You’ll often find the term determinate or indeterminate mentioned on tomato seed packets. These are two main categories that tomatoes come in, with the major difference in their growth habit. Determinate tomatoes are compact with a bushier growth rather than vining. They produce all their fruits at once before the growing season ends. Indeterminate tomatoes, on the other hand, produce larger plants, with a vining growth habit rather than bushy. As a result, indeterminate varieties need support to be trained to grow up something. They continue to set fruit over an extended harvesting period until frost kills the vine.
Gardeners like to grow indeterminate tomatoes for eating fresh, while the determinate varieties work well for preparing sauces and canning. If you’re looking for a long season of picking fresh tomatoes off the vines, there are plenty of indeterminate tomato varieties you can try. Here is a list of indeterminate tomato varieties popular picks among home gardeners.
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List Of Indeterminate Tomato Varieties – Early Varieties
Many indeterminate tomatoes have been bred to set and develop fruit earlier than the regular growing season. This is primarily a benefit for northern growers since they lack a long, warm growing season. Most of the early season varieties are ready for harvest in about 55 to 60 days of planting the seed.
Varieties include:
- Early Girl
Taking about 54 days to reach maturity, Early Girl produces 5-ounce fruits with a slightly flattened shape and a meaty texture.
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- Quick Pick
Quick Pick matures in about 60 days, producing 4-ounce tomatoes and offers better resistance to diseases than many other varieties.
- Early Cascade
Early Cascade produces a trailing vine, with dense clusters of small fruits ready to be picked in just about 55 days.
- Champion
Champion tomatoes offer good resistance against diseases and produce large, beefy tomatoes in 65 days. Since they’re not as early as others, they’re often categorized as a ‘medium-early’ type.
- Stupice
Although it’s indeterminate, Stupice grows compact and is well suited to containers. You can start harvesting its 3 to 6 ounce round fruits in about 55 days after planting the seed.
- Gardener’s Delight
Also known as “Sugar Lamp”, this early producer starts giving clusters of sweet cherry tomatoes in 65 days.
List Of Indeterminate Tomato Varieties – Maincrop Tomatoes
Maincrop or mid-season tomatoes come to harvest around midsummers. Generally, the harvesting period begins in about 70 to 80 days after transplanting. Most of the popular varieties fall under this category because of the higher quality of fruits. Extra-large, beefsteak varieties are also maincrop indeterminate tomatoes. Though they take longer to ripe, the large size makes them excellent for slicing.
- Fantastic
This high-yielding variety produces 3 to 5 inches round, meaty tomatoes over an extended season that begins in about 70 to 75 days after planting the seed.
- Better Boy
Better Boy also produces large tomatoes, maturing in 70 to 75 days, and is resistant to verticillium and fusarium wilt. The smooth-skinned fruits offer a classic flavor and are well-protected against sun scalding by the plant’s dense foliage.
- Big Girl
Big Girl is an indeterminate hybrid that matures in 78 days, producing large red tomatoes, weighing anywhere between 8oz to 1lb.
- Delicious
Delicious is an heirloom variety, popular in home gardens for its smooth-skinned, 1-pound fruits perfect for slicing.
- Supersteak
It’s a beefsteak tomato that produces up to 2-pound tomatoes with a meaty texture and classic “beefsteak” flavor. The cultivar takes 80 days to mature.
- Beefmaster
Beefmaster is another beefsteak tomato that produces 1 to 2-pound juicy fruits with a flattened oval shape. The hybrid takes 80 days to reach maturity and is resistant to fusarium and verticillium wilt and root-knot nematodes.
This tomato variety is a firm favorite of mine. Few seeds and acidic flavor makes it perfect for sauces.
List Of Indeterminate Tomato Varieties – Cherry Tomatoes
Some indeterminate varieties produce clusters of small, round fruits, preferred for salads and eating fresh off the vine. Most indeterminate varieties can produce hundreds of cherry tomatoes on each plant ripening over a long harvesting period.
Some classic choices include:
Black Cherry is an heirloom variety, producing firm, sweet bite-sized tomatoes that start ripening in 64 days.
- Super Sweet 100
It’s a hybrid that bears one-inch fruits in long clusters producing harvests all through the summers.
- Sweet Million
It’s a very productive variety that produces large clusters of sweet, red cherry tomatoes in about 65 days.
- Large Red Cherry
This high-yielding cultivar produces comparatively larger cherry tomatoes perfect for eating fresh and adding to salads. Its 1 to 2-inch fruits matures in 70 to 80 days.
- Midnight Snack
These cultivars produce dark, small fruits, distinctly identified from their purple-black shoulders, when grown in full sun. The harvesting period begins in about 65 to 70 days and lasts for a long period.
Unique Varieties
If you’re looking for something different, there’s an entire range of indeterminate tomatoes in unusual colors and shapes. Here are some unique varieties you should give a try:
- Yellow Pear
As the name suggests, these beautiful yellow tomatoes are in the shape of a pear, perfect for eating fresh or adding to salads. You can start picking the fruits in 70 to 80 days, once they’re entirely yellow.
- Yellow Stuffer
With a bright yellow color, these medium-sized, pepper-shaped tomatoes are excellent for stuffing. They’re ready for picking in 80 days.
- White Wonder
With white skin and white flesh, these tomatoes are about 8 ounces each, perfect for eating raw or preparing sauces.
- Evergreen
Evergreen tomatoes mature in 75 days, producing medium-sized beefsteak fruits that remain green even when fully ripe. Even the flesh is green. It’s perfect for frying besides eating raw in salads and sandwiches.
- Golden Boy
Golden Boy matures in 70 to 80 days, producing medium-sized 1-pound tomatoes that are a vivid golden color, as the name suggests. The fruits carry few seeds and have a lower acidic flavor as compared to other cultivars.
- Pink Girl
This cultivar produces attractive pink-colored fruits, maturing in about 75 days. The individual fruits are 8 ounces on average, with low acidity.
