UK Grown Lycopersicon & Solanum Seedlings
Botanically speaking, tomatoes are fruit, rather than vegetables, but botanists aren't chefs (except all the ones that are, obviously), so here they are in the vegetable section.
Tomatoes come in two main groups, determinate (also called bush) and indeterminate (also called cordon or vining).
Tomatoes grow in one of two distinct ways:
- Determinate varieties grow to a fixed size and then set fruit, so the trusses ripen pretty much at the same time (ideal for canning etc). They are best for smaller spaces and containers, require the least support, and because they are all done by midsummer, you can grow something else in their place for an Autumn / Winter crop (some varieties, like the Tumbling Toms, will produce new fruit if you pick the ripe ones promptly). They are also easier to maintain because you don't need to pinch out any side shoots.
- Indeterminate varieties keep on growing until you pinch their tips off, or until winter rolls around, and the first trusses will be fully ripe while new trusses are still forming. They can get big in ideal conditions, will require a decent amount of support, and are better suited for growing in the ground. They require closer maintenance, because you should "clean their armpits" by pinching out all side shoots that sprout between another leaf or fruit stem and the main stem (some growers will leave a few side shoots in order to end up with more, smaller fruit, but that's not standard practice).
As with most other vegetables, some tomatoes are F1 hybrids, and some are stable, open pollinated cultivars: hybrids tend not to come true from seed, while open pollinated cultivars do.
Tomatoes are greedy. They demand rich soil, lots of sun, and consistent moisture: using one of our peat-free gro-bags guarantees the first of those.