FAQ

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HOW TALL WILL THEY GROW?
Determinate (including bush)
varieties reach a certain plant height,
usually 3-5 feet, then stop growing.
The majority of their fruit matures
within a month or two. These are
popular with gardeners who like to
can or make sauce, or have another
reason for wanting to harvest most of
their tomatoes at once. Most need a
short cage.
Indeterminate varieties con-
tinue to grow and produce tomatoes
throughout the growing season. These
vigorous plants need extra-tall sup-
ports (at least 5 feet). Because indeter-
minate varieties produce so many
branches, gardeners often prune a
few for optimum-sized fruit, or train
each plant on a very tall trellis.
Look for the words “determinate”
and “indeterminate” on your plant
tags and in the variety descriptions
on our website, bonnieplants.com.
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SYMBOLS FOR
DISEASE RESISTANCE
Tomato variety names are often
followed by capital letters that
indicate resistance to certain
diseases. Here’s what they mean:
V – Verticillium Wilt
F – Fusarium Wilt
N – Nematodes
ASC – Alternaria Stem Canker
TMV – Tobacco Mosaic Virus
St – Stemphylium (gray leaf spot)
TSWV – Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus
LB – Late Blight
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RECIPES
Nothing beats a simple sandwich with
fresh tomato slices, but we bet you’ll
have so many tomatoes to harvest
that you’ll need more ideas. Go to
bonnieplants.com/cooking to
view a variety of recipes for your
freshly harvested tomatoes, along
with other veggies and herbs.
Of all crops, tomatoes are the most
likely to get problems, but many hybrids
have been developed that resist the worst
or most prevalent diseases. Check the vari-
ety descriptions on our website for details
on specific disease resistance.
Pests like hornworms eat tomato foliage
and sometimes damage fruits. (One or two
hornworms can strip a plant leafless.) Pick
worms off or spray with DiPel®.
Sometimes a ripening tomato will get a
black, sunken spot on its blossom end. This
is not a disease but a frustrating condition
called blossom-end rot, caused by a cal-
cium deficiency. Help prevent it by increas-
ing soil pH to 6.5 to 6.8, keeping soil
consistently moist, and not over-fertilizing.
If a plant has already been affected, use a
calcium spray on the foliage.
HARVEST & STORAGE
As tomatoes begin to ripen, their color
changes from vibrant medium-green to
a lighter shade, with faint pink or yellow
stripes. These “breakers,” or mature green
tomatoes, can be chopped for salsa, pick-
led, or pan-fried into a crispy appetizer. Yet
tomato flavors become much more complex
as the fruits ripen, so you have good reason
to wait. The exact signs of ripeness vary
with variety, but in general, perfectly ripe
tomatoes show deep color yet still feel firm
when gently squeezed. Store harvested
tomatoes at room temperature indoors, or
in a shady place outside. Never refrigerate
them, as temperatures below 55° cause the
precious flavor compounds to break down.
Bumper crops can be frozen, canned, or
dried for future use.
TOMATOES
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