Growth and Fruiting:

Determinate – These are sometimes called “bush” tomatoes because they grow in a bush-like manner with shorter vines. They blossom at the top of the stem instead of producing foliage and will produce fruits in a shorter period of time. Generally, these plants will stop growing once fruit sets on the terminal or top bud, ripen all their fruit at or near the same time. Once fruiting has finished, the plant will usually die off. It is not recommended to prune this variety.

Indeterminate – Unlike determinate varieties, these have longer vines, grow taller, and blossom along the sides of the stem. Fruits produce more sparsely, but produce well into frost periods. Staking and caging are absolutely required for these plants because of their potential height. Pruning is recommended for these varieties as blossoms occur mid-stem and excess leaves along stems will reduce the amount of plant sugars available and hinder crop sizes.

Semi-determinate – In between the two.

 

Leaf Formations:

Regular Leaf – These leaves have indentations on the leaf edges.

Potato Leaf – These leaves have smooth edges, just like potato leaves.

 

Pruning Techniques:

As mentioned above, indeterminate tomato varieties require staking and pruning in order to maximize yields and general health of the plant. Keep in mind that plants thrive on sugars and sunlight exposure. Each new stem and leaf uses the available plant sugars, diverting these nutrients from the rest of the plant, in addition to reducing the overall sunlight received. In perfect “tomato world,” every leaf receives sunlight. In the real world, this is not possible and each increase in leaves not receiving sunlight also increases the chance of plant disease.

That being said, it is obvious that pruning will aid these varieties of tomatoes. Sugars need to be available for growing fruit, and each main leaf stems will bear flowers and fruit. It is essential that there is at least one foot from the ground to the lower stems on the plant. Pinch off any shoots that appear lower than one foot above the ground. It is best to do this when the shoots are three to four inches in length. Remember that you must also leave enough leaves to cover growing fruit so they do not burn in the sun.

In the south, the summer heat season can be quite brutal and most tomato plants will not fruit once the temperature reaches 95 degrees. With this in mind, about a month before the temperature is forecast to rise above 95 degrees, remove not only the side-shoots, but any flowers as well. These flowers will not have time to bloom and will rob sugars and energy from the final harvest.

This time period during the extreme heat of southern summers can be used to replenish the soil in your beds and prepare for a fall planting.