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There are literally thousands of different tomato types out there and anyone who is new to the hobby of tomato gardening is sure to be confused as to what all of these classifications mean, and more importantly, which variety of tomato should they be planting? Fortunately, only a basic knowledge of the way tomatoes are classified is required to make an educated decision on a particular species that is right for you.

Determinate vs. Indeterminate

The first basic way tomato types are broken down is by the manner in which the plant grows. Determinate tomato plants are those that grow only to a specific height, and no higher. They are also known as bush tomato plants due to their appearance. Determinate tomato plants produce their crop of fruit during a short period of time, and then cease to produce any more tomatoes for the rest of the season. A good characteristic of these plants is that since they don't continue to grow to taller heights, they don't need to be supported by staking or caging. You can also get by skipping the pruning ritual too. Overall, the determinate tomato plant requires less maintenance by the gardener.

The indeterminate tomato plant, on the other hand, will continue to grow wildly and need to be supported by stakes or cages. One of the things many people prefer about the indeterminate is that it produces tomatoes all-season long. When you pick ripened tomatoes from this plant, you can be sure that it will continue to give you nice, delicious tomatoes throughout the rest of the growing season. These plants also commonly require more care and should be regularly pruned.

Heirloom vs. Hybrid

The next breakdown in tomato types is heirloom and hybrid. Everyone has surely heard of heirloom tomatoes, but most people don't know what it really means. To put it simply, it is a tomato variety that has been grown continually for 50 or more years, and has not been cross-pollinated or mixed with any other tomato species. The seeds are saved from the tomatoes and planted season after season to preserve the tomato's desirable properties. They are known to be the tastiest tomatoes around, and every tomato gardener longs to have a garden full of delicious heirlooms. Unfortunately, heirloom tomatoes are more susceptible to problems, such as fungal diseases and insect infestations. They usually don't produce as bountiful of a crop as hybrids do either.

That brings us to the alternative to the heirloom, which is known as a hybrid tomato. These tomatoes have been "engineered" to contain many of the best qualities of several different species of tomato by cross-breeding them together. They have been bred this way to be more disease resistant, less vulnerable to pests such as nematodes, and to produce a more reliable crop of the fruit. Hybrids were first designed by commercial growers, and are most likely to be the type you buy in the grocery store. I don't' have to tell you what you already know, store-bought tomatoes don't taste near as good as a home-grown heirloom. That's the negative of hybrids, but there are quite a few that have been developed that are quite flavorful, and you can try planting several to see which ones you like the best.

There are lots of factors that may influence which tomato types you ultimately decide to plant. Things to consider are your experience in gardening, how much time you have to tend to your tomatoes, and your priorities in the fruit that is grown. Some people want tomatoes all summer long for sandwiches and salads, and some like to jar all of their tomatoes for sauces and winter consumption. You should consider these and many other priorities when deciding on a type of tomato, but nobody says you can't plant 4 or 5 different types and enjoy them all!

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Farmers world-wide have been practicing crop rotation for centuries. The reason for this is that they discovered long, long ago that by growing certain crops in a certain sequence, they were able to optimize the precious resources of the soil.

If one crop is grown season after season, year after year, without a break, the soil will tend to deteriorate in both structure and the content of nutrients. But if crop rotation is practised correctly, each subsequent crop will add nutrients to the soil that were used up by the previous crop. Crop rotation also minimises the risk of nematodes and disease.

The simplest rule of thumb is to grow an above-ground crop and then a below-ground crop. Better still rotate the four crop groups that benefit most from crop rotation. These are:

? cruciferous crops including cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and kale,

? root crops including beetroot, carrots, parsnips, salsify and turnips (remember that potatoes are NOT a root crop, they are a legume),

? solanaceous crops including both tomatoes and potatoes, peppers and eggplants, capsicums and chillies,

? leguminous crops that include all the beans and peas you can think of.

Cucurbitaceous crops - cucumbers, pumpkins, squashes and marrows, and various melons - and various other miscellaneous crops - from Swiss chard and spinach to leeks, celery, lettuce, endive and artichokes - can generally be included anywhere, unless of course they make a bad companion plant to others planted at the same time.

From this you will see that legumes and then the cruciferous crops, including brassicas, should follow-on from your tomato crop.

Legumes are known to trap nitrogen in nodules that form on their roots, adding nitrogen to the soil. But this benefit is only realised if the whole plant goes back into the soil. Harvesting the pods minimises the nutrients, so leave some plants to die and rot.

Leafy vegetables use up loads of nitrogen - which is why you should plant the brassicas after growing beans and peas. But you will still need to feed the soil and add manure and compost for the crop to really thrive. If they do thrive, leafy vegetables will generally enrich the soil with phosphorus, which the root crops thrive on. The root crops then leave behind some extra potassium that our tomatoes love!

Another factor to consider, particularly in terms of solanaceous crops, is that the different types should ideally not be grown within three years of one another. So if you want to grow tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and aubergines, you'll need to plant different areas at different times, rotating the crops differently all the time.

Annette Welsford and Lucia Grimmer are the authors of best selling books How to Grow Juicy Tasty Tomatoes and How to Grow Great Potatoes.

Lucia Grimmer is a world renowned expert in plant disease and nutrition who trains horticulturists, agronomists and professional growers. She has won awards for her technical papers and regularly conducts trials on a range of crops with the objective of improving yield and reducing disease.

Their book on Growing Tomatoes has sold to thousands of novice and professional gardeners in 83 countries, and has been featured on TV, radio and leading gardening publications in 4 continents.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Annette_Welsford

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This article on when to plant tomato seeds indoors will show you how you can successfully start your own tomato plants and have them ready to transplant outdoors in your backyard garden or in containers on your balcony in time for the growing season. If you follow the important points laid out here prior to buying your seeds you will surely be rewarded with an amazing crop of delicious, healthy, tomatoes.

Tomato plants are heat loving sensitive plants that can easily be grown from seed with a little extra care and a few tomato growing secrets. With some planning and preparation, you can easily expect a favorable outcome with your tomato growing endeavors as long as you follow these vital points of when to plant tomato seeds indoors and to most people's amazement having a green thumb is not a prerequisite.

There are a few important details to consider when choosing the optimum time of actually planting your tomato seeds indoors, and if you continue to follow along I'll acquaint you with a few of these details of why they are important to your tomato growing plans.

Regardless, if you are a complete novice to starting your tomato seeds and growing your own plants or even if you are a seasoned gardener you may not be aware that tomatoes can be grown indoors all year long providing that you have the proper growing environment.

As a novice, to tomato growing or just the average person wanting to try a bit of gardening you may be thinking that it is enough of a challenge just growing a tomato plant purchased from a nursery let alone starting a plant from seed and hopefully getting it to grow and produce fruit. Growing tomatoes from seeds and knowing when to plant tomato seeds indoors is not a difficult task. it can be very easy and enjoyable as long as you follow a few basic gardening principles.

3 Important Points to Consider Before You Go Out and Buy Your Tomato Seeds

These three points will help you decide when to plant your tomato seeds indoors. Tomato seeds take 5-7 days to germinate and should normally be grown indoors for a time period of about 6-8 weeks before you relocate them outside. If you are like most backyard gardeners, your aim is to be eating your own vine ripened tomatoes as soon as possible. Tomatoes have a growing season of about 50 to 80 days in general, but it mostly depends on your location and the variety of tomato you choose to grow.

So Knowing This Here are a Few Points to Take Note Of

Variety or Type of Tomato:

There are over a thousand plus different varieties of tomatoes to choose from in gardening catalogs. Depending on if you want to eat freshly sliced tomatoes or cherry tomatoes in salads or maybe your plan is to can them, or freeze your surplus crop of tomatoes. Each variety of tomatoes will have their own specified number of frost free days. With tomatoes, this is called Days to Maturity ( this deals with the number of days from the time you plant your tomato seedlings out in the garden until the time the tomatoes are ripe and ready to pick) Knowing the specific variety will help you determine when to plant your seeds indoors.

Geographic Location:

Where you live, is another very important detail to consider when buying your tomato seeds and growing your tomatoes. Tomato plants need a number of months to reach maturity, and they are unable to bear the least amount of frost. Therefore, tomatoes as a rule are typically planted indoors, as seeds. Do you have a short growing season or a long growing season? By far, the most important date to be aware of for when to plant tomato seeds indoors is the expected date of the last frost. You will want to schedule planting your seedlings outdoors around two to three weeks after the normal last frost date for your local area. Refer to the Climate Zone Map or ask your regional gardening center,or a gardening neighbor for what they would suggest is the optimal time for you to transplant your tomato seedlings outdoors in your area.

Placement of Tomato Plants Outdoors:

Finally, you need to think about where you will transplant your tomato seedlings. If you will be growing them under cover in a greenhouse, then you have a little more control over your time period of when to plant your tomato seeds indoors as you will not have to worry about frost. But if you are planting them out in your garden bed and you want the delicious flavor of a plump, juicy, vine ripened tomato then that will affect the date of your initial planting.

Planning and preparation is the key to having a successful tomato growing experience. We all make mistakes in the beginning, so whether you are planting tomatoes out in the garden bed, in a greenhouse, or in containers on your patio these factors all play a part in your decision of when to plant tomato seeds indoors.

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