If we can keep this thread running with additional abbreviations, I will consolidate them into page in the FAQ section of the forum... please keep 'em coming folks! ;)

Hard to just pull the abbreviations out of the hat.
TTC --Texas Tomato Cage
(sp) --spelling issues...may or may not be spelled right
TT---Tomato Tone fertilizer
SWC --self watering container
IOW -- in other words
FWIW -- for what it's worth
FYI -- for your information
MG --Miracle Gro AKA the "blue stuff"
AKA --also known as

BWPS - Big White Pink Stripes (seems to be marketed by the accronym alone)
BER - Blossom End Rot
TMV - Tobacco Mosaic Virus
TSWV - Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus

And I have seen one for Semi-Determinant, but unsure what is correct acronym.
Thanks so much, this will be useful :-) kd

[quote]All dwarfs are determinate, ...[/quote]'Fraid not. Dwarfs may be determinate or indeterminate. Dwarfism has to do with internode length, which doesn't seem at all related to flowering habit, the determinant of whether a variety is determinate or indeterminate, as the dwarf project is showing with its numerous indeterminate varieties.

abbreviations
Being fairly new here I would see all these abbreviations and wonder what they stood for. I ran accross this thread and thought it was very useful. Last post was in Jan.2010

LMAO
 

Was LMAO mentioned = laughing my a-- off.

I think the dwarf situation is worth discussing a bit more. ALL dwarfs are "shorter" than indeterminate varieties, and all ALL dwarfs are very distinct in growth habit - very stocky, thick central stem, crinkly, dark green foliage. When we refer to indeterminate and determinate dwarfs, it is more around how they shoot out the blossom clusters, and height potential. Indeterminate dwarfs - such as Summertime Green, Summertime Gold (all of the Sneezy family), will top out at 4 feet or maybe a bit more by the end of the growing season (compare to a true indeterminate, which can go 8-12 plus feet, if you stake). They tend to have the blossom clusters off the main central stem, within the foliage radius of the plant (you don't typically see indeterminate dwarfs shooting blossom clusters beyond the foliage). Determinate dwarfs, which seem to be a characteristic of the Sleepy family - Rosella Crimson, Rosella Purple as examples - and the Grumpy family - are "rounder" looking plants - more branching, less rapid upward growth, topping out at 3 feet or so. These are the ones that can pop enormous blossom clusters out the top of the plants. But all Dwarfs, like indeterminate varieties, flower and fruit all year, until killed by frost.

It really isn't all that clear cut - there are selections that seem to be in between the two above. But it really isn't important, since all dwarfs - both determinate and indeterminate - are easily caged and grown on short stakes.....

GWR - Green When Ripe

[B]CSA[/B] - [I]community supported agriculture[/I], also known as "subscription farming."

You purchase a subscription from a local farmer, just like you would do for a subscription to a weekly newspaper or magazine. The difference is that you receive fresh, locally grown or raised fruit and/or vegetables.

CSA subscribers pay upfront for the season of produce (average is $400-$600). This early bulk payment enables the local farmer to plan for the season, purchase new seed, make equipment repairs and more.

Some farmers also offer CSA subscriptions for farm-fresh eggs, and/or meats.

As a newbie, I think this is a great idea, but can't help wondering why the
poster can't just peck out the name of a mater like Brandywine instead of
having an abbreviation of BW. Yes, often I can figure them out, but the time it
takes me to do that is longer than the time it would have taken the author to
type the name for the benefit of all newbies and some oldtimers.:x

I think with brandywine it's because both it's a popular type, and there are multiple variations. With something like Potato Leaf/Regular Leaf - PL/RL you might be discussing a whole list of tomatoes, and have to type the long way dozens of times in a post of the list. Also, there's the spelling to consider, you can probably figure it out if you need to type it out, but you might have to stop typing and think about it.

Thats a load of BS!!!!!

Sorry i had to do this

RTFM - read the fine manual

[quote=FILMNET;206145]Thats a load of BS!!!!!

Sorry i had to do this[/quote]

No, you didn't have to do it. I was going to edit your post but decided to leave it for now and just to say that using such an abbreviation that's known to all doesn't stand for the variety Big Sungold. So please do refrain yourself in the future.:)

Alpine, everyone starts out as a newbie at some point and thre are abbreviations that one learns as one learns more and more about tomato varieties. If you don't understand some of the abbreviations then just ask the person posting what one stands for if you don't see it in the posts above.

There will never be a comprehensive list of tomato variety abbreviations for the simple fact that there upwards of 10-12,000 varieties in circulation. Add to that that many Tville members who are from countries where the spellings of some varieties are truly hard to remember without looking them up each time you want to fully name a variety. And many US folks grow those same varieties.

And there are varieties not just from Europe and other countries, but tons of them from the US that also are hard to spell. If you look at the thread on grow lists here in the GEneral Discussion Forum you'll see that almost to a person variety names are spelled out in full. That's for the Grow lists, but in regular posts many use abbreviations and I do myself.

So, again, if you see an abbreviation for a variety that you don't know, just ask the person right in that thread what it stands for b'c if you PM the person about it that means that perhaps others who didn't know what it stood for and were too shy, or whatever to ask, won't know either.

Hope that helps.

The proper way to use any acronym such as "BW" is to use it [U]only[/U] after it was first spelled out: Brandywine. Then it can be subsequently referred to as BW as most all readers will be able to figure out what it means, newbie or not. To begin an initial post full of abbreviations or acronyms in any forum is just rude (ask Miss Manners).;-)