A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Tomato type

I bought two tomato plants at the market, they are growing beautifully, but I am curious about what kind of tomato they are, I forgot to ask. Is there a way to tell from the way the plant grows, the leaves, the flowers etc? The plants are about 2-2.5 feet tall, thick stalks and quite leafy. I have cut back a lot of the leaves as there are now tomatoes on it which are still small and green (about the size of cherry tomatoes presently).

It would be almost impossible to tell what kind of tomatoes you have until you get fruit. Some people who've grown dozens of varieties might be able to tell whether a certain plant will be a cherry type, a beefsteak or something in between by the growth habit and arrangement of blossoms. I have a number of varieties in my garden, and I didn't get every plant labeled. I've been able to get a pretty good idea of what the unlabeled ones are by comparing leaves to the labeled ones. You'll probably have to wait until you get fruit and then post pics of the plants and fruits both to get a completely correct ID, but more likely you'll get a variety of "possible" answers.

Thanks, that is what I figured. Oh well. They will still taste good.

Try to post some pics when they get ripe!

Can you post a picture of the plant? Also, why are you removing leaves?

My mom always removes extra leaves/branches so that more energy goes into the tomatoes themselves instead of making beautiful leaves. It works for her, and has worked for me the past couple of years.
I will post pictures later...

Where do you think the energy for the plant comes from? The leaves are where the photosynthesis occurs.

Yeah, I'm with John, don't remove leaves that aren't infected. i missed that on my first read. Leaves not only provide energy, they protect fruit from sunscald, which can ruin the fruit. Now, removing some blossoms or early fruit, that's an issue some could argue...I say leave well enough alone, and enjoy.