Help with Plant size in Container?

[Salty_Dog]

This might be an odd question and it may also have little to do with Tomato spicies and more to do with Container size and/or training, but i have a selection of Tomatos in Containers and each Container will be placed on the steps leading up to my deck (best position for sunlight).
Subsequently i'd like to place the taller growing spices at the bottom steps and the shorter at the top, so they grow to more or less the same over all level.

All Tomatoes are in 24" pots, spicies are as follows;

Black Russian (Heirloom)
Green Zebra (Heirloom)
Apollo
Grosse Lisse
Sweet Bite

I have already noticed that the Sweet Bite are very aggressive growers and it seems the Heirlooms are slow growers? (first time growing Heirlooms, so any advice appreciated on growth rate)

Just to give you a better visual, the bottom step will allow 8ft of growing height until it reaches the deck and the last step i wish to use will allow about 4ft.
6 steps in between and they are all going to be trained up the same 5" open weave netting or flat metal tomato cage material.

Hope that wasn't a mouthful for everyone

Thanks.

P.S. i have since found this on another site

All you can go by is the general rule of thumb - indeterminate varieties average 6-8 feet but can go as high as 10 or even more if you want to stake them that high and keep them going. Determinate varieties average 3-4 feet, some will make 5 feet. So if height space is a problem then stick with determinates or plan to let the indeterminates just flop over at the top of whatever support you can use. Hope this helps.

Only i am not sure where my Tomatos fit in that, ie, which are Indeterminate and which are Determinate

[amideutch]

Dog, here are a couple sites that will give the information you seek as to a particular tomato variety and info pertaining to that variety. As far as the plant size and vigor is concerned will depend on your pruning regimen and type of pruning/training techniques you choose to use. The two tomodori links are from our French friends and how they train and prune their plants. Even though it's in French the pictures get the point over pretty well. Last link is another pruning tutorial with good info. Ami



http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/fin...sname=Tomatoes

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/C...o_Variety_List

http://www.tomodori.com/3culture/tai...r_une_tige.htm

http://www.tomodori.com/3culture/taill_sur_2-tiges.htm

http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/...-tomatoes.aspx

[Salty_Dog]

Thank You Ami

The French site is fantastic, i just translated the pages with an online translator and all was very well explained.
I love the First, Second and Third generations of growth.... This has got me keen to start experimenting.

[FILMNET]

absolute great website for a beginner

[Salty_Dog]

Yep, that's me.
I have always just planted the seedlings, kept them watered and fertilized and pulled out the laterals (or whatever it is they are called, seems lots of sites give them a different name everytime) and enjoyed bountiful harvests of tomatos.

The more i read here, the more i realize that is only the tip of the iceberg.
I'd like to try these techniques and learn a bit more, but don't want to over complicate things too much.

Those diagrams were great for explianing how the plant behaves.