Choosing Tomatoes There are endless possibilities when it comes to choosing which tomato plants to grow. Your nursery will carry the plants that thrive in your local weather and soil conditions. Choose short bulky plants that have no yellow blooms yet, and healthy leaves. Avoid the plants that are tall and skinny. They are available in countless sizes, shapes and colors. Choosing the right type of plant is essential to a successful tomato garden.
Determinate (bush) vs. Indeterminate (vine) Determinate tomato plants are compressed and short. They are bred for this diminutive size and to ripen their fruits in a set amount of time, usually six weeks or less. Most determinates do not require support, but some plants called vigorous determinates, may need assistance keeping themselves from lying on the garden soil. Dwarfs, however, need no support and are perfect for growing in containers. Miniatures are tiny plants with short stems and dime-size fruits that are usually grown for decoration rather than consumption. In contrast, indeterminate tomatoes continue to grow until they are halted by frost. They do require support, and will produce earlier and greater fruit yields than determinates. Some say better flavor as well. As long as the conditions are favorable, indeterminate plants will remain productive.
Resistance Tomatoes are susceptible to numerous diseases. Some of which are: botytis, rot, bacterial spot, wilt, canker, mosaic, fusarium wilt, tobacco mosaic, septoria leaf spot, curly top, and blight. Selection of resistant plants is important due to the fact that many of these diseases are unable to be treated. Where humidity and excessively warm temperatures exist, this is especially true. These conditions are ideal for the majority of tomato plant disease.
Disease resistance is summarized with the following abbreviations: A, alternaria (early) blight; As, alternaria stem canker; F, fusarium wilt, race 1; F2, fusarium wilt race 2; L, gray leaf spot; N, nematodes; T, tobacco mosaic virus; V, verticillium wilt.
Below are some of the tomato options and their respective resistance:
Beefsteak- Indeterminate, red, meaty and ribbed one pound fruits.
Better Boy- Indeterminate; red hybrid bearing large crops of 12-ounce fruits with fine flavor; good leaf cover; (VFNAs).
Big Beef- Indeterminate; hybrid red beef-steak with good-flavored, meaty 10-ounce fruits; exceptional disease resistance; All-America Selections Winner; (VFF2AsLNT)
Brandywine- Indeterminate; zero disease resistance; widely thought of as the most flavorful tomato available; dark pink heirloom with ten ounce fruits.
Caro Rich- Determinate; orange 5 ounce fruit, lower acid content, cool temps. not a problem.
Celebrity- Vigorous determinate; red hybrid with heavy yields of 7-ounce fruits, outstanding disease resistance; All-America Selections Winner; (VFF2AsNLT).
Early Girl- red hybrid with large harvest of flavorful four ounce fruits; early ripening; (V).
Jetstar- Must be staked or pruned, yields large production of red eight ounce fruit; lower in acid.
Marglobe- (F); cracks easily, produces sweet 7 ounce red fruit.
Rutgers- household favorite, large production of eight ounce fruits (F).
More Information:
Connor Schnitzinflurbin has almost forty years of gardening experience, and has written a very practical guide to
growing tomatoes. For a limited time you can obtain a free copy by visiting
Your Tomato Garden.
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