Refering to tomato plants, what does determinate/indeterminate mean?

That's what I see on the description for tomato seeds on eseeds.com

Refering to tomato plants, what does determinate/indeterminate mean?
Everybody's half right. Indeterminate plants continue growing AND continue to produce fruit through the growing season. Determinate varieties stop growing and ripen most of their fruit over a short period, though a few may be produced later.
Reply:Determinate means that it will grow like a bush and stand upright with minimal staking. Indeterminate plants will tend to get very big and almost vine-like, and they require cages or stakes to keep them upright. If you don't have much space, choose a determinate variety because indeterminate can get unwieldy. Also, the tomatoes on a determinate plant will all tend to ripen at about the same time, but an indeterminate plant will continue flowering and producing until it gets too cold. http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/tomat...


By the way, tomatoes can be a little bit tricky from seed if you're a beginner. At least in my area, most home/garden stores sell seedlings in the spring and there is a good selection of varities, so for me it has always made sense to buy the plants rather than try to grow from seed. But if you have a good seed growing set-up, go for it!
Reply:ok heres the deal determinate means the tomatoes will all rippen and be ready for harvest at one time determinate varietys are most commonly used in commercial tomatoe farming so they can be harvested by machine at one time indeterminate means the tomatoe will flower and the tomatoes will rippen all season meaning you will start harvesting and continue to harvest until frost indetrminate varietys are most commonly used for gardens so you will have tomatoes all season long instead of just once hope this helps
Reply:determinate means that all tomato's will ripen at the same time,.....indeterminate means they will ripen at different times,.....