Varieties of Tomatoes
Chances are, your favorite tomato is a different variety than mine. When
it comes to tomatoes, there is no shortage of varieties. There's big
tomatoes, little cherry tomatoes, and in between sizes. You can choose between
meaty or juicy varieties of tomatoes. Flavor definitely sets different varieties
apart. And, not all tomatoes are red.
As a tomato grower, we suspect (and hope) that you are growing several different
varieties of tomatoes. Chances are, you' will try many of the varieties overtime,
and will seek out new varieties for the garden and the table.
Thought for Today's: Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom
is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Varieties of Tomatoes:
Here are just a few of the hundreds of varieties of tomatoes that currently
exist. We have grouped the types of tomatoes into major categories.
Cherry Tomatoes
Everybody loves these bite sized snacks. Make sure to grow some along the
border of the garden, so you and your kids can simply walk up and nibble.
Popular cherry tomato varieties include:
Supersweet 100 Tomato - Amazingly high yields of super-sweet one inch
fruit.Vitamin C content is higher than any other tomato. Disease resistant,
indeterminate plants produce right up to frost.
Buy seeds now
Grape Tomato - Small and bite-sized,
these tasty morsels have gone from unknown to t"the rage" in just a few years.
Why? These egg-shaped fruit are sweeter and tastier.
More on Grape Tomatoes.
Buy seeds now
Early Season Tomatoes
This type of tomato ripens the earliest in the the season. Gardeners cherish
early season varieties, as the first tomato of the season is a long anticipated
thrill. It's a sense of gardening pride, to be the first in your neighborhood
to produce a ripe, home grown tomato. Early season varieties usually have
smaller plants and fruit, than mid-season varieties.
Popular early season varieties:
Early Girl Tomato - By far the most popular tomato in this category.
It produces tasty slicing tomatoes in as little as 52 days from setting starts
outdoors. Indeterminate plants produce an abundance of four to six ounce
tomatoes early in the season. Production often drops off, just as your main
crop and beefsteaks begin to produce.
Buy seeds now
Main Crop Tomatoes
Better Boy Hybrid - This is one of the most popular main crop tomatoes.
Vigorous plants will produce an abundance of extra large fruits, some weighing
1 1/2 pounds each. Many people claim this tomato variety has the best flavor.
Meaty fruit is deep red in color. Plants have disease tolerance to VFN, ASC
and ST.
Buy seeds now
Big Boy Hybrid - One of the most popular hybrid tomatoes. Indeterminate
plants produce large, deep red tomatoes , up to 2 pounds each. These big
boys will produce right up to frost.
Buy seeds now
Rutgers - A favorite among gardeners. It is unsurpassed for canning.
Highly productive plants produce large, meaty fruit, with superior flavor.
Plants are indeterminate.
Buy seeds now
Jet Star Hybrid - This big yielder produces large, globe shaped, low
acid fruit with a great taste. Indeterminate vine is vigorous and produces
early.
Buy tomato seeds now
Beefsteak Tomatoes
These are the monster of the tomato garden. These big, fat, juicy tomatoes
are among the tastiest you'll find. One slice of these tomatoes, covers a
piece of sandwich bread. They also take the longest to grow. However, all
will agree that they are worth the wait.
Beefmaster - This popular variety has hybrid vigor and produces big,
meaty tomatoes with a great flavor . Plants are indeterminate and disease
resistant.
Buy Heirloom Tomato seeds now
Paste Tomatoes
Also called plum or Roma tomatoes, these tomatoes are meaty, and have less
juice or liquid. It makes them poplar for making tomato sauce, tomato paste
and ketchup.
Roma - By far the best known paste tomato si Roma.
Buy Roma Tomato seeds now
Rio Grande - Very large, pear shaped tomatoes. Perfect for making
tomato paste. Indeterminate plants.
Long Keepers
As its name implies, long keepers store well. Properly stored, Long Keepers
will last through the winter months... if you don't eat them first!
Jubilee This is an All American selection. This low acid tomato is
orange in color and very meaty. It keeps well in a cool, low humidity
environment. Plants are indeterminate.
Buy seeds now
Heirloom Tomatoes
Heirloom tomatoes are varieties that have been around for a long time, and
their genetics have been kept pure (consistent). While this may not
be a category in the true sense, there is a delicious heirloom variety that
every home gardener should try at least once.
Brandywine Tomato - This is one of the best heirloom varieties available.
It is truly worth growing. Brandywine produces large, pinkish red fruit.
Meaty, good tasting fruit growing up to a pound on indeterminate plants.
Buy Heirloom Tomato seeds now
Abe Lincoln Tomato- Brilliant red,round, medium sized tomatoes grown
indeterminate vines. Dates back to at least 1920's.
Aunt Ruby's German Green Tomato - Large, green beefsteak tomato. When
ripe, fruit is green with a tint of yellow and a pink blush underneath.
Big Rainbow Tomato - This tomato has huge ribbed shoulders, and a
golden color, with red running through the flesh. Plants are indeterminate.
Black Krim Tomato - This is an old Russian heirloom tomato. The fruit
is black with green shoulders. Plants are indeterminate.
Box Car Willie - It's a catchy name for a popular heirloom. Round,
red fruits have a sweet tart flavor. Indeterminate, disease tolerant plants
are heavy producers.
Cherokee Purple Tomato - The smoky, sweet flavor of this tomato was
enjoyed by Cherokee Indians over 100 years ago. Indeterminate vines.
German Johnson Tomato - This indeterminate plant produces a heavy yield of
big, 3/4 to 1 1/2 pound fruits. Fruit has a pink skin with yellow shoulders.
Mortgage Lifter Tomato - Produces a huge tomato, up to 2 pounds, that
is very meaty with few seeds. As the story goes, a West Virginia man who
developed this seed, produced and sold enough seedlings to pay off the mortgage
of his house.
Prudens Purple Tomato - Indeterminate "potato leaved" plants produce
fruit up to 1 pound in weight. Fruit has dark pink skin and meaty, crimson
flesh.
Big Red Tomato - as its name implies, the fruit is red and huge, up
to 1 1/2 pounds. Plants are indeterminate.
More on Heirloom seeds
Buy Heirloom Tomato seeds now
Indeterminate versus Determinate Tomato Plants
For tomato growers, one of the first two terms we learn is "determinate"
and "indeterminate" vines, or plants.
Determinate tomato plants have a maximum height that the plant will grow.
Some growers prefer determinate varieties, due to small gardens and
confined space limitations, the desire not to fence or stake plants (small
determinate varieties are perfect for this), difficulty of harvest, or a
physical limitation (or handicap) of the grower.
Indeterminate tomato varieties are more common and more popular. The vines
do not stop growing at any defined length or height. These varieties will
require staking, caging, or fencing, to help support the vine as it grows
and produces fruit. The plant will continue to grow all season long.
Indeterminate plants are limited only by the first frost.
Garden Tomato Recipes: May we suggest:
Other Resources:
Learn all about growing Tomatoes:
Tomato
Mania In-depth information and advice from Garden
Hobbies
Problems
with Tomatoes
Buy Tomato Seeds for sale online now.
Buy Hot Kaps
Veggie Cages Throw away the wire and hoop tomato
cages. This revolutionary cage expands a whopping 7ft! Stores flat in almost
no space. Try them on sweet peas, tomatoes, pole beans, and other climbing
climbing flowers and vegetables.
A pest net bag placed over the tomato plant inside of a veggie cage. It keeps
the deer away.
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