Tomatoes either get super big or stay rather compact. It’s important to buy or grow the right tomatoes with what space you have (container, raised beds, or garden).

Determinate tomato plants or bush tomatoes don’t get as tall as indeterminate tomatoes. They usual get around 3-4 feet tall and all the tomatoes from the plant ripen at approximately the same time (usually over a period of 1- 2 weeks).  These varieties do the best in containers and they don’t necessarily need to be staked or cage, but it would be of benefit. Cages keep the plants upright, provide some support if wind storms come along and keep leaves off of the ground. Determinate tomatoes don’t need to be pruned.

Indeterminate tomato plants can get huge and tall. Typical is 6 feet tall, but they can get taller. They will grow and produce fruit until killed by frost. These tomatoes will need cages for support and are often pruned. These tomatoes are best grown in the garden, but with a lot of care and lots of watering can be grown in containers.

To prune or not to prune? I don’t prune my tomatoes to encourage more fruit, I prune to prevent diseases or encourage fruit to get ready. When the plants get bigger I will remove the bottom leaves that are touching the garden. Blight is a terrible disease that affects tomato plants and one way to prevent it is by not allowing the leaves to get wet. In 2019 I started pruning in September to encourage fruit set and ripening because the tomatoes were a lovely shade of green and frost was just around the corner. The tomatoes were refusing to turn color so I was removing foliage, but being careful to prevent sun burning of the fruit.

Chose tomato plants that will work best with where you will be growing them. If you’re container grower than chose determinate tomatoes. If you’re doing raised beds it might be best to use determinate tomatoes, just because of the height the indeterminate plants can reach, but hey there is always ladders. If you are planting in a garden the sky is the limit, chose what varieties you are most drawn to.