[Bevy]

I received a free packet of Tombola tomato seeds from Plant World Seeds:

"Cordon and bush varieties in all shapes, sizes and colours. You can grow a greenhouse or garden full with these but won't know what you have until they fruit!"

I've planted 20 of these for fun, but I'm not experienced with bush varieties. At what point will I be able to differentiate them so that I know whether to train them as cordons, or not? Any tips for telling the difference?

[bobbyt]

I've grown the bush (determinate) variety, and they are like a shrub, normally they are only at most a foot (30cm) high and tend to grow outwards, you should be able to tell the difference by the time the indeterminate (cordon) vine type get going I'd have thought. I may stand corrected, but that's my thoughts on the subject 

[mumofstig]

Some bush varieties grow much taller than a foot, so it's not that easy tbh.

Bush varieties grow many branches, but so do cordon varieties if you don't prune them. but the usual wisdom is that each branch on a bush variety makes flowers at the top and then stops growing, whereas a cordon variety carries on growing upward after each flower truss.

[Bevy]

Perhaps I'll able to tell the difference eventually, but if I wait until it's obvious it might be a bit late to start training them.  I've sown 8 other known varieties, so I'm not particularly relying on these 'unknowns', but thought it would be interesting to try them.  Hubby reckons that they're just the floor sweepings after all the seeds were packeted! 

[Subversive_plot]

Determinate types will self- limit their upward growth and branching, usually 1 to 1.5 meters high.  They will produce most blooms and fruit over a short season. However, if you have a long growing season, healthy determinate tomatoes do produce a later flush of blooms and fruit, after the first fruits are gone.

Cordon types, we call indeterminate here. They keep growing taller and keep branching. Look up the Guinness World Record, grown hydroponically in the UK, 19.8 meters tall and full of fruit!

[Bevy]

I'm afraid my 'indeterminates' will be limited to the size of your American 'determinates'. My greenhouse simply isn't tall enough!