Good question. I am also interested about the answer.

My Understanding is that there are no branch out. Everything grows on the main stem.

What do you mean no branch out? No "suckers"? Determniates do have suckers, and you don't prune them.

My experience with determinates is limited to Rutgers in swc's.

They've been setting good amounts of fruit for about a month. They do "branch out" but only for a short period of time. The plant looks like it is on its last legs and I'm ready to pull it as soon as the last few fruits begin to blush.

Because of the limited space I have for growing tom's, I'll never plant determinates again.

I'm looking for something definitive, that you can tell by looking at them before fruits ripen. Does a determinate still flower when it has a lot of LARGE green fruit? I can't tell by height, and I can't tell by when it's "on its last legs" b/c these are going strong and have not had the foliar diseases that the heirlooms (or even Latah, now that we had 5" of rain on Friday) have had. And it looks like they're going to go right up til frost since frost really isn't that far off, we've had some cool nights already.

Sturdy plants that shrugged off the rain and the heat (though they did get early morning and very late afternoon shade in July) and now the rain and cold again. They're not what Burpee said they were (at least not the "cocktail tomatoes") but I can't wait to taste a ripe one b/c whatever they are they seem to be a pretty prolific producer, though late (but everything this year is late). If they taste good I hope they're not hybrid so I can save seed, I do have some seed left.

I'm with you on not growing determinates when indeterminates produce longer - that's why I planted over 100 indeterminates and 20 "determinates" - thinking that when they were done I'd plant fall peas there. Had to find a different area for the peas.

I am going the other direction. I am planning on only to grow determinates, except Cherokee Purple.

The reason is I determinates have a more concentrated fruit set. They will continue to produce all year, just at a much reduced rate.

With determinates, in the high tunnel, I would be able to plant them, have them produce and then I can move on to the next planting and when I need to, I can tear them out and replant for fall and winter.

This year we planted 4 plantings of tomatoes, April 6th, May 6th, May 26, and June 14. I had the first two plantings too far apart, but that was be cause of the cold spring.

Another reason for me to do this is to keep the size of my tomatoes up. Since I sell at Farmers Markets, most of my customers want bigger tomatoes all year. The only way and easiest way to do this is with determinates.

Finally, they are easier to clean up at the end of the season. Way less vines!

Jay

There is an old thread asking for the same information, and there were some very informative answers given so I have linked to it below.

In particular read the posts by mulio and hoosiercherokee (Bill).

Betsy

Here is a link that might be useful: How to identify determinate and indeterminate plants

This post was edited by bets on Sun, Aug 11, 13 at 10:55

It is moot point anyway once planted. It isn't like it is going to help determine what the variety is or whether it is a hybrid or not. And like Jay said, there are advantages and disadvantages to both types.

But if it is vital to know for some reason then both the search here and Google are your friends.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Determinate Verses Indeterminate Tomato Plants

Dave comes through again! No pressing need, just wondering how badly Burpee messed up. But they do appear to be determinates (branching is low, only 1-2 leaves between fruit clusters). Just thought it was strange that they had such large fruit and still growing taller, getting more flowers. But when they ripen oh boy are we going to be busy! Glad there aren't that many of them!

I realize the advantages and disadvantages of determinates, but one of the advantages to 1 of these 2 Burpee varieties was supposed to be earliness. Scratch that. Another was that when the later one was done I could pull them all and plant fall peas. Scratch that. The third was that they'd come all at once and I'd have a good amount to take to market - still waiting on that, I will have to see if they're all different sizes (very interested in what Jay said about bigger tomatoes since right now they're all different stages) but ripening all pretty much at once, or if they're going to be more like the indeterminates and give me a few off each plant at a time.

Like OP, I have not yet read a clear DEFINITION of what a determinat is: Not talking about advantages and disadvantages.

--Is the smallER size ?
-- It is not branching out ?
-- Is it fruiting once an the quitting ?

I have a beautiful explanation as how to tell if a tomato is DETERMINANT:

Answer : It cannot be DETERMINED.

This post was edited by seysonn on Mon, Aug 12, 13 at 2:54

seysonn - the link Dave gave was not to a discussion on GW. I gives very clear explanation of determinate vs indeterminate - though things get muddy once you start on "semi-determinates".

Oh, and I know the only way I'm going to be able to tell if these are hybrids is to save some seeds and see if the fruit is the same next year. Which I'll do if they taste good, b/c while the seeds I have left in these packets may be the same (or may not be, I've gotten an oddball seed in a Burpee packet before), any that are labeled the same for sale next year (or ven the unopened packets I have from this year, think I bought 2 of the "Independence Day") could be totally different!

Since seysonn apparently wants to be spoon-fed an answer and even providing pictures isn't enough then:

If a tomato reaches a certain size and stops growing, it is called a determinant tomato plant. However if the suckers keep on growing and growing out of the pot and into the frying pan, it is called indeterminate.

You can tell if a tomato plant is determinate or indeterminate by looking at how the flower cluster comes off the stem. If it is centered and shooting out from the tip of the stem, then it is a determinate plant. If the flower cluster is off to one side with the stem growing past the cluster, then it has an indeterminate growth pattern.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Determinate versus Indeterminate tomato plants