Tomatoes 101

Know your Tomatoes

Welcome back to Plant a Kitchen Garden.

Tomatoes for the most part are usually a staple of the summer kitchen garden. But how many of us really know much about them. For one, tomatoes are a fruit. (not that this is relevant in any great way- it's a fact I can never resist pointing out.)

Below is a quick tomato basics. For a ton more information try this e-book

Some terms regarding tomatoes.

Determinate - in the tomato world, this is meant to identify bush type growth, ie - flowers form on the main stem, and only small vine growth occurs after the initial fruit set.

Indeterminate -Tall growing (re:staking or trellised), flowers and fruit continue to form throughout the growing season.

Dwarf Indeterminate - bush type tomatoes, but flowers and fruit continue to form all season.

Everyone has a most popular type of tomatoes. Myself I am a die hard Roma fan. They are easy to grow with minimal fussing over and provide a high yield per plant. I find they stand up to almost anything weather wise, and produce well into late september here in Zone 3.

Other types most preferred are:

First Lady.
A type A tomato, early season fruit. It is indeterminate, the fruit tends to be crack and disease resistant, and produces a nice steady yield over the season.

Early Girl
Is a indeterminate type, requiring staking. It produces smaller fruit (4-6 ounces.) And continues to flower/fruit throughout the growing season.

Big Boy and Big Beef
Both are mid season. Big Boy is an indeterminate hybrid, that produces a high yield of bright and juicy tomatoes.

Big Beef is also an indeterminate, and producs those lovely huge tomatoes that are prefect for slicing on hamburger and so forth, and it most likely the one most people are familiar with.

Big Belgium
This is the granddaddy of tomatoes, and designed for those who like their tomatoes in the five pound range. They are also indeterminate and ripen into a pale red color, and tends to be less acidic then smaller varieties, which is one reason why it is a popular choice for late season tomatoes.

Thanks for reading Plant a Kitchen Garden. Happy gardening!