Tomatoville® Gardening Forums - View Single Post - Heidi - semi-determinate or ???

fortyonenorth · August 7, 2011

This year, I started Ernie's Plump with seed purchased from Marianne Jones. It's one of the most vigorous plants in my garden - surpassing 8' at this point. However, instead of the large fruit expected fro EP, I'm getting these cute little flattened pear-shaped tomatoes. Disappointed that I had a cross or mixed-up seed, I picked a few and put them on the counter to ripen. It soon occurred to me that they are identical to the fruit from Heidi. I haven't grown all that many tomatoes, but in my experience, Heidi was unique in shape (a kinda skinny pear) and texture (super glossy and firm) and habit (compact, very dense). I didn't think much more about it, but I was perusing the 2011 SSE Yearbook and saw that Marianne lists Heidi and describes it as "sprawling" - or something like that. In Carolyn's book, Heidi is described as "semi-determinate" - which squares with my experience when I've grown it in the past.

So my question: does anyone have knowledge of a big, sprawling, indeterminate Heidi? I'm not convinced that's what I have, but I'd be curious to hear any comments.

August 7, 2011	#1
fortyonenorth Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: NW Indiana Posts: 1,150	Heidi - semi-determinate or ??? This year, I started Ernie's Plump with seed purchased from Marianne Jones. It's one of the most vigorous plants in my garden - surpassing 8' at this point. However, instead of the large fruit expected fro EP, I'm getting these cute little flattened pear-shaped tomatoes. Disappointed that I had a cross or mixed-up seed, I picked a few and put them on the counter to ripen. It soon occurred to me that they are identical to the fruit from Heidi. I haven't grown all that many tomatoes, but in my experience, Heidi was unique in shape (a kinda skinny pear) and texture (super glossy and firm) and habit (compact, very dense). I didn't think much more about it, but I was perusing the 2011 SSE Yearbook and saw that Marianne lists Heidi and describes it as "sprawling" - or something like that. In Carolyn's book, Heidi is described as "semi-determinate" - which squares with my experience when I've grown it in the past. So my question: does anyone have knowledge of a big, sprawling, indeterminate Heidi? I'm not convinced that's what I have, but I'd be curious to hear any comments.