How to get short fat tomato plants in pot before the transplant time?

When most plants get to be about 12" tall you can start trimming them to "dwarf" them. That should allow them to grow out a little more but not too tall.

Thanks will try.

I recommend that you visit home garden centers run by local people - the old fashioned greenhouse - if you have one or more in your area. Local greenhouses will grow favorite sellers year after year from seed so they're ready for transplanting when the growing season starts in your area. If you are in the Milwaukee, WI area, I highly recommend Luxembourg Gardens in Franklin (a suburb on the southwest side of Milwaukee County). I've purchased the best tasting heirloom tomato plants from there for years. Last year I bought a more compact type than I have in the past so I could plant in a container on my patio, but I forget the name, not much help. They were very juicy and sweet tomatoes ranging in red/orange/yellow colors on each tomato. They didn't get huge, but produced lots of meat and relatively few seeds. This is not the plant I bought from my local green house, but this sounds like a winner and doesn't grow taller than 18 inches:

http://www.tomatogrowers.com/506-BUSH/productinfo/2205/

Hi Peter,

Short flat plants are created by pruning the plant to force it to send out more branches. Here's an article/video that you explain how to make it work. Wishing you the best.

http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/6115/video-early-pruning-of-tomato-plants

THis is a world wide site so you may want to Google the area you live in Maybe they were Beefsteak Or an Heirloom variety Here's 10 types https://www.heirloomtomatoplants.com/Heirloom_tomatoes-ah.htm

Thanks so much