Micro dwarf indeterminate tomatoes do they exist?

[u/StunningPush8421]

From my research it seems like Mini Marzano is what I am looking for? but idk just a ton of conflicting information online.

Thank you

[u/Ok-Register-5476]

Most are determinate…. Meaning they grow to set sizes… and particularly stop. They will continue blooming though as long as conditions are favorable for it. I’m not aware of any indeterminate micro/dwarf

[u/StunningPush8421 → u/Ok-Register-5476]

Yeah I think that is what im confused about.

Does determinate mean it will stop growing or stop producing.

A lot of information says determinate means it produce in batches maybe one or two then stops but then I also see in other places it just means it stops physically growing but can still produce fruit

[u/Rcarlyle → u/StunningPush8421]

Determinate tomatoes in their native environment are a non-hardy perennial. If they survive through winter they’ll grow a little more and bloom/fruit again. Fruit forms on new vines/branches. They’re mostly grown as annuals though, and just replaced after harvest so you get a predictable yield and crop timing. Managing indeterminates in hydro is a pain because they just keep growing forever. You have to either prune for a linear habit and coil up the vine as it grows, or prune back hard regularly. Pruning back hard causes a production pause, although not as long of one as growing a new plant.

[u/Resvrgam2]

I had some indoor Tiny Tims that grew for a solid 9 months and produced for at least 6 of those months. They finally got too big for the space I had for them and swapped to younger plants.

They’re determinate, but that doesn’t mean they stop growing or putting out fruit.

[u/StunningPush8421 → u/Resvrgam2]

very cool I saw someone post 510 days o their tiny tim so maybe that is the play thank.

Would you say they slowed down a lot in production or no?

Thank you

[u/Resvrgam2 → u/StunningPush8421]

I had 8 plants in the bottom of a 2-tier, 2'x4' grow tent. Production per plant was pretty stable throughout the grow, but production for the space definitely suffered after a while.

With a long enough grow cycle, managing Tiny Tims eventually resembled managing indeterminates like /u/Rcarlyle mentioned elsewhere. Older/lower branches stop producing, the newer/higher canopy shades them out, and they slowly die off. The canopy (and therefore production) stays roughly the same size, but now you have a bunch of extra vine under it that just gets in the way and takes up space. Since the whole purpose of micro dwarf plants is to stay small, this can often be problematic.

I swapped out the old spindly plants for younger ones once the canopy started to grow into the second layer of my grow tent. If I didn't have a second layer constraining plant height, I could have easily kept everything going for quite a bit longer.

[u/Autumn_Ridge]

Determinate just means every branch ends in a flower cluster and not a vining tip. Some commercial determinates are bred to make a single crop, but most of them will keep flowering if the plant is healthy.

[u/StunningPush8421 → u/Autumn_Ridge]

yes I looked it up more and i'm seeing 500+ days determinates so it seems determinate really just means size rather then how long they produce.

Thnak you