How To Choose the Right Tomato Plant to Grow

Tomatoes can be sweet and juicy, or range in size from large to the small cherry variety, but always a popular choice for any garden. Although typically known as a vegetable, a tomato is actually a fruit, since it contains seeds of the plant.

Starting a garden with tomato plants may leave you wondering which tomato seed variety would be the best choice to sprout and grow. Gardeners may differ on their preferences for tomatoes, from large tomatoes to cherry tomatoes, red-colored to orange, or yellow, and maybe sweet and juicy, to a rich, dense taste. Whatever your preference may be different, a few helpful tips may help guide you in your decision.

Harvest time will influence your decision for the tomato seed variety you choose. If you prefer a tomato seed variety that yields fruit later in the season, you may want to plant the Wonder Boy, or Arkansas Traveler tomato seeds, that produce a larger crop yielding between 6 to 8-ounce tomatoes. These tomatoes typically appear within 80 days after planting. On the other hand, if you prefer an earlier season tomato, the Applause and Early Girl tomato typically arrive between 55 and 65 days, with a smaller tomato that ranges between 4 and 6 ounces.

The size of tomato you prefer will determine which tomato seed is more suitable for your garden. If you prefer a larger tomato, the Supersteak, Big Beef, and Beefmaster may be the choice for you. If, however, you prefer smaller tomatoes for salads, perhaps the Sun Gold, Sweet 100, and Sun Sugar may be the perfect pick for your tomato seeds.

If you’d like tomatoes to produce fruit all summer long, you probably want the indeterminate kind. They will need to be pruned since they will continue to grow as long as the temperature is favorable for their growth. Examples of indeterminate tomatoes include garden peach, old Brooks, and Anna Russian. The garden peach tomato is known for its fuzzy texture comparable to a peach. Anna Russian will produce tomatoes in about 68 days. These tomatoes are more heart-shaped in size with a pink tinge of color.

The determinate tomatoes, on the other hand, typically do not require pruning since they have a more compact size. The popular varieties of the determinate tomatoes include northern delight, black seaman, and Alaska. The Alaska tomatoes are large with a rich cherry color and are best suited for a somewhat cooler climate. The black seaman tomatoes are popular for use in salads and sandwiches. Northern delight tomatoes can produce tomatoes more quickly, in approximately 58 days, and typically grown in northern climates.

Tomatoes also have the distinction of being either heirloom, produced for several generations, or hybrid, that is new each season due to the cross-pollination of the seeds. Heirloom includes tomatoes such as black plum, and black Brandywine, while hybrids include sun gold, sweet 100, and early girl.

Tomatoes grow in such a variety of sizes, shapes, tastes, and colors, there’s sure to be some that will accommodate your choice for the ones that will thrive in your garden.