FAQ: Determinate or indeterminate tomatoes

Q: What’s the difference between “determinate” and “indeterminate” tomatoes?


A: Good question. When you buy tomatoes, you’ll notice that most labels offer one of these terms. Determinate varieties or “bush” tomatoes grow to about four feet with fruit setting on the top bud and ripening about the same time. For this reason, you don’t need to go to great lengths to cage these guys, and you don’t want to do a lot of pruning or you’ll wind up losing a lot of your crop. Indeterminate tomatoes are considered vining tomatoes because they can grow more than six feet in a season and will produce fruit right up until the cold kills them off. For these, you need to provide ample cages and/or stakes.