If you have ever hoped for A big harvest from a packet of seeds, you know the feeling: You stand in the garden aisle, reading. The front of pack promises perfect fruit. However, it says nothing about how some varieties turn out to be long vines that must be trained up a trellis you might not have room or money for.
Flavor is what most gardeners focus on while ignoring the physical footprint of plant. But they should, because that means you’ll need a certain sort of support structure and will prune accordingly. It also means you might (or mightn’t) be able to get to the fruit before birds do.
Tomato Plant Shapes and Support Needs
To help explain the possibilities, the visual guide group varieties by their growth habit. Before sowing seed, it’s important to know what kind of tomato variety you’re getting: determinate (or bush) or indeterminate?
Determinates will reach a certain height and then stop; they bear a crop all at once, which is good if you intend to make sauce in late August. Indeterminates, vining plants, continue growing until frost hits. Knowing this will affect how you plan your garden space.
For those with small spaces, balcony gardeners, people with small area of good soil, or just wanting smaller plants, there are dwarfs on the list, including Micro Tom. All would be grown in containers so you don’t have to worry about height since they all stay under two feet tall.
The downside: Typically you get less fruit all told from a compact plant. It is a choice between convenience and quantity. If space allows, then the compromise is something like Celebrity or Roma VF (both types that will max out at three to four feet), which are still manageable in your typical tomato cage. No need to spend summer tying and staking branches up.
And this is where it gets tricky, particularly if you’re starting out: with tall indeterminate types. Some, like Mortgage Lifter or Brandywine, grow to eight feet or taller. This presents a structural problem. Putting up a cage isn’t enough because they will fall over on anything that isn’t sturdier. Their vines and fruit also weigh them down, so stakes needs to be strong.
Indeterminates will also have a longer season; the chart indicate they may require more than 90 days. This means you are putting more investment into infrastructure and time for a longer tomato season. As height increases, so do support needs. At the low end, dwarf varieties requires almost no support, perhaps only a cage. The heavier-bush types only need that. For tall indeterminates, which is what we are focusing on (it’s time to use heavy-duty trellises), frames, or stakes.
Using the incorrect support for a tall plant is an all-too-common mistake. That plant will lie on the ground, inviting pests and ruining lower fruit by letting the fruit rot. Supporting them correctly allows the fruit to be kept both easy to reach and dry.
Grouping plants by how they grow also avoids overcrowding your plans. Don’t plant a short, compact bush beside a sprawling vine; the tall thing will shade the short thing. Where would you put each? The shorties go against the fence where they recieve direct sun. The tall vining types go where there is vertical space for them to climb. That way, each plant receives the light it needs and this design choice can double your yield.
The right choice of tomato isn’t only about flavor. It’s about finding a plant that fits your patience (and your space). Match the variety to your garden conditions, and you’ll be working with nature rather than fighting against it.
The harvest will seem less like a chore if you keep in mind that the best tomato is not necessarily the biggest one, but the one that delivers flavor without requiring elaborate support, grows straight up, and fits into your life. You should of planned for growth instead of just taste.