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The tomato is one of the most popular food crops grown in gardens in the United States and around the world, and there are many tomato varieties for climates and personal tastes. According to a survey conducted by the National Horticultural Society, 86% of home gardeners grow this tropical fruit in South America.
Tomatoes are known for their culinary versatility, but store-bought tomatoes don't have the same flavor as vine-ripened tomatoes from your home garden. In addition to their attractiveness, almost all types of tomato plants are easy to grow and produce bountiful crops from a small amount of land. Here are some garden tomato varieties that you can grow and harvest at home.
1. Ball tomato
One of the most consistent tomato varieties in terms of size and shape, Globe tomatoes include the popular Better Boy, Celebrity, Rutgers and Early Girl varieties. The spherical tomato is often grown commercially because its thick skin withstands shipping, storage, and handling. It is an excellent option for slicing medium-sized spherical tomatoes and regular round shapes.
They are delicious fresh, but they are also good for canning, juicing and cooking. Ball tomatoes offer a mild flavor that complements many dishes. Most red varieties, but also yellow and green are available. These round tomatoes are rarely divided and the plants produce high yields on vigorous vines.
Ideal: tomatoes for making sandwiches, salads or hamburgers.
Our recommendation: Early Maiden Hybrid from Burpee Seeds for $5.95.
This variety produces high quality fruit on vigorous vines with high yields of round red tomatoes.
See also: What equipment do I need to get my gardening allowance?
2. Beef steak with tomato
For larger tomatoes that really hold their shape when cut, steak tomatoes are a heavy (1 pound) and flavorful choice. These plump, juicy tomatoes are the biggest of them all. Because of their thin skin and short lifespan, they are rarely available commercially, but remain a perennial favorite in the garden.
Popular varieties include Beefsteak, Big Boy, Beefmaster, Brandywine and Cherokee Purple. The slightly lobed, flat fruit grows on plants up to 6 feet tall. Tomato plants of this species can benefit from a trellis, trellis or trellis, as well as regular fertilization. All species are susceptible to garden pests. They are high yielding plants, but late maturing plants.
Best for: A great choice for sandwiches and burgers, as its plump meat holds its shape. It is also sweet when eaten plain.
Our recommendation: Burpee Steakhouse Hybrid for $8.68 on Amazon.
Burpee's Beefsteak hybrid tomatoes ripen a few days earlier than average and produce large, sturdy plants with lots of tasty tomatoes.
3. Cherry tomatoes
If you're looking for a bite-sized tomato that you can eat as a snack without having to chop it up, choose one of the smaller golf ball tomatoes. Fast-growing cherry tomatoes form clusters of small round, oblong or pear-shaped fruits in red, yellow, orange and purple. Most are less than an inch in diameter and range in flavor from mild, sweet to tangy.
The most popular cherry tomato varieties are Sweet 100, Super Sweet 100, Sweet Million, Black Cherry and Midnight Snack. Many varieties are well adapted to the garden, but they can also be planted in the garden after the danger of frost has passed.
BEST FOR: Ideal for tapas, grilling, salads, appetizers and kebabs.
Our recommendation: Burpee Super Sweet 100 Hybrid for $7.82 on Amazon.
These seeds grow into plants that produce sweet, sugary, bite-sized cherry tomatoes that ripen first and continue to produce until frost.
See also: Pruning Tomato Plants: 6 Common Mistakes First Time Tomato Growers Make
4. Italian tomatoes
Italian tomatoes are slightly larger than cherry tomatoes in the 2 to 2 inch range and are easily identified by their oval shape. These small, firm tomatoes have been selectively bred to produce tomato sauces with firm flesh, firm skin and easy-to-remove pits, especially for classic Italian recipes. Therefore, it is also known as tomato paste or tomato paste.
Inhar tomatoes are also great for pizza and sun-dried tomatoes because they contain less water. Roma is perhaps the most famous example of these tomato varieties, but other plum varieties include Juliet, Supremo, Amish Paste, Big Mama and Orange Banana.
BEST FOR: Specially bred for preserving and making thick sauces and pastries; It also holds up well.
Our recommendation: Big Mama Hybrid from Burpee Seeds for $6.45.
The plum-shaped fruit is very plump, reaching about 3 x 5 inches, which makes plenty of canning sauce.
5. Beef steak tomato
Like steak tomatoes, oxheart tomatoes are large and fleshy, usually weighing at least a pound. The biggest difference is their shape. Meat hearts have a tapered bottom to form a heart shape. Another difference is that the oxheart tomato does not have lobes. Instead, they look like a spherical tomato with an elongated point at the bottom. Most are red or pink, but some varieties are yellow, orange, green or purple.
The different varieties of tomatoes in this category can vary in taste from sour to salty to sweet. Popular strains in this late season harvest include Yellow Oxheart, Hungarian Heart, Livingston's Giant Oxheart and Cour di Bue.
Best for: Like steak, these big meaty beefsteak tomatoes are great for slicing, but can also be used for stuffing and canning.
Our recommendation: Ohio Heirloom Seeds Pink Oxheart $4.69 at Amazon.
This variety produces many large, heart-shaped, sweet red tomatoes.
6. Heirloom tomatoes
The heirloom category includes heirloom varieties that are passed down from generation to generation, usually by pollinators such as bees. Heirloom tomatoes must be properly propagated for at least two generations or 40 to 50 years, although many are nearly identical to their 100+ year old ancestors.
Although older tomatoes are often tastier, they are susceptible to disease and other problems. They come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Popular heirlooms include Cherokee Purple, Black Cherry, Amana Orange, Brandywine and Chocolate Stripes.
Recommended: It is eaten fresh, as in a salad or sandwich, but stale tomatoes can also be cooked.
Our recommendation: Marde Ross & Company Pink Brandywine for $12.99 on Amazon.
This plant produces a large crop of sweet, juicy tomatoes of one kilo.
Related: Why You Should Always Plant Your Tomato Plants Side by Side
7. Green tomatoes
Many green tomatoes are unripe tomatoes from other varieties. But there are older varieties that are green when ripe. They are generally less acidic than red tomatoes and often have a sweet and tangy flavor that goes well in salads. They are good sources of vitamins A and C, as well as potassium. Popular varieties of green tomatoes include German greens, zebra greens, Cherokee greens, and tiger greens.
Tomatoes that are green because they are not yet ripe are sweeter, tarter, crispier and more juicy than their mature relatives. If desired, it can be stored until ripe. Unripe green tomatoes should not be eaten raw; It is poisonous.
Best for: Ripe green tomatoes are used in sauteed, baked or stewed dishes and sauces, and ripe green tomatoes are good in salads and dips.
Our recommendation: Gardeners Basics Green Zebra for $5.95 on Amazon.
These heirloom seeds are grown to produce a large yield of lime-green striped chartreuse fruit with a sweet, sweet flavor and a subtle lemon-lime flavor with a tart bite.
8. Special tomatoes
Special tomatoes add flavor to dishes with attractive colors, unusual shapes and exotic flavors. Formally defined as the smallest snack variety, this category includes many varieties of tomatoes and they come in many shapes and colors. The most common are grape, cherry and cherry tomatoes, but not all cherry tomatoes are specialty tomatoes. While tomato specialties are often considered snacks, there are also beef jerky varieties in this category.
The key to specialty tomatoes is flavor, closely followed by color, texture, aroma and year-round availability, although buying local and organic specialty tomatoes is also a key trend. Popular varieties include Black Cream, Purple Calabash, Japanese Black Trifele, Mini San Marzano and Red Royals Sweet Cherry Tomatoes on the Vine.
Recommended: Mostly as a snack, although it can also be used in salads and sandwiches.
Our recommendation: Seeds Need Rainbow Mix for $7.99 on Amazon.
It is the variety that makes specialty tomatoes so desirable, so this mix of colors, flavors and shapes creates a variety of delicious and unusual dishes.
Prices shown here are correct at the time of last update on 02/23/13.
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