Tomatoes: Indeterminate, Determinate & Semi-Determinate

Discussing some differences between how you grow, sucker, and care for indeterminate, determinate, and semi-determinate tomato plants.
For more, check out our other videos:
How to String & Sucker Tomato Plants: • How to String & Sucker...
Doubling Your Yield with Two Main Stems: • Tomatoes - Doubling Yo...
Tomato Q&A: • How to String & Sucker...
Suckering Tomatoes (a review of the basics): • How to Prune or "Sucke...
More information about determinate (bush/cage) vs. indeterminate (trellis/vine) varieties:
faq.gardenweb.c...
www.ehow.com/ho...
www.finegardeni...
©Copyright 2012 Front Porch Farm, All Rights Reserved.

[@FrontPorchFarm]

Sorry I am so late in answering your question. We live in NE WA state, where the growing season in late and short. Our tomatoes are planted in the greenhouse at the beginning of April, and we have a waste-oil burner that we run at night through the freezing temperatures. The other crops that are grown only in the greenhouse are basil. peppers, and eggplant. To get earlier harvest we grow our first cucumbers and beans in a greenhouse or grow tunnel.

[@FrontPorchFarm]

@TheButtonholequilt We put a stake with a hole in the top between every two tomato plants. The string drops from the top of the greenhouse, we wind it around the plant, and then tie it through the hole in the stake.

[@krautbeer100]

Again super informative and right to the point! Wish you would make a video from germination to harvest. What do you think about upside down growing for hobby gardeners? Can I train indeterminate plants to grow along a horizontal trellis? Oh here in the Philippines the home gardeners get rid of insects by dissolving a natural soap and spray the plant with the solution when it is cool in the early morning It works for me thanx again= keep it coming

[@BIGALTX]

Love your videos. They are very informative, I have always raised indeterminate. This year, I am going to plant determinate (Celebrity, Rutgers and Homestead). Is it possible to grow these without staking them? I will have about 150 plants of each variety. Thanks for your help.

[@FrontPorchFarm]

Check the tag on a purchased plant or the seed packet if you started them yourself, and they should tell you. You cannot tell by looking at a young plant which variety it is. If you know the name of your tomato, you should be able to find out which it is by checking out "Totally Tomatoes" catalog.

[@FrontPorchFarm]

If I am understanding your question correctly, I don't believe you will get any new leaf growth on the bottom of the stems once the leaves have been removed. You could still get suckers growing off the lower portions of the stems, but few and far between. Some people do remove a lot of the lower leaves, so I don't think you've harmed your plants, now just start suckering them as directed removing only suckers and not the leaves, and you should be fine.

[@sheilainmexico]

Your videos are really inspireing ! I planted about 15 diff. types of tomatos that my sister smiggled into Mexico for me but none of them say on the package whatn type of tomato they are - determinate or indererminate - - -is there any way I can tell by the plant itself ?

[@jamesschoenherr3885]

I know it has been several years but I am curious as to the difference in yield between the determinants and indeterminate plants grown under the same conditions. Could you share your experiences? Thank you!

[@FrontPorchFarm]

Yield is probably similar, but a determinate will tend to set most of its fruit at once and a indeterminate will continue to blossom and set fruit until frost.

[@jamesschoenherr3885]

@@FrontPorchFarm thank you for your reply. If yields are the same and determinate tomatoes grow faster, why do you think it is that commercial greenhouses appear to use indeterminate plants?

[@FrontPorchFarm]

@texasprepper2 It's possible but you may lack in quality and quantity of tomatoes if you don't stake at all. The plants that we've just let go don't ripen or produce nearly as well as the ones we stake.

[@gardenvespers777]

Beautiful tomatoes! I love Cherokee Purple tomatoes. I had great success last year with them and can't wait to grow them again! :-) I also enjoy Chadwick Cherry. That plant produced a TON of tomatoes for months! Since these are both indeterminate I need to make sure this year that somehow I can figure out how to make the cages talk enough. Well ...assuming they grow well :-)

[@UPLINKUSA]

Great video! Thanks so much.

[@eszter177]

I probably "limbed up"my tomato vines (sungold) too much, before I saw your video. If I now cut back some of the stems, would that be beneficial? (as they would leaf out on the bottom, to create useful leaves for food production for the plants)

[@fatpius]

do you think growing semi-determinates in containers, w/OUT staking or supporting would be advantageous? ie: letting them fall/grow on a bed of straw.

[@SaskHunting]

Do you concentrate your fertilizer applications for the stages of your tomatoes? Beginning plant grown using a balance fertilizer 4-3-3. Then moving the a 0-4-3 for blossoming. Once fruit is developing 0-3-6?

[@SaskHunting]

Also, what do think worm castings NPK is?

[@FrontPorchFarm]

We actually do all our fertilizing at the time of planting; however our growing season is only 6 months. We get enough for the plants with a slow release organic that will carry them through until frost.

[@lowtecker]

great video! thanks.

[@FrontPorchFarm]

I just put them under the plants as a mulch to keep weeds from growing in the planting holes in the groundcloth. They dry and shrink down so that they are hardly noticeable, I would destroy any infested or diseased leaves, If you do have aphids, spraying them with soapy water helps get rid of them.

[@eszter177]

why do you pu the clipped suckers under the planr? would you do it if you saw aphids on the suckers

[@1980tman]

how do i know what is determinate or not.this is my first time growing tomatos

[@FrontPorchFarm]

@fatpius I don't think your tomato quality will be as good if you let them fall onto straw. Our production has always been better with staking.