Dwarf Tomatoes Save Space and Taste Great

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 tomatoes which top out at under 5 feet and produce delicious fruits 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, North Carolina and Patrina Nuske Small of Australia discussed a frequent request from people wanting to grow tomatoes in small spaces. Craig gathered volunteers from the United States and Canada and Patrina 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 available to gardeners in the Northern Hemisphere. For a complete list of varieties and more information about the project check out the Dwarf Tomato Project.

What are dwarf tomatoes and what advantages do they offer? The term "dwarf" refers to the height/size of the plant and not the size of the tomatoes. The attributes of dwarf tomatoes they were seeking include:

• Height of 2 to 4½ feet
• A sturdy framework to support the fruits
• Tomatoes in all sizes, shapes and colors
• Flavors ranging from sweet to tart
• Minimal pruning requirements
• Capacity to grow in a limited size garden
• Mature plants that could 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 tomatoes continue to grow, often to an unwieldy size. They continue to bear fruit until they are killed by frost. Most of the dwarf tomatoes being bred are indeterminate. However, because of the genetics of the dwarfs, 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 from seed take about 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 night-time temperatures are consistently in the fifties. 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 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
• Renaissance Farms
• Southern Exposure Seed Company
• Tatiana's TOMATObase
• TomatoFest
• Victory Seed Company