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Some tomato vines decline by fall
Kansas Some tomato plants won´t bounce back when more moderate temperatures replace summer´s scorching heat. Producing late-season tomatoes just isn´t in their nature. "This includes most of the newer tomato varieties, such as Mountain Pride, Celebrity, Carnival and Daybreak," said Ward Upham, who heads the Master Gardener program for Kansas State University Research and Extension. Most people know that tomato varieties can vary in the size and type of fruit they produce. If nothing else, proof of that is on display in grocery stores´ fresh produce sections. But, tomato varieties also divide into two groups based on vine type, Upham said. And, each of those vine types produces for a different length of time: --Determinate (or, semi-determinate): Plants stay relatively small, bushy and compact. Group members tend to be newer varieties with good disease resistance, less need for support and uniform ripening. They also usually die or become unproductive after a six- to eight-week production period. --Indeterminate: These varieties often become large and rangy. They grow throughout the season, producing fruit into fall. The group includes the old standby for Kansas gardens, Jet Star. "These groups mean you have two options if you want to keep harvesting tomatoes into fall," Upham said. "One option is to make room and plant some Jet Star-type indeterminates in spring. The other is to plant an improved and smaller determinate variety about mid-June, so the plants will begin to produce about the time your spring-planted determinates finish." Date: 9/11/07
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