I like gardening. It’s a place where I find myself when I need to lose myself. – Alice Sebold

Welcome to Day 19 of my Gardening 101 Series! If you’ve been keeping up with all my posts, then you’ll remember in the last one, How to plant a Vegetable Container Garden I mentioned the different types of tomatoes. Not varieties, but whether or not a tomato is determinate or indeterminate. I also told all of you I would be doing a blog on this topic.

You may be thinking, “A whole article on whether or not a tomato is determinate or indeterminate… really Jean?”. Well, let me tell you, whether you’re a home gardener or a market gardener, this is an incredibly important thing to know.

When choosing your variety of tomatoes, there is more to understand then just whether or not it’s a Heirloom or hybrid, the color, size, or type. You need to determine what you want to do with the tomatoes you are growing. Do you simply want to have a few fresh tomatoes to enjoy with a dinner salad or eat fresh with some salt or pepper? Do you plan on sharing with friends & family? Are you planning on putting up or canning your harvest? If the answer is yes to the latter, than this is a very important factor to consider. You’ll need to factor in how many pints or quarts of tomato product you want to can, which is another blog post when canning season begins, so keep posted for lots more coming on that topic!!

Check out my video below to get the down low on the difference between Determinant and Indeterminant tomato varieties.