For nearly a century following the introduction of the tomato plant to the Americas, people stayed away from eating it, for the blood-red fruit of the plant was thought to be poisonous. Did you notice that instead of calling a tomato a vegetable, I referred to it as a fruit? The reason being the tomato is actually a fruit, and not a vegetable, which many believe to be the case. We could actually call it a berry, as it is rightfully the ovary of a flowering tomato plant. Believe it or not, the tomato is one of the most commonly cultivated plant species in the USA. In fact, tomato lovers from all over the world grow this plant. If you have tasted a freshly picked tomato, I am sure you will know why.
When selecting tomato varieties to grow, you will soon encounter how much choice the tomato grower is presented with. Tomatoes range in size from small marbles to large softballs. The smaller varieties, which are common in supermarkets these days, are called cherry tomatoes. One of the larger varieties of tomatoes that are also commonly available, are called the beefsteak tomato. But it doesn’t stop with size, there are different types and different colors too. You may have seen tomatoes in colors like orange, yellow or purple.
The way that tomatoes grow can be categorized into two groups: The determinates and the indeterminates.