u/DoughyInTheMiddle

Unknown determinate vs Indeterminant and moving plants (Zone 6b)

Unknown determinate vs Indeterminant and moving plants (Zone 6b)

I had great successes with nursery-purchased plants in the past, and even the last two years, but this year I'm starting from seedlings that I cultivated.

The difficulty is that I have no idea what type of tomato plants I have. I only know I have two varieties.

These were seeds from tomatoes that my grandmother used to grow (which she brought over from Sicily), that my father gave me shortly after she passed and they are 10 years old. I was actually rather happy I got spouts and healthy-looking seedlings from them being that old.

Like a fool, I never labeled them when I stored them. I remember seeing the fruit growing up, but have no clue what the plants looked like. I only know the fruit the seeds came from described as one being "salad tomatoes" and one being "sauce tomatoes".

My quandary is in spacing the plants but NOT wasting space in my patio-sized planter beds.

If the plants are vine-style indeterminate plants, I'd be able to severely conserve space by trying out the string-trellis systems I've seen (and am eager to build).

However, if they're big bushy Roma-style (which I ASSUME are the "sauce tomatoes") plants, the trellis won't work, and I should just use the funnel cages I've used in the past.

The Main Question

Is it possible after initially planting the tomatoes to move them without complete and total damage to the plant?

Basically I plant the seedlings when they're ready watch them for a few weeks, and if they look like they'll be bushy, I space them out. However, if they look like they're just gonna go up and up and up (minus pruning sucker stems) I can keep them closer together.

Or, should I give up on the trellis idea this year because I have no clue what I'm looking at?

PRE-EDIT

As I was talking this over with my wife prior to posting, I stopped to take a picture. It was then I noticed that of the strongest samplings remaining (one of "Type 1" and five of "Type 2"), the single plant of Type 1 has tri-pointed leaves currently. The "Type 2" plants all have tapered leaves coming to one single point.

Is it still too early to figure out the growing variety from the picture?

u/DoughyInTheMiddle — 1 day ago