Taste levels are different, too; some are sweeter, while others have a richer tomato flavor.
Another option is to choose heirlooms vs. hybrids.
Like most hybrids, the seeds do not grow true to key in.
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Tomatoes are grown as annuals in USDA hardiness zones 2 through 10.
They require at least six to eight hours of sunlight daily and rich, sandy loam soil.
Most tomatoes generally produce a crop between 40 and 70 days after transplanting them into the garden.
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Review thesedeterminate and indeterminatevarieties, for tomatoes that ripen simultaneously or produce throughout the season.
Here are 44 of the best tomato varieties for home gardeners to grow.
Their sweet, less acidic flavor and fewer seeds than other varieties make them ideal for stewing or saucing.
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They are good for eating sliced raw or as an ingredient in sauce.
This tomato is a potato-leaf heirloom.
It also provides disease and pest resistance, making it a go-to for the season’s first crop.
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As a bonus, this tomato variety is resistant to several plant diseases.
Tip
Determinate tomatoes are more compact plants (bush tomatoes) that thrive in containers.
This disease-resistant variety requires a strong trellis, as its vines can grow up to nine feet long.
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Use these prolific plum tomatoes to make a sweet, golden pasta sauce.
Its tangy, robust flavor makes it perfect for slicing into a garden salad or adding to a BLT.
These medium-sized tomatoes are mild, juicy, and delicious.
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Their blue color indicates the presence of anthocyanin, the antioxidant that makes blueberries great for disease-fighting.
The fruits are 2 to 2.5 inches long and have a juicy, sweet flavor and snappy texture.
Use them fresh in salads and sandwiches or cooked into sauces.
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Plus, the plants are compact enough to grow in containers.
They are great fresh or in pasta sauce.
Be sure to use strong stakes or cages, as the vines can grow up to 10 feet long.
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These tomatoes are perfect for snacking.
It features a complex, fruity flavor with a smooth texture.
These tomatoes can get large, some weighing up to 2 pounds.
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Use these tomatoes in salad or sandwiches to show off their flavor.
The plant is known for its smooth-edged “potato leaves.”
This all-purpose tomato is excellent for eating raw, sauteed, grilled, and stewed.
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Brandywine tomatoes are also a perfect choice for making tomato juice.
Harvest the prolific red fruits frequently to keep production going until the last frost.
The fruits can grow as large as 1 pound each.
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Provide solid stakes for its long, robust vines.
Dr. Wyche’s Yellow
Courtesy of Seedsavers.org
Grow this rare heirloom tomato (Solanum lycopersicum’Dr.
Wyche’s Yellow') known for its sizeable orange-yellow fruits.
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Use it fresh in salad, sandwiches, and salsa.
They are dark, meaty, and rich-fleshed with anthocyanin, an antioxidant also found in blueberries and blackberries.
Eat these tasty slicers (Solanum lycopersicum’Oxheart') fresh or cook them in soups or sauces.
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This low-acid tomato works well in sauce.
Provide good support for this indeterminate variety.
Abundant fruits are sweet and flavorful for cooking or eating raw.
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The fruits have shiny, smooth skin in a classic red shade and a balanced tomato flavor.
Use this tomato fresh in salads, sauces, soups, and stews.
The fruits are mild in flavor and slightly hollow, making them great for stuffing.
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Support these sweet yet tangy tomatoes with stakes or cages.
Use these versatile tomatoes in salad, eat them fresh, or cooked into sauces.
It comes to us from England via New Zealand.
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Plant it if you’re looking for an heirloom that is resistant to problems likeblossom-end rotand cracking.
This tomato is best eaten raw.
They have a sweet, rich, dark tomato flavor and are about 8 to 12 ounces in size.
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It’s also resistant to common tomato plant diseases.
Best as a slicing tomato to savor raw, this versatile tomato also tastes great in soups and sauces.
This variety produces heavy, juicy fruits, ideal for BLTs and salads.
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Be sure to use substantial stakes to support these fruits.
Easy-growing, disease-resistant plants produce an abundance of fruit throughout the season.
Still, indoor sowing is generally a better bet.
Courtesy of Tomatogrowers.com
These tomatoes are bred in Canada.
Use them sliced in salads, salsas, sandwiches, and sauces.
This variety works well for canning or eating raw.
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Gardener’s Delight
F.D.
The red cherry tomatoes are so sweet that ‘Gardener’s Delight’ is also commonly called ‘Sugar Lump.’
The plant bears clusters of six to twelve tomatoes all season long.
Courtesy of Seedsavers.org
Eat them raw as snacking tomatoes or roast them to accentuate their sweetness.
Matina
‘Matina’ (Solanum lycopersicum’Matina')is also a German heirloom.
This cool-weather tomato produces a crop in about 70 days.
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The potato-leafed plants bear clusters of 3-inch red, round tomatoes throughout the growing season.
These compact plants are an excellent option for those wanting to grow tomatoes in containers, even hanging baskets.
About 58 days after planting, it produces a crop of smallish orange fruits.
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Eat them raw, in sauce, roasted, canned, or frozen.
‘Silvery Fir Tree’ was introduced by Seed Savers International in 1995.
Whengrowing tomatoes in colder climates, plantearly-season varieties.
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This key in is bred to grow well in cooler weather.
The tangy little tomatoes are great in salads and larger than cherry or grape tomatoes for slicing onto sandwiches.
It was bred in Canada and is a good, disease-resistant variety.
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The indeterminate heirloom-key in fruit is used in sandwiches and snacking.
This versatile tomato also works well for sauces, soups, juices, or canning.
Better Boy, Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, and Roma tomatoes are among the most popular varieties.
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Selecting the Best Tomato Varieties for Your Garden.North Carolina State University.
Selecting the best tomato varieties for your garden.
North Carolina State University Extension.
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