Determination

Yesterday I pulled out some of my saved seeds (From 2008! Tell me I'm not a thrifty gardener!) to start some tomato plants. It's about the right time for that in my area. Well, I have a little bit of a pet peeve about seed packets for tomatoes that don't specify whether the variety is determinate or indeterminate. 

It's not like it doesn't make a difference. It makes a huge difference (<--click the green link for a brief explanation) in everything from where you choose to plant them to how (or if) you prune them, and how you support them during their growth. And for me, it helps me decide how many of each variety I plant, given my space considerations. 

Props to High Mowing Seeds 

and snaps to Seed Savers Exchange

...for doing what Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds forgot to do:

 

But their indetermination did not deter me. I was determined to find the answer.

What did we do before high-speed internet? Seriously!? How did we SURVIVE?! I shudder to try to remember those ancient and godforsaken, cold and dark days!

I would have had to find a book about all varieties of tomatoes, or who knows what. Call gardening centers, maybe? Call the companies from which I bought the seeds? I don't know, but I do know it would have been time-consuming and annoying and off-putting. I'm quite sure that the seed catalogs list whether the varieties are indeterminate or determinate, but who is going to either remember them or keep the catalogs around to check when it's time to plant?

But thanks to the modern wonders of the internet, in a few minutes I was able to Google the names of my unlabeled seeds, determine if they are determinate or indeterminate, and determinedly be on my very determined way. 

I walked outside barefoot in what turned out to be a very wet and very cold 40°F to collect the leftover-from-last-year plastic plant markers that I knew were lying about hither and thither, cut them to make two out of each one, and labeled them on their plain back sides with the tomato varieties, and whether they were D or I, and proceeded to plant what looks a bit like a little tomato graveyard.

 The unlabeled pots in the front are Waltham broccoli, 10 of them, from Seeds of Change. 

Where in the world am I going to put all of these? Stay tuned. Mel told me yesterday he thinks he has the answer.

Comments

[DebbieB]

How interesting! I confess I had no clue as to the difference between D and I, and am thrilled to have learned a new thing this morning. I remember as a child having to remove the suckers from my mom's tomato plants, and thought that was necessary on all tomatoes.

[Carol]

After growing tomato for the past few years, and having the chipmunks take most of them, I was determined NOT to plant this year. MAYBE I'll plant a determinate plant in a container right by the back door.

[gayle]

We've always grown indeterminate tomatoes - I think we might have ordered a determinate this year to try. (Will have to go through the seed packets and look.)
We grow our tomatoes in our hoophouse, and use string to support them.

[viki]

Hey! I just learnt something for today. Can I go back to bed now.

[margene]

I hope someone can answer...I'm just confused. You're going to have a nice summer out in your garden. I can feel it.

[Mary Fran]

I'm thinking you could bring them down here and I'll find some space for you. I think when I win the lottery, I'll hire you as my personal vegetable gardener... and maybe even seasonal chef. Oh, it's fun to dream...

[Kym]

I ask that same question every day --- What did we DO before the internet? (We walked to school. Every day. Uphill. Both ways. Through the hip-deep snow. And we used. . . the World Book Encyclopedia and cut letters and pictures out of old magazines. THAT'S what we did!)

[LizzieK8]

Joansie http://knittingbytheocean.blogspot.com/ sent me over here and I'm glad she did! Nice to meet you!

[Laurie]

...off to the internet to figure out what determinate and indeterminate mean...

[Joannah]

You're starting tomatoes in April? Your last frost free day is in May? Sadly, my deck doesn't get enough hours of sun so I've not been able to join the fresh-from-the-garden club for the past few years. HOWEVER, the mystery of who is raiding the birdfeeders has been solved. Not a night-marauding gang of squirrels, but a BEAR! Every birdseed related thing is inside til the bears go back to bed. YIKES!

[Vicki]

Norma, I love you!! I never knew, and that explains a lot!!

[aubree]

wow--never even heard of that!! thanks for the info!

[Seanna Lea]

Where do you find the extra hours in the day, and do you have some to share with me? I haven't done even a 10th of the seed-starting and yardwork needed to garden this year!

[Mary K. in Rockport]

Got to admit I don't know the difference. Am disappointed you didn't explain, so now I have to go google all by myself.

[Norma]

Mary, it's linked!

[Adrienne]

Thanks for that!! I knew what determinate and indeterminate were, but I didn't know that about not pruning vs pruning! Good to know as I'm planning to grow some this summer, in containers. (And I'm being lazy and buying the starts from the farmer's market.)

[sil]

Well you know I had to google the determinate thing because I had no freaking idea what you were talking about. But now that I know, I can see why you were all het up.

Sadly the only thing I can grow is fat around my arse...

[Melissa G]

I grow tomatoes from starts as I'm the only one who eats them, but I do have permission to plant the Easter snap peas and radishes.

[Jessica]

Pruning tomatoes? Please do tell. I'm still in the "try it and see if I kill something" stage of gardening... last year in Boston my garden drowned in all the rain, and the tomatoes were deeply unhappy. I'm hoping to do better next year.

[Kathy Sue]

Cool. I am going to send my Mom to this post. She is in CA, and I think always plants indeterminates and they go everywhere. Sounds like she should plant "D"s every few weeks. That'll keep her busy! (She needs to be busy).

[kmkat]

I bought some Brandywine seeds with plans to grow one in a tub on my deck. Now you have me wondering if I can grow an indeterminate plant in that way. What say you, O Great The Norma?

[Cookie]

Six weeks before last frost. Ha!

/still bitter

[Susanne]

I am happy that I learned something and that I have the right tomatoes (Celebrities) for my container garden, which are D.
And I learned that I should not remove the suckers, which I actually love to do.

[elizabeth a airhart]

growing your own food victory gardens

are just that after the weather and
varmints mold and racoons etc etc
tis a victory indeed to pick that
first ripe tomato have fun

[Sally]

I love seeing people using Seed Savers! I went to school in Decorah, and volunteered at Seed Savers; it's an amazing place, with amazing people. Glad to know you like them, too :)