Which Tomato Varieties Should You Grow?

If you are planning to grow tomatoes, there are over 700 varieties of tomatoes worldwide from which you can choose. They come in all shapes, sizes and colors. How do you choose the best variety to plant?

The main reason you may be planning to grow tomatoes is because you like tomatoes and you are searching for good taste in tomatoes. You are disappointed with those you buy at the grocery store, and you find the organic ones at the vegetable market too expensive. So taste is your priority when considering the best tomato varieties for your vegetable garden. With such a wide range of tomato varieties, you may have to experiment for a while before you discover which tomato variety suits your taste best, because everyone’s taste is different. Many people opt for the tomato varieties mainly because they are the older and more traditional type of tomatoes, and they are full of flavor. There is one disadvantage though; they do not have some of the more modern characteristics which are built into hybrid tomatoes, such as disease resistance.

Disease Resistance in Tomato Varieties

So, if you decide to go for the tomato varieties, in order to ensure that you produce some delicious and lovely fruit, you should pick a type of tomato that has quite a reasonable level of resistance to disease. When you purchase your seed packets, look carefully for the marks “V” and “F” which ensure that the plants have a natural resistance to fusarium wilt and verticillium, which are two of the most common diseases affecting tomato plants.

Important Characteristics in Different Tomato Varieties

• Flavor
  
• Open-pollination
  
• High yields
  
• Heat resistance

How to Select which Tomato Varieties to Grow

Also in your consideration of the varieties of tomatoes and the best variety to grow, is how you like to use your tomatoes. You will most likely have a surplus of tomatoes after harvesting, so you would need to preserve your surplus.

• Thick fleshed tomatoes are good for canning, drying and making pastes. Roma, Amish Paste and San Marzano tomatoes are great for this purpose.
  
  
• Cherry tomatoes are good for eating fresh or drying. Some cherry tomato types are Sungold, Black Cherry, Sweet Million and Yellow Pear
  
  
• Slicers are main crop tomatoes for eating fresh and making sauces. Some popular varieties of slicers are Brandywine, Beefsteak and Cherokee Purple.
  
  
• Saladette/Pear tomatoes are small tomatoes which are great eaten fresh, and they are becoming. increasingly popular for drying. Among them the popular ones are Juliet, Red Pear, Yellow Pear, Roma and Stupice.
  
  
• Really Big Ones are tomatoes which are really huge and weigh more than a pound. Some popular ones are Beefsteak, Brandywine, Mortgage Lifter, Better Boy and Big Boy
  
  
• Non-Reds are tomato varieties that ripen to colors of orange, green, yellow, purple and black or striped. Among these if you are looking for the best variety, you would find the Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra, Black Krim, Pineapple and Lemon Boy.

You will observe from this list that a tomato can fall in several different categories. A great slicing tomato can also be a non-red such as the Cherokee Purple. Slicers include Yellow Pear or the saladette/pear varieties of tomatoes. For canning, drying or making pastes, you can use Roma tomatoes; it can also be eaten fresh as a saladette/pear. The choice is yours.

Space Requirements for Different Tomato Varieties

Space is important in deciding whether you can plant a determinate or indeterminate variety of tomato. Determinate varieties grow to a limited size; usually about three feet in height, while the indeterminate varieties are also commonly known as “vining tomatoes.” They can grow up to six to 10 feet and can even grow fruit all before the frost catches up with them.

So the vine type is probably better in smaller spaces, because you will be able to control to the size you desire and also train them in which direction you choose. In addition, indeterminate tomato plants continue to grow fruit over a longer period. Determinate tomato varieties, also known as “bush tomatoes”, tends to ripen all at once over a relatively short period.

Greenhouse Tomato Varieties

Greenhouses are indeed an important part of growing tomatoes. It is able to control the temperature of the tomatoes no matter the season that exists outside. Greenhouses aid in the time the fruit takes to mature. If you do not have a greenhouse, you have to be aware of upcoming frost at the beginning of October and be all finished with your harvesting by then. In this case it is safer to go for early maturing tomatoes.

Greenhouses range in prices for $300 for a 12 feet length and upwards. Although you may not be able to stand up in the small greenhouses, you can definitely kneel to attend to your tomatoes.

Beefsteak tomatoes are good candidate for the greenhouse if you do not have a long summer, because they take longer to ripen, and they need to be protected from overnight frosts.

Optimizing Your Selection

Your geographical location plays a huge part in selecting the best tomato variety; the hot or cold climate would be the determining factor. If you are uncertain as to what varieties of tomatoes are best suited to you region, you should seek advice from an assistant at your local garden center, as well as observe what varieties of tomatoes your neighbors are growing.

The best advice that can be given here is that the best variety of tomatoes includes a mix of hybrid (F1) and open-pollinated (OP) or tomato heirloom varieties. Many people prefer a tomato variety mainly for its taste. It also helps if they are able to strive and grow in a State where there is predominantly good weather as well. If you are in a location with stressful growing situations, the disease–resistant hybrids is a sound choice.

Eventually you would realize that choosing the best variety of tomatoes for your home garden is a matter of preference, obtained through experience. What is important is that you produce healthy tomatoes with tastes that please you. After experimenting with a few different varieties of tomatoes, you will be quite knowledgeable about tomato varieties and you will be perpetually enjoying the delicious fruits of your labor.