripen all their fruit in a short
(image Ida Gold Cherry)period, usually about 2 weeks. Once this first flush of fruit has ripened, the plant will begin to diminish in vigor and will set little to no new fruit.
Indeterminate tomato varieties are vining plants that continue growing in length throughout the growing season, which is why you will sometimes see them referred to as "vining" tomatoes, Indeterminate tomato varieties will also continue to set and ripen fruit throughout the growing season, until the plants are killed off by frost.
Both determinate and indeterminate tomato varieties have their pluses and minuses. It really depends on what you are going to be using the tomatoes for and also, how long is your growing season. If you want a thick tomato for making sauces, you are better off with a paste tomato and those tend to be determinate.
If you tend to eat your tomatoes fresh and want a season-long supply, go for indeterminate varieties.
An heirloom tomato (also called heritage tomato) is an open-pollinated (non-hybrid) heirloom cultivar
of tomato. Any tomato that is at least fifty years old and is not a hybrid. According to tomato experts, heirloom tomatoes can be classified into four categories: (image Black Brandywine)
- family heirlooms,
- commercial heirlooms,
- mystery heirlooms, and
- created heirlooms.
yield, and other improved traits.