Choosing the Best Tomatoes for Your Garden

Growing tomatoes in your backyard is relatively easy, after you choose which tomatoes you want to grow. Browsing seed catalogs and checking out the varieties available at your local garden shop or home improvement centers can lead to confusion. What are the differences in tomato varieties and which ones should I grow?

The Basics

First, determine the amount of space you have available for growing tomatoes. Do you have a large garden and acres of land or do you live in an apartment? You can grow tomatoes in a container or in the ground; it depends on the specific type of tomato.

Next, decide on how you like to use tomatoes. Do you enjoy eating them fresh in salads and salsa? Are you planning to can tomatoes for use in cooking and sauces? What about saving seeds--is this important to you? Answering these questions will help you choose the best tomato plant for your garden.

Determinate or Indeterminate

Determinate tomato plants spread out and grow to a specified height. The exact size varies from one plant variety to another. Determinate plants are well suited to container growing. They may require staking but the plants are less likely to become unruly. Sometimes these are called bush tomatoes. Most determinate plants set fruit all at once, which makes them suitable for canning.

Indeterminate tomato plants grow continuously and require pruning and caging. They continue to grow right up until frost kills them. They set fruit throughout the summer. With indeterminate plants you will have fewer fruits ripening at one time, but they produce longer than determinate varieties. Growing indeterminate plants in a container is challenging as they will outgrow even the largest containers. This type of tomato plant is best grown in the ground where it has a lot of room to grow.

Saving Seeds

If you enjoy saving seeds from your tomato plants from year to year, it is best to purchase seeds or plants that are open pollinated. An open pollinated tomato plant will reproduce consistently from year to year. The advantage of saving seeds from year to year is that you only have to purchase the seeds or plants once, and as time goes on you end up with plants uniquely suited to your particular garden.

Plants and seeds labeled as F1 or hybrid seeds will not give you consistent results as these plants are a cross between two different plants. You can save the seeds from most hybrid tomatoes, unless the plants or seeds come with a statement that they are a protected, patented plant. It is considered patent infringement to save seeds from patented plants. Personally, I avoid purchasing these varieties.

Another type of tomato seed or plant you may encounter is called parthenocarpic. Parthenocarpic plants will produce fruits from flowers without requiring pollination. The first fruits produced will be seedless; fruits produced later on in the season may contain seeds.

To save my tomato seeds, I let one or two tomatoes stay on the vine until they are past their prime. Remove the seeds from the tomato and place into a canning jar. Add water to the jar to cover the seeds. Place a piece of cheesecloth over the jar and secure with a rubber band or canning ring. Rinse the seeds by draining the water through the cheesecloth. Repeat until the seeds are completely separated from any remaining tomato pulp. Spread the seeds out on paper towels to dry. Store the dried seeds in an airtight container.

Types of Tomatoes

There are several different types of tomatoes. If you like few seeds and lots of flesh, choose plum varieties. The most common types of plum tomatoes are San Marzano and Roma. They are cylindrical in shape and are the best choice for making sauces. Fruits from these plants are great for drying due to their lower juice content.

Cherry tomatoes are small, about the size of a golf ball. These are great for eating fresh and they can be canned whole. Grape and currant tomatoes are very small. Eating fresh and garnishes are the most common uses for these varieties. You can pack grape and currant tomatoes in your kids lunch boxes. They easily fit into storage containers. Small varieties are easy to dry whole in a dehydrator or out in the sun.

Beefsteak or slicing tomatoes are juicy, large and heavy. Oxheart varieties fall into this category. The plants require staking and support for the fruit. Beefsteaks have a lot of pulp and some have fruits the size of softballs. Slicing tomatoes are well suited for fresh eating.

Heirlooms are cherry, plum or slicing tomatoes. Plant varieties that date back to the beginning of the 1900's or earlier are considered heirlooms. All heirloom varieties are open pollinated. There are no specific rules or regulations that state what is an heirloom or what is not. Almost any open pollinated tomato plant can be called an heirloom.

Choosing the right tomato plant for your particular situation is the best way to ensure success. If you are a beginner, start with several different types of plants to see which ones work best for you.