Dwarf tomatoes fit in small spaces but offer big fruit and flavors
Nothing tastes better than a warm, ripe tomato harvested from your own backyard. Whether heirloom, beefsteak, plum, pear or any of a range of colors and acidity, tomatoes are often the reason people take to vegetable gardening. A chief limitation for those who want to grow tomatoes is the amount of space a mature plant requires.
Plant breeders have responded by selecting and producing tomato plants that top out at under 5 feet and produce delicious fruit over a long period of time. They called them dwarf tomatoes, referring to the size of the plant and not the size of the tomatoes.
In 2006, the Dwarf Tomato Project came into being. Tomato enthusiast, author and educator Craig LeHoullier of Raleigh, N.C., and
Patrina Nuske Small of Australia discussed a frequent request from people wanting to grow tomatoes in small spaces. He gathered volunteers from the United States and Canada, and she gathered volunteers from Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. They set up a project across the hemispheres, covering two growing seasons in one calendar year, thereby reducing the time for new tomato variety development by half. Their work yielded 67 dwarf tomato varieties. For a complete list of varieties and more information about the project check out: www.dwarftomatoproject.net/.
Here are some of the attributes of dwarf tomatoes:
• Height of 2-4½ feet.
• A sturdy framework to support the fruit.
• Come in all sizes, shapes and colors.
• Flavors ranging from sweet to tart.
• Minimal pruning requirements.
• Capacity to grow in a limitedsize garden.
• Mature plants that can be grown in 5-gallon containers or straw bales.
Tomatoes are classified as determinate or indeterminate. Determinate tomatoes have a single production period and limited plant size. Indeterminate varieties
continue to grow, often to an unwieldy size. They continue to bear fruit until they are killed by frost. Most dwarf tomatoes are indeterminate. However, because of their genetics, they continue to produce fruits without the plant growing out of bounds. Even though these plants are not overly large at maturity, consideration should be given to staking or caging the plants when they are young. This will provide the necessary support if the plant produces heavy fruit yields as it matures.
Tomatoes grown from seed take six to eight weeks from sowing to transplanting. If you start seeds too early, your seedlings will be leggy and overgrown. Seedlings should be planted once nighttime temperatures are consistently above 50 degrees. Experienced gardeners in the Pittsburgh area consider Memorial Day to be the earliest time to plant tomato seedlings, despite our last frost dates typically being a couple of weeks earlier. By then soil temperatures have warmed and plants won’t be stressed by a few cooler than normal nights.
For those interested in experimenting with dwarf tomatoes, the following companies are excellent sources for learning about and purchasing dwarf tomato seeds:
• Heritage Seed Market (www.heritageseedmarket.com).
• Renaissance Farms (www.renaissancefarms.org).
• Southern Exposure Seed Company (www.southernexposure.com).
• Tatiana’s TOMATObase (www.tatianastomatobase.com).
• The Sample Seed Shop (www.sampleseeds.com).
• TomatoFest (www.tomatofest.com).
• Victory Seed Co. (www.victoryseeds.com).
Steve Piskor is a Penn State Master Gardener and a PA Certified Horticulturist. This volunteer program supports the outreach mission of Penn State Extension and provides research-based information on best practices in sustainable horticulture and environmental stewardship. Information: alleghenymg@psu.edu or 412-482-3476.