The Determinant Tomato

The terms determinant and indeterminant after the description of a tomato are confusing to most novice gardeners. After all we may have only seen that word, determinant, in math class when we studied matrices. Most of us will have forgotten what a matrix is and a determinant was found by a formula we briefly memorized and never again used. But the word is important to remember in tomato varieties.  A determinant tomato plant has a different growing habit that can be beneficial in our garden. First, it is usually a smaller plant. When the plant starts producing flowers, it stops growing and focuses on producing fruit. It also does not need pruning. These are great attributes for smaller gardens or tomatoes grown in a pot. The fruit all matures within a couple os weeks. This is great for canning or making sauce or anyone who will be leaving at the end of the summer! One of the most popular determinant tomatoes is Celebrity. Another is Rutgers