Choose tomatoes based on how you plan to use them and your growing space
The tomato you pick matters more than most gardeners think. A cherry tomato that thrives in a pot will fail in a field meant for paste tomatoes. A beefsteak variety that needs eight weeks of heat will rot before ripening in a cool climate. The right choice depends on three things: what you want to cook, how much space you have, and how long your frost-free season lasts.
Tomato varieties fall into distinct types, each with different growth habits, flavor profiles, and uses. Understanding these categories helps you avoid buying a plant that looks good at the nursery but produces fruit you don't want or can't grow in your conditions.
Key Takeaways
- Slicing tomatoes like 'Brandywine' and 'Cherokee Purple' are best for fresh eating and sandwiches, but need warm weather and often take 70+ days to mature.
- Cherry and grape tomatoes produce smaller fruit continuously throughout the season and tolerate cooler conditions better than large slicing varieties.
- Paste tomatoes like 'San Marzano' and 'Roma' have thick flesh and fewer seeds, making them ideal for sauce, paste, and canning rather than fresh eating.
- Determinate varieties grow to a fixed size and produce most fruit at once, while indeterminate types grow indefinitely and produce fruit until frost.
- Your climate's frost-free days determine which varieties will actually ripen; a 60-day variety needs at least 60 warm days between your last spring frost and first fall frost.
Slicing tomatoes for fresh eating and sandwiches
Slicing tomatoes are the large, juicy varieties you slice for sandwiches, salads, and eating fresh off the vine. They have thin skin, high water content, and large chambers inside. Common varieties include 'Brandywine', 'Cherokee Purple', 'Mortgage Lifter', and 'Beefsteak'. These tomatoes are flavorful but fragile — they crack easily in rain, split when overwatered, and bruise during transport.
Most slicing tomatoes are indeterminate, meaning they grow as tall vines and produce fruit continuously until frost kills them. They need staking or caging, regular pruning to manage size, and typically 70 to 85 days from transplant to first ripe fruit. They also demand consistent warmth — below 55°F at night, they stop setting fruit. If your growing season is shorter than 70 days or your nights stay cool, slicing tomatoes will produce little or nothing.
These varieties are poor choices for canning or sauce because their high water content means you lose half the volume when you cook them down. They are also expensive to buy at farmers markets, which makes them worth growing if you have the space and warm weather.
Cherry and grape tomatoes for continuous harvests
Cherry tomatoes are small (about the size of a marble), sweet, and prolific. Grape tomatoes are slightly larger and more oval. Both produce dozens of fruit per plant over a long season, from mid-summer until frost. Varieties include 'Sungold', 'Black Cherry', 'Sweet 100', and 'Campari'.
Cherry and grape tomatoes tolerate cooler nights better than slicing varieties and often ripen in 60 to 70 days. They are indeterminate, so they grow tall and need support, but they are more forgiving of inconsistent watering and less prone to cracking. Their small size means they dry out faster on the vine, which actually protects them from splitting in heavy rain.
The main drawback is yield per plant — you get many tomatoes, but each one is small. If you want to make sauce or fill a basket for canning, you need many plants. They are ideal for fresh snacking, salads, and roasting whole. Their sweetness makes them popular with children and people who find larger tomatoes too acidic.
Paste tomatoes for sauce, paste, and canning
Paste tomatoes have thick flesh, few seeds, and low water content. They are bred to cook down efficiently into sauce without losing volume. Common varieties are 'San Marzano', 'Roma', 'Amish Paste', and 'Opalka'. These tomatoes are meaty and less juicy than slicing types, so they taste less flavorful raw but excel when cooked.
Most paste tomatoes are determinate, meaning they grow to a fixed height (usually 3 to 4 feet) and produce most of their fruit in a concentrated window of two to four weeks. This makes them ideal for canning — you harvest a large batch at once and process it all together. After that concentrated harvest, production slows or stops. Some gardeners plant paste tomatoes in succession, two weeks apart, to spread the harvest across the season.
Paste tomatoes typically mature in 65 to 80 days and tolerate heat well. They need less staking than indeterminate varieties because they stay compact. If you plan to make tomato sauce, salsa, or paste, or if you want to can tomatoes for winter storage, paste varieties are the right choice. If you want fresh eating, they are not worth growing.
Determinate versus indeterminate growth patterns
The difference between determinate and indeterminate affects how you grow the plant and when you harvest. Determinate varieties grow to a fixed height, stop growing, and produce most fruit in a short window. Indeterminate varieties grow indefinitely, producing new flowers and fruit continuously until frost or disease stops them.
Determinate plants need less pruning and staking because they stay compact. They are good for containers, small spaces, and gardeners who want a single large harvest. Indeterminate plants grow tall (often 6 to 8 feet), need sturdy cages or stakes, and require pruning to manage size. They produce fruit over a longer season, which spreads your harvest and gives you fresh tomatoes for months.
Seed packets and plant labels always state whether a variety is determinate or indeterminate. If the label does not say, assume it is indeterminate — that is the default for most home garden varieties. Determinate varieties are usually labeled "determinate" or "bush".
How climate and season length affect your choice
Your frost-free season — the number of days between your last spring frost and your first fall frost — determines which varieties will ripen in your garden. A tomato labeled "70 days" needs 70 warm days from transplant to ripe fruit. If your frost-free season is only 60 days, that variety will not produce ripe fruit before cold weather arrives.
Cool-climate gardeners should choose varieties that mature in 60 to 70 days, like 'Early Girl', 'Siberia', and most cherry tomatoes. Warm-climate gardeners can grow long-season varieties like 'Brandywine' (80+ days) and paste tomatoes. If you live in a region with hot summers and mild winters, you can plant tomatoes in fall and harvest through winter — something impossible in cold climates.
Night temperature also matters. Tomatoes need nighttime temperatures above 55°F to set fruit (form new tomatoes). If your nights stay cool, indeterminate slicing tomatoes will flower but not produce. Cherry tomatoes and paste varieties are more tolerant of cool nights. Check your local frost dates and average night temperatures before choosing varieties.
Disease resistance and growing conditions
Some tomato varieties resist common diseases like early blight, late blight, and fusarium wilt. Seed packets list disease resistance as letters: V (verticillium wilt), F (fusarium wilt), N (nematodes), T (tobacco mosaic virus), and A (alternaria). If a disease is common in your area or your soil, choose a variety with that resistance letter.
Tomatoes also vary in how much sun and water they need. Most varieties want at least six to eight hours of direct sun daily. Some, like 'Sungold', tolerate partial shade better than others. Determinate varieties often need less water because they produce fruit in a short window, while indeterminate types need consistent moisture throughout the season to keep producing.
If you have poor soil, limited water, or a shaded garden, choose varieties bred for those conditions rather than fighting with a variety that needs ideal conditions. Heirloom varieties (old, open-pollinated types) are often flavorful but disease-prone and fussy. Hybrid varieties are usually more disease-resistant and reliable, though their seed cannot be saved for next year.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between heirloom and hybrid tomatoes?
Heirloom tomatoes are open-pollinated varieties that have been grown for decades or centuries. You can save their seed and grow the same variety next year. Hybrid tomatoes are bred by crossing two parent varieties; their seed does not produce identical plants. Heirlooms often taste better but are more disease-prone. Hybrids are usually more reliable and disease-resistant but cost more each year because you cannot save seed.
Can I grow a tomato variety in a container?
Yes, but choose determinate or dwarf varieties. Cherry tomatoes and compact paste varieties like 'Tiny Tim' and 'Patio' work well in pots. Indeterminate slicing tomatoes grow too large for containers unless you have a very large pot (at least 20 gallons) and are willing to prune heavily. Containers dry out faster than garden soil, so you will water more often.
How do I know if a tomato variety will grow in my climate?
Check the seed packet or plant label for the number of days to maturity. Count the frost-free days in your area (the gap between your last spring frost and first fall frost). If the variety needs fewer days than you have, it should ripen. Also check the nighttime temperature — if your nights stay below 55°F, choose cherry or paste varieties rather than large slicing types.
What tomato should I grow if I want to make sauce?
Paste tomatoes like 'San Marzano', 'Roma', and 'Amish Paste' are bred for sauce and cook down efficiently. They have thick flesh, few seeds, and low water content. Slicing tomatoes have too much water and will reduce to almost nothing when cooked. If you want fresh sauce, paste varieties are the only practical choice.
Do I need to buy a new plant every year?
Yes, in most climates. Tomatoes are annuals — they die when frost arrives. You replant from seed or buy new transplants each spring. The exception is warm climates where frost never comes; there, tomatoes can live for years, though they usually decline in productivity after the first season.