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May 13, 2025

This Week's Garden Gab:
​Tomato Time🍅

Hi Reader!

[First things first, there was no trace of Luther the next day. 😢I hope he found his wings and is off somewhere making the next generation of Robins. Read the May 6th edition if you want to know the backstory about Luther.]

Now, for this edition ...

Is there anyone who does NOT like the taste of a homegrown tomato? Or, a fresh tomato sandwich? I was not into the tomato sandwich thing until I actually grew my own tomatoes. Now I understand.😌

In this edition:

• The History of Tomatoes
• Indeterminate vs Determinate Varieties, plus one more
• Tomato Varieties
• Tomato Companions
• Recipe - Tomato Juice

Education:

Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?

It depends on who you ask.

By definition, a fruit is the edible plant structure of a mature ovary of a flowering plant, usually eaten raw; some are sweet like apples, but the ones that are not sweet such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, etc. are commonly called vegetables.

Until the late 1800's the tomato was classified as a fruit to avoid taxation, but this was changed after a Supreme Court ruling that the tomato is a vegetable and should be taxed accordingly. [Read more here > Tomato Cages]

There are more than 10,000 varieties of tomatoes around the world. No, we are not going to review them all here but I did find an exciting article that lists 75 popular varieties along with pictures!

I think you'll enjoy it! >> 75 Types Of Tomatoes From A to Z (With Photos!) by Sarah Bond​

The author briefly talked about the difference between 'Determinate' and 'Indeterminate'. This was my BIGGEST lesson in growing tomatoes.

At the end of my 3rd summer of gardening, I saw a lonely sad-looking tomato plant (Celebrity variety) sitting on a shelf in Big Box store so I bought it because something in me always wants to bring dead plants back to life. It was already mid July but I went for it.

I had no idea about the type or anything I just put it in a grow bag and fertilized it. It grew into a HUGE plant! Then, the leaves turned yellow, and the dreaded horn worm found it, so I trimmed it back to almost nothing thinking it would die anyway, but within a few days all these new leaves bushed out and it started flowering and producing again.

This is when I learned about Determinate versus Indeterminate tomato varieties. Apparently I'd bought a variety that was going to keep doing its thing until frost it. It was only September and I got tomatoes off that plant until almost the end of October.

So, just to reiterate:

🍅Determinate tomatoes will grow to a specific height, get bushy, produce all their fruit at once, then die off. This type works well in containers and can also be placed into the ground.

🍅Indeterminate tomatoes grow and produce fruit throughout the season so if you have a long warm season you will have tomatoes the whole time. This type should be in the ground. This was my big mistake. I put that sad tomato in a 10 gallon grow bag thinking it should be enough but, nope.

But wait, there is another ....

🍅Semi-Determinate!!! I bought another Celebrity hybrid tomato this season. I liked the results I got last year with this variety.

​Semi-Determinate means that the tomato will produce all season and grow only to about 3 -4 feet; as opposed to 10-12 feet tall if staked or wide is sprawled across your backyard.

The information I found states it can be grown in a container if large enough and it has to be staked. It seems to be a happy medium between varieties that produce once and varieties that will get huge.

I'm going to place it into a 25 gallon grow bag and hopefully that will be large enough to let it live it's best life.

I staked it as much as I could in a bag but it grew an grew and started leaning and falling over. It was a big wild monster and sort of on the struggle bus the entire season. I mean, it produced but not the biggest or best looking tomatoes.

Application:

I grew Roma tomatoes last year, these are good for sauces, etc. I didn't use them for that though. They were good in my salads.

This year I put an indeterminate tomato right in one of my garden beds giving it plenty of room. I plan to grow it vertically though so it doesn't take over the bed. I will send pictures come if it lives and produces.

I've used tomato cages and 6' stakes to support my tomatoes. There are a number options you have to support them. I just saw a really good video on vertically stringing tomatoes. I haven't done this because I don't have the skill to build this nor do I think my HOA will support my wild and crazy homesteady-trellis ideas right here on this open corner. Here is the video though. James has several good videos.

​

Here is one more article on growing the types of tomatoes. This is helpful >>> Determinate vs Indeterminate Tomatoes🍅

Selection & Tips:

Over the past couple of years I've grown some decent 'maters. I have the bug now. Here are some of my favorite varieties to grow:

Better Boy, Big Boy, Mortgage Lifter, Beefsteak, Amelia, Ashleigh, Celebrity and Roma....and Sweet 100 Cherry Tomatoes

I'm not a tomato purist. I try different varieties but I definitely buy either heirloom or hybrid, all non-GMO.

So far, I haven't ventured into tomatoes of various colors and shapes like the Cherokee Purple, or Lemon Tomatoes, etc. Red is my preference.

The most exciting part to me is growing way more than I will eat and being able to share fresh, homegrown tomatoes with my neighbors as they walk down the sidewalk peeking over the fence into my garden. :)

TOMATO TIPS:

🍅Always water your tomatoes from the bottom rather than overhead if possible. Dry leaves means fewer fungal issues.

🍅As your tomato grows, pick off those yellow dying leaves near the soil. You don't want any splashing water on tomato leaves if possible.

🍅Plant basil and marigolds all around your tomato plants; it helps keep hornworms away.

🍅Use a diluted hydrogen peroxide mixture if you see

fungal issue on the leaves of your tomato plant leaves. MORE INFO HERE​

🍅Tomatoes love HEAT! Put your plant where it can get at least 6 hours of sunlight.

🍅Water consistently! If you don't your tomatoes will split! After days of no water, they your watering heavily, the tomato takes in a lot of water quickly and causes splitting.

​CLICK HERE FOR MORE TIPS!​

When planting tomatoes into a container or in the ground, go ahead a also plant a companion plant with it. Companion plants are plants that grow well together and benefit each other in some way.

​Here are some tomato companion plants and their benefits! I plant basil, marigolds, and nasturtiums in with my tomatoes.

Edification:

If you like V8 Juice, you can make your own tomato juice. It's easy! It can be frozen for up to a year. It's a good way to use up all those left over tomatoes at the end of the season.

Here is the recipe: HOMEMADE TOMATO JUICE​

Let me know if you try it! 🍅

That's all I have for this edition. Feel free to write me at jangardener@gardenease.org if you have any questions or comments.

Forward this newsletter to anyone you think would be interested in gardening information and to SUBSCRIBE HERE.

I'll see you in the next edition!

Jan🤗

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If you have questions, comments, praises, complaints, or ideas about gardening or about the newsletter, you can reach me at: jangardener@gardenease.org