If you are new to vegetable gardening, February is the time to start thinking about what you are going to plant. If you want to plant tomatoes, then you must know how much space or the conditions in which you are planting. Are you planting in containers? If you are planting in the ground, do you have a lot of space or is it limited?
Tomatoes fall into two categories… determinate vines or indeterminate vines. The determinate vines are more shrub type. They generally reach 3-4 feet tall and their fruits usually produce in a more compressed time. Once the blooms reach the end of the plant and then produce, the plant is finished. The indeterminate varieties can reach heights of 6-8 feet tall. They never really stop producing and as the vine gets taller, it will produce more blooms and thus more tomatoes. These tomatoes are great for producing longer into the season. Canning tomatoes or fresh eating tomatoes can be produced on either type of vine but it may be best to grow the determinate type if you are canning tomatoes. This is because they will produce the most tomatoes in a shorter period of time.
If your tomatoes grow on the ground, the fruit will probably rot or ruin. To protect them, grow them upwards by either cages or stakes. Cages are the easiest. Just set them over your young plants and stick them in the ground. Stakes are the least expensive and relatively easy. Just pound a stick into the ground next to the plant and then tie it up loosely using fabric, twist ties, etc.
Stephen Fister
Tags: determinate, pruning, stakes, tomatoes
