This guide covers the named bush, vining, cherry and patio tomatoes sold by Gardening.co.za. Choose the correct growth type before spacing, supporting or pruning a plant.
Quick Grow Facts
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Seed form: Every active product is currently labelled raw seed. Follow any current packet treatment warning.
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Depth: Use 3–6 mm as the tray baseline unless the current packet is more specific.
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Germination: About 24–29 °C; most emerge in 7–14 days in home conditions.
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Method: Protected tray sowing is the default. Give strong light immediately after emergence.
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Transplanting: Harden for about a week and plant out only after frost and cold-soil risk.
South African Conditions
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Winter-rainfall Western Cape: Start under protection in late winter, transplant in spring, shelter from wind and manage foliar disease during residual rain.
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Frost-prone interior: Start under warmth 6–8 weeks before safe planting and never transplant before the local frost risk passes.
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Humid coast and KZN Midlands: Use the extended season with maximum airflow, crop rotation and morning root watering.
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Hot-dry or subtropical interior: Establish before peak heat, mulch, irrigate deeply and protect fruit from sunscald without depriving plants of light.
Determinate Bush Tomatoes
Banana Legs, Floradade, Heinz 1370, Roma VF and the stocked Principe Borghese line belong here. Use 45–60 cm between supported plants with adequate row access. Cage or stake heavy crops but do not prune bush plants like cordon tomatoes. Principe Borghese's module assignment is supportable, but its live 1 cm depth and 20 cm spacing remain held until the current packet is reconciled.
Indeterminate Vining Tomatoes
Gardener's Delight, Gold Medal, Moneymaker and Oxheart need tall support and an extended picking plan. Use about 50–75 cm between plants in rows near 1 m apart, adjusted for the support system. Tie stems and remove side shoots only when training as cordons.
Bumble Bee Mix
Bumble Bee Mix is an equal mix of Pink, Purple and Sunrise Bumble Bee, all indeterminate. Sow about 6 mm deep, space plants about 61 cm apart in rows 91–122 cm apart, provide a cage, stake or trellis and expect about 70–75 days from transplant. Do not promise all three colours from a single seed.
Patio and Trailing Tomatoes
Topsy Tom is raw, semi-determinate and trailing, about 30–46 cm high with a 91–152 cm spread. Use one plant per 30 cm/5-gallon hanging basket or patio pot and expect about 50–55 days from transplant. Tumbler is a determinate trailing container tomato; replace the live 30 × 150 cm field-spacing instruction with one plant per large freely drained basket or container.
Care, Support and Harvest
Use fertile, well-drained soil, keep root-zone moisture consistent and mulch after the soil warms. Avoid excess nitrogen. Stake or cage heavy-fruited and vining plants; do not train compact trailing types as tall vines. State every harvest number as days from sowing or days from transplant. Pick sound, fully coloured fruit for fresh use and follow tested preserving recipes.
Why Germination or Fruiting Fails
Common causes are cold or saturated seed mix, weak light, frost, heat-related blossom drop, erratic moisture, excess nitrogen, root restriction and disease carryover. Tomato foliage is not food.
Shop the Exact Seeds
Determinate bush tomatoes
Cherry and speciality tomatoes
Indeterminate vining tomatoes
Patio and trailing tomatoes
