The growth habit of semi-determinate tomatoes is somewhere between the true determinate and true indeterminate tomatoes. Most semi-determinate varieties are technically indeterminate plants that act bushy due to their shorter vines. However the category may include some determinate varieties that grow tall enough to require more support. There are also plants in this category that produce several determinate spurts of ripe fruit indeterminately. In other words, habits that are hard to classify.
* 3-4 ft tall plants
* Good balance of plant size and yield for outdoor growing
* Need trellising or cages, but do not grow out of control
* Pruning suckers is optional
We use a type of Florida weave to support our semi-determinate tomatoes. The materials needed include metal t-posts or wood stakes and bailing twine. We minimally prune our semi-determinate tomatoes, only removing the first few suckers to allow for better airflow under the plants.
Other tomato growth habits include: Dwarf, Determinate, and Indeterminate.
We know that classifying tomato growth habits in ways other than simply indeterminate and determinate is surprisingly controversial. We do this primarily for the convenience of predicting what growing method would be best. It is true that tomatoes are technically either determinate or indeterminate. ;-)
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Solanum lycopersicum. 60 days. Semi-det. Very attractive bushy plants are heavy yielders all through the season of flattened, medium-sized, deep red 4-6 oz fruit. Great rich balanced flavor makes Ararat Flame tomato one of our favorites. For best flavor, we like to pick the fruit when they have slightly yellow-green shoulders. This kiss of shoulder…
Solanum lycopersicum. 60-70 days. Semi-det. Good yields of 3” round, 4-5 oz, red fruit with firm texture that are delicious for fresh eating but also good for processing into juice or paste, or canning whole. Gill’s All Purpose makes a good outdoor market farm tomato, grows to 4′ tall and is easy to trellis. As…
Solanum lycopersicum. Red Paste. 60-70 days. Semi-det. Grappoli d’Inverno’s small bushes ripen early with 1-2 oz, plum-sized fruit that keep very well once picked. Unimpressive when eaten fresh, the flavor transforms into deliciousness once dried. It’s also good roasted. A selection of a type of tomato with strains grown in many regions of Italy for…
Solanum lycopersicum. 55-60 days. Indet. Potato Leaf. 2-4 oz round, slightly oblate, bright red fruit held in clusters. The best trait of Harzfeuer is the aroma when fruit are ripe – they smell different, adding a delightful note to the already great well-balanced flavor. Very juicy for fresh eating. Harzfeuer translates from German to “resin…
Solanum lycopersicum. Red Grape. 60 days. Det. Red grape tomatoes form on vines that grow to 3′ long. Firm flesh and balanced sweetness make Komohana an easy choice. We’re big fans of grape tomatoes since they tend to be more split resistant than standard cherry tomatoes and have fewer seeds per fruit. A good variety…
Solanum lycopersicum. 60-65 days. Semi-det. Bushy plants produce clusters of 4-6 oz flat, lightly ribbed, red fruit. Good firmness in addition to excellent flavor, two attributes that make Marmande a perfect variety for market farms. Good when eaten fresh or cooked. Very dependably yields outdoors, even in cool summers. Traditional variety from the south of…
Solanum lycopersicum. 70-75 days. Semi-det. Potato Leaf. 4-6 oz perfect, red globes with great flavor. Potato leaf type with uniquely large leaves that keep fruit well shaded on compact plants. Although nothing is perfect, we selected this variety from what many believe to be the perfect tomato, Early Girl F1. We focused on fruit size,…
Solanum lycopersicum. Red Cherry. 70 days. Semi-det. Selected from crosses between humboldtii wild tomatoes and Solanum habrochaites, this is one unique tomato. Multi-flora type has clusters of dozens of fruit – possibly up to a hundred. Red cherries weigh about ¼ oz with a cute point on the blossom end. Compact growth habit is uniquely…
Solanum lycopersicum. 75 days. Semi-det. Another great main season, 4-6 oz, red tomato from Siberia that’s perfect for fresh eating. We are starting to specialize in Russian and Siberian tomatoes and for good reason—they’re awesome. Sasha’s Altai comes with a very special seed-explorerromantic story. It was originally brought to the US from Irkutsk by seedsman…
Solanum lycopersicum. 55 days. Indet. Potato leaf. Flavor is rich and aromatic with that summer tomato taste sometimes missing in early tomatoes. Shrubby plants are short yet viney and continue to yield clusters of 2″, red, 2 oz fruit throughout the season. A very special Czech variety introduced to the Seed Savers Exchange Yearbook in…
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