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More than 10,000 tomato varieties exist, and new hybrids are constantly being created.

The difference has to do with harvest times and flavor profile.

What Is a Determinate Tomato?

determinate tomato varieties

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Determinate tomatoes are superior for cooking and preserving.

Many have fewer seeds and thick, rich pulp.

Less water content is a plus if you plan to cook them down for sauces or storage.

Harvested red Roma tomatoes in wicker basket near plant vines

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One large harvest is efficient and allows you to work with the freshest, best-quality produce.

you’re able to find determinate cultivars in all sizes, colors, and flavor profiles.

They’re great for patio pots, raised garden beds, and hanging baskets.

One ripe red tomato still on the vine with green tomato behind it.

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Warning

Tomato plants are toxic to dogs, cats, and horses.

Rutgers produces until frost andneeds staking.

It yields extra large, crack-resistant fruits with firm, meaty flesh, and few seeds.

carolina gold tomatoes

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Medium-tall plants require staking.

A high-yielding, juicy variety, Dixie Red works equally well in a salad or on a sandwich.

Staking is recommended for this disease-resistant variety, including using atomato cage.

Bush Early Girl Tomatoes

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Clusters of 8- to 12-ounce fruits are ready to harvest 62 days after transplanting.

Fruits are uniform in size and thick-walled for easy handling.

Sprawling vines need staking.

Giant tomato on palm of hand

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These small plum tomatoes are perfect for salads, snacking, and straight off the vine.

This one is easy to grow with strong disease resistance.

This unique dwarf cultivar yields big beefsteak tomatoes and stands out in youredible patio garden.

Closeup of beefsteak tomatoes

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Compact plants work well in hanging baskets.

Look for an early harvest of up to 6 pounds of small, bright red tomatoes.

Gold Nugget

The thinnest skin gives this tiny tomato the tenderest texture.

Marglobe Tomato

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Grow Micro-Tom in pots on a sunny windowsill for fresh tomato flavor at your fingertips.

This hybrid features high yields, good disease resistance, and large fruits loaded with tomato flavor.

Bright red fruits with green shoulders are crack- and disease-resistant.

Small bright red hybrid tomatoes

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This tomato can be eaten fresh or canned, but it is most famous for making soup.

Homestead yields smooth, red, meaty tomatoes and requires staking.

High yields of medium-sized fruits provide home canners with an abundance of fresh flavor.

Tasmanian Chocolate Tomato

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Grape and cherry determinate varieties always produce an abundance of fruit.

Multi-use tomatoes for fresh eating or canning include Roma, Rutgers, Marglobe, and Oregon Spring.

All are easy to grow with disease resistance and dependable yields.

Zebra Cherry Tomatoes

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Two of the easiest determinate tomatoes to grow are Marglobe and Campbell’s 33.

They adapt to less-than-perfect conditions and produce medium-sized tomatoes for fresh eating, cooking, and preserving.

Other types work best in hot temperatures, cool summers, or short growing seasons.

Russian heirloom tomatoes

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Look for plants with good disease resistance indicated by letters like VF after the name.

The letters indicate resistance to specific tomato diseases.

Indeterminate vines continue to grow and set fruit from the sides of the stem.

Tumbler vine tomatoes

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To prune determinate tomatoes, you should remove all suckers that form beneath the lowest flower cluster.

Dwarf plum tomatoes growing on vine

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Golden cherry tomatoes on vine

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Micro-tom tomatoes

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Subarctic plenty tomatoes

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Ripe red tomato in garden

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Watering seedling tomato plant in greenhouse garden

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Large red tomatoes harvest in a basket

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Red tomatoes on a bush in a greenhouse,

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