Best Indeterminate Tomatoes: Flavor-Packed Varieties For Fresh Harvests All Summer Long

Indeterminate tomatoes – also known as vining or cordon tomatoes – are those tall vining varieties that bear fruit all season long. They are the best option if you want a small but regular crop of tomatoes for slicing and snacking, though many varieties yield enough for making sauces.

All tomato varieties can be broadly categorized as determinate or indeterminate tomatoes. This primarily affects the plants' growth habit and harvest time rather than which types of tomatoes you can grow. Indeterminate tomatoes make up the biggest group, including most heirloom tomatoes, offering huge versatility in terms of flavor, fruit appearance, and size.

Determinate tomatoes have a built-in growth limiter that makes them compact – and ideal for growing tomatoes in containers. They produce their crop in one glut over two or three weeks. In contrast, indeterminate varieties can grow 6 to 20 feet (2 to 6m) tall and continually produce new flowers and fruit. If plants are well cared for, gardeners can harvest in regular bursts from midsummer until the first frost.

Both determinate and indeterminate tomatoes have their advantages, and if you're learning how to grow tomatoes, it's important to understand what makes them unique.

What is an Indeterminate Tomato?​

Indeterminate tomato plants have a vining – or climbing – growth habit. Their tall stems can keep growing to incredible heights if not "topped off" and need to be held up out of the soil to prevent fruit rot, using supports such as a tomato cage, trellis, or staking.

Most gardeners train indeterminate tomatoes to concentrate on one central stem, pruning away side shoots – or tomato suckers – which if not removed will grow into new long stems. This keeps plants manageable and allows them to focus on producing fruit rather than new greenery.

However, some growers favor cultivating two or more stems – a practice known as "multi-stem pruning". Plants require sturdier support, but certain tomato varieties will bear more fruit this way. It's best to experiment to see what works for you.

If you like to can your tomatoes, a determinate variety might be best option. That is because it will set fruit nearly all at once and then be done. You will have a bumper crop ready for canning. But if you like an extended season where you can eat fresh tomatoes daily, indeterminate tomato varieties are best. These may be slicers, snackers, or sauce tomatoes.

While the fruit will begin ripening later than determinate varieties, indeterminate plants will often fruit for three months or more, producing huge yields. Many gardeners believe these long-season plants produce larger and tastier fruits.

Best Indeterminate Tomato Varieties

Selecting the best indeterminate tomatoes to grow will depend on many factors. Your growing zone will have an impact, but so will your purpose for the tomato. There are slicing tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, beefsteaks, plum tomatoes, and other types in between.

Additionally, there are now tomatoes bred with better disease resistance. Certain areas have more prevalent tomato diseases, such as humid regions where fungal diseases can cause problems.

Northern gardeners will want varieties with a short-season producing pattern. If you're gardening in a small space, you will need to choose suitable varieties for containers.

Choose from a range of the best tomato seeds and other vegetable varieties in the Gardening Know How Shop.

Best for Fresh Slicing & Salads

• Brandywine: This is a classic among indeterminate varieties. It is a slicing tomato with large, oblong fruit and pink-red flesh.
• Big Beef: A well-known slicing tomato with huge, bright red fruits. It is prolific and performs well in many regions.
• Better Boy: This tomato has huge yields of large fruit. The flavor has the perfect balance of sweet with a bit of acid.
• Goose Creek: This tomato has pink-tinged skin and flesh. It is not only an excellent slicing tomato but makes lovely sauce, as well.

Best for Cherry & Snacking Tomatoes

• Supersweet 100: As the name would indicate, the fruits are candy-sweet, bite-sized, and abundant.
• Yellow Pear: Yellow fruits give wonderful color to salads but are also convenient snacking tomatoes with an oblong form and golden hue.
• Sun Gold: Orange-yellow fruits that are rounded and tangy-sweet.
• Black Cherry: Disease-resistant plants with mahogany-purple bite-sized fruits.

Best for Sauces & Paste

• San Marzano: Italy knows a thing or two about tomatoes, and this is a top-rated paste variety.
• Roma: Readily available, but bear in mind there are both determinate and indeterminate cultivars.
• Amish Paste: This is a large paste tomato with dense flesh and sweet flavor.
• Viva Italia: A high-yield plant with thick flesh, pear-shaped fruit, and disease resistance.

Best Disease-Resistant Indeterminate Tomatoes

• Cherokee Purple: Large, attractively mottled fruits on plants resistant to septoria leaf spot.
• Mountain Magic: Small sweet tomatoes on plants resistant to verticillium wilt, fusarium, and early blight.
• Early Girl: Popular for the early ripening fruits, Early Girl is also resistant to fusarium and verticillium.
• Apple Yellow: Charming yellow fruits with resistance to tomato leaf curl virus, mosaic, fusarium, and verticillium.

Caring for Indeterminate Tomatoes

Indeterminate tomatoes require well-draining soil of average fertility in a site that receives at least eight hours of sun each day. They also need a support structure of some kind that should ideally be added at the time of planting. Trellising is an excellent way to keep the stems off the ground and expose the fruit to light and air. Stakes and tomato cages are also useful, but the plant will require regular training as it grows.

Correct tomato plant spacing is particularly important for indeterminate varieties to give each plant room to develop and allow for plenty of air circulation and light penetration. Space plants 3 to 4 feet (90-120cm) apart.

Pruning tomato plants is essential for indeterminate varieties. It will enhance the crop, allow more air and sunshine into the plant interior, and remove shoots that will not bear fruit so the plant can send energy to fruiting nodes. Pruning can also help maintain the size of the plant. Remove suckers at the leaf axils by pinching them.

How often to water tomato plants varies depending on the weather and whether they are in containers. As a general rule, water them deeply once or twice per week and feed them every other week during active growth. The best fertilizer for tomatoes is a liquid feed that is slightly lower in nitrogen and higher in phosphorus. There are many specialist tomato feeds to choose from.

More Tomato Growing Inspiration

• Learn the secret to growing perfect tomatoes with expert tips from a chef-turned-gardener.
• Browse seed-starting essentials in the Gardening Know How Shop – including high-quality seedling trays, drip-irrigation lids, humidity domes, and growing kits.
• Make your own tomato hanging basket, perfect for growing a delicious bounty in your porch or patio.
• Try these powerful homemade tomato fertilizer recipes for a sublime crop using natural ingredients.
• Sign up for the Gardening Know How Newsletter for access to exclusive offers and a regular dose of growing advice and inspiration.

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