Eating a fresh tomato this summer starts with great planning right now. The winter off-season is the best time to refresh your knowledge on this staple garden crop and plan for the 2023 harvest! Here are some reminders and variety recommendations (below) that will help you put together your tomato growing plan.
Different growth habits
Tomatoes are often classified as determinate or indeterminate.
Determinate tomato plants produce one large crop that ripens all at once. They are favored by commercial growers that want to harvest most of the fruit from one picking. Homeowners who want to can/preserve tomatoes may also decide to use determinate plants since they produce one large crop all at once. Mature determinate plants are smaller than other types of tomatoes and can be planted closer together to get the most tomatoes from a small space. Determinate tomatoes should be supported with a cage or stake. Celebrity is one example of a variety that is strongly determinate.
Indeterminate plants are the traditional tomatoes many gardeners use and these vines never stop growing. They are capable of producing fruit throughout the entire season unless disease stops production or until frost kills the plant. They must have support as they can reach six feet tall or more when staked or caged. Jet Star is a highly recommended indeterminate variety.
Gardeners with limited space will likely prefer indeterminate types to stretch out the harvest season over a longer period of time. If there is space, you may want to grow a combination of both types with the determinate types used to produce a large harvest for canning or tomato juice and the remainder for fresh eating.
Heat can affect production
Though both indeterminate and determinate plants are capable of producing fruit throughout the season, our hot Kansas summers often cause a dry spell in production of both types. Tomatoes are less likely to set fruit when night temperatures remain above 75 degrees and day temperatures are above 95. Hot, dry winds make the situation worse.
Reduce leaf diseases as much as possible

Leaf diseases like septoria leaf spot and early blight are a problem for us every year on tomatoes. It is important to hold these fungal diseases off as long as possible with proper cultural practices. These include:
- not growing tomatoes in the same soil for multiple years in a row if possible,
- not planting tomatoes too early (soil must be warm)
- allowing proper spacing between plants for air movement
- caging to keep plants up off the ground,
- mulching (after the soil has warmed)
- watering the plant at the soil level (avoid leaf wetness)
- removing and disposing of the lower tomato limbs below the fruit level when they start to become heavily infected with disease.
Fungicides may also be used to help minimize tomato leaf diseases if applied as the label directs. For more information check out our tomato disease publication.
Fertilize carefully (with caution)
Tomatoes are great nutrient scavengers due to their fibrous roots system. If the soil is over fertilized tomatoes will grow a huge top with great looking foliage, but produce very little fruit. Applying a side-dressing of nitrogen one to two weeks before the first tomato ripens and again about two weeks after picking the first ripe tomato should be sufficient in most home garden soils. Examples of side-dressing fertilizers you can use include:
- Ammonium sulfate (21-0-0). Apply one-half pound (1 cup) fertilizer per 30 feet of row.
- Blood meal (12-1.5-6). Apply 14 ounces (1.75 cups) fertilizer per 30 feet of row.
Avoid herbicide applications near tomatoes
Tomatoes are notoriously sensitive to herbicides often used to control weeds in home landscapes or lawns. Be very cautious with herbicide applications anywhere near tomatoes.
Varieties
The most often recommended determinant variety is Celebrity. This tomato has been included in K-State trials for many years and is almost always at the top of the list each time. Jet Star is an older indeterminate variety that is always reliable and used as a comparison to ‘check’ other varieties against as well. These are both reliable varieties. A few other varieties we trialed last year in Salina that might be of interest to local gardeners are pictured below.
Roadster (determinate) tomato Salina KS trials summer 2021-this was a nice new slicer tomato for us and produced well. Snapper (determinate) tomato Salina KS trials summer 2021-Snapper was another nice tomato in our trial
Celebrity (determinate) tomato in Salina KS summer 2021-Celebrity is a strong and reliable tomato for central Kansas Jet Star (indeterminate) tomato in Salina KS summer 2021-Jet Star is a strong and reliable producer with few cracks and uniform fruit
Mt. Man (determinate) tomato Salina KS Trials summer 2021-diseases affected these plants, but they came on with a fairly good harvest late in the summer Skyway (determinate) tomato in Salina KS trials summer 2021-we had a nice harvest later in the season Hy Beef (determinate) tomato Salina KS trials summer 2021-Hy Beef produced quite well but we tended to have cracks in fruit if we left it on the plant too long
More popular tomato varieties for Kansas
Variety | Disease Resistance* | Vine Size | Fruit Size | Comments |
Garden Tomatoes | ||||
Big Beef | V1, F1,2 , N, TMV | Large | Large | Hybrid |
Carolina Gold | V, F1,2 | Determinate | Large | Yellow |
Celebrity | V, F1,2, N, TMV | Medium | Medium | High yield |
Chef’s Choice Orange | V, F | Large | Very large | Good flavor |
Dixie Red | V, F1,2,3 | Small-Medium | Large | Good flavor |
Florida | 91 V, F1,2 | Medium | Large | Sets in heat |
Jet Star | V, F1 | Large | Large | Crack resistant |
Mt Spring | V, F1,2 | Small-Medium | Medium | Crack resistant |
Mt Fresh | V, F1,2 | Medium | Large | Crack resistant |
Primo Red | V, F1,2 | Small | Large | Large crop early |
Scarlet Red | V, F1,2 | Medium | Large | High yield |
Cherry Tomatoes | ||||
Cherry Grande | VF1 | Medium | 1 oz | |
Mountain Belle | V, F1 | Medium | 1 oz | |
SunSugar | F, TMV | Large | ½ to ¾ oz | Yellow, very sweet |
Sweet Chelsea | V, F1,2, TMV | Large | 1 oz | |
Paste/Roma | ||||
Roma | VF1,2 | Medium | ||
Plum Dandy | VF1, EB | Small-Medium | ||
Super Marzano | VF1,2, TMV, N | Large | ||
Heirloom | ||||
Amana Orange | Large | Large | Orange fruit | |
Black Krim | Large | Large | Partly black interior | |
Cherokee Purple | Large | Large | ||
Mortgage Lifter | Large | Large |
*Disease resistance: V = verticillium wilt; F = fusarium wilt races 1,2 or 3; TMV = tobacco mosaic virus; N = nematodes Most newer tomato varieties have a more compact vine with a uniform ripening genetic trait (fruit ripens uniformly from top to bottom), multiple disease resistance and a fairly meaty, firm fruit.