Guide to Tomato Varieties

Heirlooms Tomatoes vs. Hybrid Tomatoes

Hybrids tomato varieties are produced through cross-breeding of two or more parent varieties. The parents are chosen so that each would contribute a favorable characteristic. No, this has nothing to do with genetic engineering, and eating hybrids will not alter your DNA... Cross-breeding is basic biology that occurs regularly under common circumstances. In fact, hybrids have been bred for quite a while now. It is with modern technology that “better” hybrids have been researched and bred in recent times, those with greater disease resistance and increased productivity. Because hybrids are the results of multiple parents, their seeds do not stay true to their nature and cannot be saved.

So, you might ask, what is the big deal between heirloom and hybrid tomatoes? There are some important differences between heirlooms and hybrids. Because modern hybrids are bred mostly for productivity and disease-resistance, taste is often overlooked. A fanatic might argue that all hybrids taste the same… While that might be a bit of a stretch, he does bring up a good point. But in general, hybrids are easier to grow and less prone to failure. They are more productive than heirlooms and are very reliable crop bearers. Heirloom tomatoes are more unique in their flavor, color, size, and shape. Indeed, the unique characteristics of a particular heirloom variety cannot be duplicated, and that is something that many growers value. Also note that hybrids are a lot more popular, and they are the ones most commonly sold in your local stores. Finding a decent selection of heirlooms entails subscribing to a gardening-related catalogs or going online.

Avid tomato growers often debate the merits of hybrid vs. heirloom tomato varieties. The consensus is that in general, heirloom tomatoes taste better. And because taste is the ultimate factor in growing tomatoes, heirloom varieties are more worthy of being grown. However, despite the fact that experienced growers choose mostly heirlooms, they also throw some hybrids into the garden for reliability purposes. After all, no one can dispute that hybrids are more disease resistant, and will last longer and be more productive as the season progresses. But there are other factors that come into play as well. For example, if your garden is infested with nematodes or is prone to a particular disease, then growing disease-resistant hybrids might be the only viable solution.

Tomato Plant Distinction: Determinate Plants vs. Indeterminate Plants
A tomato variety can also be characterized by how its plant grows. Each tomato variety is either determinate or indeterminate.

Most tomato varieties are indeterminates. Indeterminate plants can grow to more than 10 feet tall, depending on the variety, but no less than 6 feet. The advantages of indeterminate varieties stem from the huge plants, which are more robust and produce more tomatoes longer than determinate varieties. Unfortunately, their disadvantages also stem from the huge plants, which require a lot more maintenance- like pruning and staking or caging. Although these maintenance are optional and the plants could be left sprawling on the ground (which is how native tomatoes grow anyways), sprawling plants will take up enormous amounts of space and are more prone to diseases and insects in the dirt.

Determinate tomato varieties are also known as “bush tomatoes”. They grow to no more than 6 feet tall before developing laterally instead of vertically. This makes determinate plants shorter and more compact. Appealing features of determinate varieties include:

1. Tomatoes mature faster, with an average of about 60 days. This is because less energy is spent on plant growth and more on fruit production.

2. Tomatoes tend to ripen all at once, which is convenient for preparation and preservation purposes like canning and drying.

3. Plants do not need to be pruned or staked. In fact, pruning is bad for determinate tomatoes because it reduces overall fruit production.

There are drawbacks to growing determinates, however. Determinate tomatoes are less flavorful than their indeterminate counterparts. This is because smaller plants cannot gather as much sugar. Furthermore, determinate tomatoes have a shorter growing season. They bear uniform crops in spurts, where a whole bunch of tomatoes ripen all at once. After about three spurts, fruit production decreases drastically and the plant wilts off. In contrast, indeterminates continue to pump a steady supply of fruit until frost.

With all that said, determinate and indeterminate varieties should not be grown next to each other, because the taller determinates might block out the sunlight for the shorter indeterminates.