Tomatoes 101, How to Grow Great Tomatoes

Summer tomato plant

Saturday, May 9, 2026

Tomatoes are America's favorite vegetable to grow.  There really is no comparison between a home grown tomato and a store bought tomato for taste and texture.  Here are a few tips to know about growing great tasting tomatoes. 

The first is knowing what type of tomato to purchase

There are two types of tomatoes-indeterminate and determinate.  Determinate grow to a set height and the fruit sets all at once.  Many pull their determinate tomatoes after this first flush of tomatoes.  They will produce more fruits, but not a huge number, until frost.  These can be a great candidate for canning if you would like to get your tomato canning done all at once.  Indeterminate continue to grow and yield fruits (yes, the tomato is actually a fruit) until frost.  These are the best for fresh tomatoes all season long.  Determinates height typically stays below 4'; indeterminates can grow well over 8' in a season.

How to choose the tomatoes to grow

I grow only indeterminates.  For what we don’t eat, I slice and freeze in quart freezer bags for chili and salsa.  Come fall, I can the surplus.  I like growing a variety of tomatoes, with different colors, salad tomatoes, slicers, and paste tomatoes.  I like adding a paste tomato to each freezer bag as they give a silky sauce. I like different colors because each has different nutrients and colors are just fun!  I always have red and purple tomatoes in the garden.  Three that I have every year are Chocolate Pear for salads, ruby red heirloom Italian Pear Paste for sauces, and heirloom Cherokee Purple for slicers.  My husband loves Brandywine tomatoes so he grows those.
The Power of Purple  Different colors in tomatoes give different nutrition

I buy a large Better Boy tomato that I put in a pot in April to get ripe tomatoes in June, I hope!

There are several "storage" tomato varieties available.  You can pick these at frost and they will keep for up to 4 weeks longer than typical tomatoes.  I have been trying one or two different types each season.  So far, none have been something I want to add to my yearly planting.  I'm trying another variety "Long Keeper" this year. 

Right before the first frost, I pick all the tomatoes left on the vine and put them on the counter to ripen.  We have fresh tomatoes into December.  They are definitely not the same as summer tomatoes, but better than anything you can buy in the store!  For more tips on preserving the tomato harvest:  Preserving the tomato harvest

Tomatoes kept in pantry at Christmas

All tomatoes are chock full of antioxidants and lycopene.  They contain vitamins A, C, E, K, and B-complex as well as potassium, manganese, and copper.

Tomato supports/cages

With indeterminate tomatoes, they definitely need something to help them grow upwards (although not required, it does make harvesting much easier, takes up less garden space and protects against disease).  A very sturdy pole can be used and the plant tied onto it as it grows.  The more popular option is a “tomato cage” that the tomato grows up in to.  This is what we use.  It is important to get the cage on while the plants are small or severe damage may ensue when you try to force the gangly plant into it’s cage.  Be sure to get a strong cage for large indeterminate types of tomato plants.  I also add a stake to the really big tomatoes to give extra support.  If using smaller cages, you can just pinch off the top when the plant starts growing too large so it stays supported and contained.

In my garden, even the determinates benefit from a cage to keep them upright.  Determinates just don't need to be pinched to keep from outgrowing their cage.

If you grow dwarf or patio tomatoes, they may not need any support at all.  I did end up using a stake for the dwarfs I have grown in the past as they put on large tomatoes which caused the plant to lean without support.  

Staked dwarf tomato

Tips when planting

Tomatoes are susceptible to blossom-end rot and fungal diseases.  End rot is typically caused by not having enough calcium in the soil or inconsistent moisture.  Fungal diseases remain the soil.  It is important to rotate vegetable plants and not plant them in the same spot every year.  You can use organic fungicides as a preventative.  You should spray when you transplant your seedlings and continue to spray every couple of weeks.  Organic fungicides are preventative so you have to keep the fungus from growing to start with.  Keeping fungal diseases at bay will greatly increase yields in late summer.  The best deterrent is good spacing, upright support and watering the soil and not the leaves.  

Another preventative of disease is to provide the right fertilizer and nutrients when planting.  In each planting hole, I add a handful of worm castings, balanced fertilizer, and dust the roots with mycorrhizal life support which contains mycorrhizal, vitamins and minerals.  This blend improves soil fertility and the plants ability to take in the nutrition it needs.  It is not all about just the big 3-nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium.  They are important but vitamins, minerals, and particularly living soil makes a huge difference in how healthy and lush the plants become.  I use fertilizer made specifically for tomatoes so that they get the calcium they need.  As your plants take up minerals, you will get these minerals when you eat your garden produce.  Every other year, I add Azomite to all my plants which contains over 70 minerals and trace elements just to make sure the plants have all the micronutrients they need.
The next step in garden production and your nutrition-soil minerals

Another option is to replant new tomato plants in late June.  These plants will be coming on strong as the early planted ones start winding down.

This year, if I do a second planting, it will be one cherry type and one slicer as I typically get enough for all the sauce and frozen tomatoes I need for the year off the first tomatoes.  The last 2 years have been tough for tomato production as we have had very long hot spells which makes tomato flowers sterile.  I am trying a couple new varieties that are good in heat and disease resistant-Tropic VFN and Mannon Majesty.

If you are rotating your tomatoes, practicing good watering techniques, giving them the nutrition they need and still having disease issues, look for varieties that are resistant to the disease.  Ask neighbors or farmers at your nearby farmers market the varieties that work best for them..

When you plant your tomato, make sure to plant it deeply where it gets at least 6 hours of sun.  I take off all the limbs except the top couple and bury the plant up to these stems.  Roots will grow from where the stems are removed.  This gives the plants a much stronger root system to support growth.

Pruning tips

Now that your plants have the right start, pruning is the next step.  To get the highest yields, some say it is important to prune your tomatoes.  You want no branches below 12” (some recommend 18”).  You also want to prune the plant to only 2 branches, the center stalk and one side stalk.  You want to keep the “suckers” cut or pinched off as well as the tomato grows.

The amount of pruning is controversial among tomato growing connoisseurs.  Some swear by pruning, others say it makes no difference.  If you live further south, keeping the greenery helps protect the fruits from sun scald.  If your plants seem to get fungal diseases, doing some pruning to open up the plant for air circulation can be beneficial.  For plants up north, increased greenery helps the plant have more energy going to its fruits.  I have tried both and for my garden, very limited pruning has worked the best.  I just try to make sure the plant is getting good air circulation.

Watering and fertilizing

Now, to on-going watering and fertilizing.  Many think more is better when it comes to watering and fertilizing.  Not so for tomatoes!  What you end up with are tons of greenery, mushy tomatoes, and very few of them.  Some tomato afficiados recommend a deep watering and fertilizer at planting, then again at flowering, and that is it.  I do water when there is a long dry spell.  Overwatering or erratic watering can also cause the fruits to crack and blossom end rot.  I provide the same water to my tomatoes as my other veggies, trying to make sure they are getting about 1" of rain or watering each week.  

For the tomatoes in the garden, I fertilize when planting, again when the first flowers appear, and monthly thereafter.  If growing in containers, I fertilize every other week with a liquid fertilizer when flowering.  I also add Azomite every other season to make sure the plants are getting all the trace minerals they need.  The first time I added Azomite, my plants seemed to grow and bush out within a few days.  If they respond favorably, then they really needed those nutrients.  Kelp meal also contains alot of minerals and hormones.  Kelp will stimulate your plants to grow upwards.  If your plants are staying stubby, I would apply kelp meal.

If your plant will not flower and fruit with lush green foliage, quit fertilizing and watering.  Nitrogen stimulates green growth.  If you go overboard, the plant will be focused on its greenery instead of fruiting.  You'll end up with a huge plant and no tomatoes.  A little stress should jump start it into producing flowers and fruits.

Although tomatoes love hot weather (they will not flower until night time temps get above 55), they also don’t like it too hot.  If daytime temps get above 90 and nighttime temps above 76, the plant's flowers will become sterile and will drop off  Not to worry, as soon as temps come back down, your plants will begin flowering again.  If you live in a really hot climate with a long growing season, planting your tomatoes where they will get some afternoon shade can be helpful.
 Summer garden tips

Growing in containers

If you want to grow tomatoes in a container, you need to either have a really big container for full size tomatoes (at least 5 gallon) or plant varieties that are adapted for containers. Tomatoes for containers would be labelled as dwarf, patio, container.  Some varieties that fit this bill:  BushSteak, Patio Princess, Bush Early Girl, Tumbler, Bush Big Boy, Baxter’s Bush Cherry, Lizzano, Sweetheart of the Patio, Tumbling Tom Yellow or Red, Bush Better Bush, Balcony (look for bush/patio/container types), Husky Bush.
Compact tomatoes for small spaces and pots

If you grow in containers, you will need to water weekly or maybe even more depending on the container and plant size combo used.  Be aware that smaller plants will produce fewer fruits.  For more on container gardening and types to purchase for pots, Decorative container gardening for edibles

I have grown dwarfs in a larger container and have only needed to water weekly when I put a large catch pan under the pot so the plant can absorb water from the bottom.  They have grown and fruited the same as growing in the ground.  I have also grown indeterminates in extra large containers about the size of a half whisky barrel.  These plants did fine in the pot, but did not produce nearly what they do when planted in the ground.  My husband tried upside down 5 gallon bucket technique with any automatic watering system that did well when we weren't having record breaking heat waves (pots are always hotter than the ground).  He is moving his tomatoes to the ground this year.  If you live somewhere cooler or want to get tomatoes sooner, a warm pot can be helpful.

Seed saving

If you are growing open pollinated or heirloom tomatoes, you can save the seed from the best fruits and plants to grow for next season.  If you are growing hybrids, the seed will not produce a plant like the parent.  For very productive hybrids, I will save seed just to see what I get from them.

Why save seed?  Saving seed from the plants that produce the best fruits year on year will give you plants acclimated to your garden conditions and the best producers.  Save seed from plants that have the characteristics you want in future plants.  The ones with the best fruit, the largest fruit, the best tasting fruit, the earliest producer, the latest producer or the best producer.  You get to choose what you want in your future tomato plants.  Just do not save seed from any diseased plant as the disease stays in the seed.
Seed saving-fun, easy and a cost saver

What to plant in the May edible garden

May edible garden

Sunday, May 3, 2026

May is a "shoulder" month.  The cold crops are peaking and it is warm enough to start the summer lovers like tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, melons and eggplants.  It will take a couple of months for the summer crops to begin producing well. You can count on having fresh from the vine tomatoes by the 4^th of July.  A double reason to celebrate!

Here is a list of plants and seeds you can put in the May garden: 

May-transplants or seeds

Artichoke  Growing artichokes and cardoons

Basil  Basil basics-harvesting, preserving, growing basil

Bee balm (monarda)

Beans-bush and pole  Growing beans

Beets  All about beautiful beets

Borage  Flowers that are edible

Broccoli  How to grow broccoli and cauliflower

Brussels sprouts  Growing Brussel sprouts

Catnip

Cantaloupe  Growing melons and cantaloupe

Celery  Give celery a try, an easy to grow garden staple

Chard  For year round steamed greens, grow chard!

Chives  Add chives to your garden

Cilantro (Slo Bolt)  Growing cilantro (coriander)

Cucumber  How to grow cucumbers-in pots or in the garden

Dill

Eggplant  Eggplant-add this native from India to your garden

Fruit bushes  Fruit for small spaces and pots

Horseradish

Lavender  All about lovely lavender

Lemon balm

Lettuce (heat tolerant)  Everything you need to know about growing lettuce

Lovage

Okra  Growing and harvesting okra

Papalo-a heat loving cilantro substitute

Peppers  Peppers are for every taste and garden

Pumpkins  Everything you need to know to grow squash

Radicchio

Rosemary  Start a kitchen herb garden!

Sage 

Stevia  A sweet alternative-grow your own

Strawberries  Back yard strawberries

Summer and winter squash  Everything you need to know to grow squash

Sweet potatoes  Growing sweet potatoes

Tarragon

Thyme

Tomatoes  Tomatoes 101, everything you need to know to grow great tomatoes

Turnips  All about turnips

Valerian

Watermelon  Growing melons and cantaloupe

May-start seeds directly in the garden

Beets  All about beautiful beets

Carrots  All you need to know about growing carrots

Corn  Growing corn

Peas  Time to plant peas!

Potatoes (seed potatoes)  Time to plant potatoes, even if you only have a patio

Radishes  Easy to grow crispy, peppery radishes

For tips on starting your seeds in the garden:  Outdoor seed starting tips  I also like to put a pot on our covered deck and start seeds there throughout spring, summer and fall.  Once they are to a good size, I transplant them into their permanent pot or into the garden bed.  Vegetables you can grow in pots

May 2026 Edible Garden Planner

Early May edible garden

Saturday, May 2, 2026

May Day or Mother's Day is when the old timers say is the best time to plant your summer garden in the Midwest.  Prior to May 1, there is still a good chance of poor weather, chilly temps, and even a late frost in our Zone 7 garden.  This can be catastrophic for tomatoes, eggplants, basil and other heat lovers.  This year our last frost was 2 weeks ago.

Check out your 15 day forecast to know if it looks safe to plant those tender summer veggies as it is possible to have chilly temps even into May.  If direct planting summer vegetable seeds, chilly and rainy conditions can cause the seeds to rot.  Warm, moist conditions are the best for summer seed success!  

You just don't want to plant the summer lovers too early as they don't like being cold and don't grow much until the soil warms.  Earlier is not always better.  If you have already planted, no worries as long as you protect them if Jack Frost comes calling.  They just won't grow fast until the weather warms.

I started the summer lovers from seeds this year indoors for veggies with small seeds in late March and started the large seeded summer veggies of squash, melons, cucumbers and beans outdoors in peat pots 10 days ago.  The small seeded plants like tomatoes, peppers and eggplant were transplanted into the garden and large pots a couple of weeks ago.  The large seeded veggies have just begun to sprout.  As soon as they have their first set of true leaves, I will transplant to the garden. 

If you started yours indoors and have already transplanted outdoors, what do you do if they are forecasting frost?  Give them a jacket!  You can cover your frost sensitive plants with a row cover or light sheet.  You just want to be sure that the cover is not too heavy and crushes your plants.  For heavier covers, be sure to put stakes around your plants to protect them from the weight.  Remove after the frost is melted.  If you plant in pots, you can move your pots into the garage for the night.  For more on protection for plants, see Starting the garden earlier, outwitting Jack Frost... 

Row cover

Spring has had days above and days below average temperatures and below average rainfall.  I've had to water all my pots and garden beds on and off through April.  The greens that love the cool weather are doing great!  

May is the time to get the summer lovers growing.  The summer edible garden  For the plants to get going in May: What to plant in the May edible garden  If sowing your summer veggie seeds outdoors, see Outdoor seed starting tips 

The cold crops are at their peak at the beginning of the month with many bolting and going to seed by month's end like spinach, cilantro, lettuce, chard, kale, sprouting broccoli, and onions.  To preserve greens while they are still at their peak is quick and easy.  Freezing the extras for winter  The only green that is not frozen?  Lettuce.  I keep lettuce going in the garden by planting new seed every 3 weeks.  I also plant greens that love summer heat like New Zealand Spinach, Red Malabar spinach, orach and amaranth.  

Lettuce, spinach and cilantro all go to bolting as soon as the temps hit the 80's in our garden.  I have chard, Ruby Streaks mustard and winter cress that are flowering.  You can let them go to seed and either save the seed to plant or let the seed fall where it may to give you new lettuce, spinach and cilantro plants.  An added bonus to letting these plants go to seed is that the bees love their small flowers.  Seed saving-fun, easy and a cost saver

Mid May garden

So, what are we planting this year?  Of course, we will plant the number one veggie in the USA-tomatoes!   This year, I grew them all from seed.  You could also just buy plants as there is a great selection of heirlooms at local nurseries, hardware stores and big box stores these days. Last year we had such long stretches of upper 90's that our tomato harvest was small.  Once the temperatures stay in the upper 90's, the tomato flowers start to get sterile.  

This year, I have started my standby heirlooms and am trying a few heat and disease resistant varieties.  I have 12 ready to transplant.  Standbys-Chocolate Pear, 3 different Brandywines, Cherokee Purple, Italian Red Pear paste tomato.  Disease/Heat Resistant-Tropic VPN and Mannon's Majesty.  Just for fun-a storage tomato Long Keeper and California Keeper.  Also bought a large Better Boy that I put in the biggest pot I could find.  Last year, we got tomatoes in June from this type.   Choosing which tomatoes to grow   Different colors in tomatoes give different nutrition   Tomatoes 101, everything you need to know to grow great tomatoes  

If you have limited space, look for the dwarf/bush types like Bush Early Girl (only 54 days till ripe tomatoes), Patio Princess, Husky Red, Lizzano, Little Napoli, Front Runner, Tumbling Tom among many others. Typically, you can expect to have your first ripe tomatoes around the 4th of July.  The earliest tomato bearing variety I have grown is Yellow Tumbling Tom and Better Boy plants that I bought that gave me tomatoes in June.  They grow great in the garden or pots.  The Tumbling Tom is a small plant so it can be grown in a large pot.  Better Boy is a larger plant so needs a pot the size of a half whiskey barrel.  Compact tomato plants for small spaces  Nowadays, you can purchase full grown plants to get tomatoes sooner if the temperatures cooperate.  Tomatoes need many days in the 80's to produce tomatoes and ripen.

I will be growing vining yard long beans (growing 3 different kinds this year-Chinese Red Noodle, Yancheng and Taiwan Black)  They are very disease resistance and high producing.  Will also grow Christmas Speckles lima beans and 1500 Year Old Cave beans.  The 1500 beans can be picked for either snap beans or left on the vine to be storage beans.  Now is a great time to get beans planted.  Legumes-peas for spring, beans for summer  

For peppers, I am growing a few different sweet peppers for fresh snacking-Spanish Bull Nose, Doe Hill Golden Bell, a red snacking pepper from saved seed, Habanada, a sweet Jalapeño hybrid-Nadapeno.  I also have 4 hot pepper plants I overwintered-Jigsaw, Tunisian Baklouti, and a red and orange Chiltepin pepper plants.  The red Chiltepin is 10 years old now.  I grow hot peppers for hot sauce and to add to my salsa.  The small hot peppers I use in my grilling spice mix and for spicy olive oil.   Homemade hot sauce wings with homegrown celery  Quick, homemade salsa  Preserving peppers  Using herbs, flowers and fruit for flavored sugars and salts

 This year I am again going to plant all my peppers in pots.  It just seems that my peppers do better in a pot than in the ground for the smaller peppers.  I tend to plant more of the smaller peppers because the plants produce more than larger pepper plants.  Bell peppers seemed to produce more in ground when I have grown them in the past.  I'll put them in the largest pots.  It's a good idea to refresh your potting soil each year to get the most production.  Re-energize your potting soil!   Peppers are for every taste and garden

I am growing a few eggplants that have stayed sweet in our garden, all in pots.  Our summers get so hot here that eggplant skins can get tough and the fruits bitter so I always look for the varieties that are good for our temps.  My choices this year are Rotanda Bianca, Amadeo, and AO Daimaru.  Eggplant-add this native from India to your garden

White eggplant fruit

I am growing 2 summer squash-Trombetta and Zapallito Del Tronco.   Both are supposed to be disease and squash bug resistant.  I have grown Trombetta over the last 3 years and they were not affected by the squash vine borer or squash bugs, they had almost no powdery mildew, and you can eat when the fruits are young as you would zucchini or let them stay on the vine and the skins will toughen to use as winter squash.  They also don't produce a huge harvest all at once.  Just a couple a week which is perfect for us.  Growing zucchini and summer squash  One plant produces as much as a typical family needs during the summer.  Trombetta has vines up to 20 feet long so I just let it grow on the ground.

I found some great ways to use and preserve zucchini that any extra will be stored for many new ways of using.  What to do with all that zucchini?!  I really liked spiralizing zucchini into "zoodles" and using in place of spaghetti.  I'll spiralize and put into freezer bags so I have a low carb, nutritious option anytime for spaghetti.

I am also trying a few winter squash varieties-Buttercup, Thai Kang Kok, and Ayote Green.  I use winter squash in pies and pumpkin bread.  If you want to save seed, only grow one type of squash variety.  Summer squash cross pollinates with other summer squash; winter squash and pumpkins do the same.  

I Red Burgundy okra again this year and re-trying Heavy Hitter.  I've tried a few different varieties but Red Burgundy seems to do the best in my garden.  I'm giving Heavy Hitter another chance.  Growing and harvesting okra

  I've got cucumber, spinach, and lettuce seedlings this year for salads and to make green smoothies.  Grow your own juice garden   I am growing a bush cucumber and a vining cucumber so I'll only need one trellis.  Cucumber info and tips for growing  I have plenty of volunteer celery and mustard in the garden so no planting needed for them.  The pink celery I started last year looks healthy so hoping for some volunteers from it this summer. 

Lettuce varieties that are in my spring garden are Red and Green Romaine, Iceberg, Buttercrunch, Giant Blue Feather, Grand Rapids, Royal Oak, Bronze Beauty, Butter King, and Solar Flare.  I am always trying new varieties to see which are the best at staying sweet in our summer heat and also re-sowing themselves.

Lettuce and spinach aren't the only greens you can use for salads.   I have transplanted orach, Chinese Multi Color Spinach amaranth and Pink Beauty amaranth which are great for summer salad leaves when lettuce has bolted.  Orach and amaranth leaves stay sweet all summer.  I also have New Zealand spinach and Red Malabar spinach I overwintered indoors, seedlings of Perpetual Spinach and Verde de Taglio chard, Hilton Chinese cabbage for salads and wraps, Komatsuna Tendergreen and Giant Leaf mustard for sweet summer salad leaves.  I always grow Radish Dragon's Tail for salads, too.  They're just fun and add a pop of not too strong radish flavor.  See more on summer salad greens at  Growing summer salads

For the next round of lettuce sowings, I'll go with the more heat resistant varieties like Jericho Romaine which has been tested to last 3 months before bolting as well as Red Sails loose leaf lettuce which stays sweet after bolting.   Want continuous harvests? Succession planting!   Look for varieties that have heat tolerant in the descriptor.  Here are some varieties that are proven to do well in the summer   Bolt-free, sweet summer lettuces

Spring potted lettuce

For herbs, I have a bay tree and moringa tree that overwintered in the basement. I have sown seeds for Cardinal and Purple Ball basil, dill, Butterfly papalo (cilantro substitute that does well in the summer), rosemary, and marjoram.  Many of my herbs are perennials and are going strong in the garden right now-tarragon, garlic chives, garden chives, onions, oregano, thyme, mint, and garlic.  For more on herbs, see  Start a kitchen herb garden!

As I transplant my seedlings, I like to powder the roots of each plant with plant starter as well as dig in some fertilizer in each hole.  Plant starter has mycorrhizal microbes which fixes nitrogen to the roots of the plant, helping it to grow sturdier, bigger and faster.  Once you have the microbes in the soil, they should stay year after year, but adding each year can't hurt anything!

I add Azomite in each hole of my transplants when I plant every other year.   Azomite contains many minerals which can result in significantly improved growth for your plants and more minerals in your harvested plants for a healthier you.  A win-win for your garden and your family.

During the growing season, you should fertilize monthly.  Only add what a soil test said your garden needed when it comes to phosphorous and potassium.  You can get too much of both in the garden.  We added compost, sulfur and a natural fertilizer to the beds before we mulched.  Wood mulch raises the pH over time.  Mine was up around 7.8 so it was time to bring it down into the 6.5-7.5 range.  Sulfur lowers pH gradually over a few months.  When it gets above 7.5, vegetables can't absorb the minerals they need from the soil.

  The next step in garden production and your nutrition-soil minerals

Before you send your new transplants into the garden, insure they have been sufficiently "hardened off."  If you started your own seeds indoors, take your plants out daily over a week or so into a partially shady spot, letting them get used to the strong sun and wind.  I put mine out on the deck to get used to the sun and wind for several days before planting out.  "Hardening off" seedlings

If you purchased your transplants and they were already outdoors, they are ready to be plopped into the ground or pot and grow!

I always interplant my garden with flowers.  This year, I am using petunias, red flowering Hummingbird Vine, Blue morning glory flowering vine, cock's comb, marigolds, Love Lies Bleeding, dwarf Cocks Comb, flame cock's comb and Sweet William for annuals.  For perennials, there are pink Fairy lilies, white flowering jasmine vine,  hollyhocks in a variety of colors-Summer Carnival, Red and Peach, purple coneflower, lilies, day-lilies, irises, and gladiolas.  I am also encircling all my beds with daffodils and creeping thyme to repel voles.

May is an exciting time in the garden.  Every day you go out, you can see things growing.  The spring vegetables are in their prime, the summer veggies are just starting, and there are so many herbs ready for seasoning your favorite salads or dishes.  Just be sure to keep ahead of the weeds and provide even watering.

How to choose the tomatoes to grow

Potted volunteer tomato plant

Sunday, April 26, 2026

There are hundreds of tomatoes to choose from.  There are whole catalogues devoted just to America’s favorite home garden vegetable.  There really is nothing like a homegrown tomato, fresh off the vine!  With so many to choose from, how do you decide which is best for you and your garden?

Some considerations for deciding what to plant-space you have, flavor, how you use tomatoes, and which types grow best and give the biggest yields in your area.  Ask your neighbors or farmers market sellers which types they have found grow the best for them.  For heirloom and open pollinated types you buy from the farmers market, save the seeds from the ones you like and you can grow them in your garden!

I prefer heirloom and open pollinated, organic veggies.  I love the idea of seeds being handed down from generation to generation with loving care, through good times and bad.  Back in the day, every vegetable  and vegetable seed was precious.  You should save the seeds from your very best tasting, performing plant with the biggest fruits.  It was a sacrifice to take the biggest, juiciest fruit for its seeds.  Seeds were like gold back then.

Today, we save seeds from the best performers in our garden so year after year our veggies are better adapted to our specific garden conditions and tastes.  Seed saving-fun, easy and a cost saver

Chocolate cherry tomatoes

Family lore has it that my great grandfather killed a man in self defense when one of my great uncles stole some seeds the neighbor had ordered.  The neighbor came with a gun and confronted my great grandfather for the theft of his seeds.  The family had to leave the state, worried that the law would come after him.  At least, that is a story I heard told.........

For myself, I look for tomatoes that are disease resistant and can stand up to the crazy heat we are experiencing in our summers now.  Typical tomatoes become sterile when the temperatures average 85F.  We saw weeks where daytime highs were above 95F last summer.  

The second consideration for me is how I use the tomato.  I like to have 1 paste for canning (Italian Red Pear), 1 cherry type for salads (Chocolate Pear) and one for slicing tomatoes (Cherokee Purple).  My husband loves the slicers.  He has been growing a tomato patch for the last few years.  Up until this year he was growing them in upside down 5 gallon buckets.  Pots get hotter than soil so you get tomatoes earlier but the flowers go sterile quicker in the heat.  This year he is putting them in the ground.  We will grow 10-12 plants.

You may be surprised with my canning tomato choices.  I can all types of tomatoes.  I plant tomatoes that give lots with great taste and preserve all that we can't eat.  I try to have one paste per quart freezer bag as paste tomatoes give a silky sauce.   

I like growing the darker tomatoes since they are so healthy!  For more on the benefits of darker veggies, The Power of Purple  If you are curious on how the color of tomatoes affect its health benefits, 

Different colors in tomatoes give different nutrition or just a ranking on overall health benefits by type, 

 Most nutritious heirloom tomatoes  They even have tomatoes today that are bred specifically to increase the healthiness of the tomato!

 I get the best yields from the smaller tomatoes.  In the past, I used to get loads of tomatoes with Juliet (a hybrid, 1999 All American) and Yellow Pear (a heirloom from pre-1800).  Both are indeterminate, meaning they produce from summer through frost.  The Juliet is a mini Roma, great taste.  With the higher heat, the Juliet and yellow pear tomatoes have not been doing well in our garden.  I now grow Chocolate Pear every year for salads.

The smaller tomatoes are great for drying as well.  I like using my electric dehydrator for "sun dried" tomatoes as it is usually just too humid in the Midwest to dry tomatoes in the sun.  

Preserving the tomato harvest  

Large heirloom Italian Red Pear tomato, good for sauce and slicing

For slicers, the heirloom Brandywine, dates back to 1885, is a taste favorite which we have grown many times.  It continues to win taste tests to this day.  My husband lovers Brandywine tomatoes so I start pink, red and a chocolate Brandywine every year for him.  I also start 1-2 Cherokee Purple slicer tomatoes as they produce sooner and seem to hold up to the heat.  

I started a few disease and heat resistant slicers this spring too to experiment.

Lately, I have been trying a different type of storage tomato so we have fresh tomatoes further into winter.  I haven't found one that I want to add every summer yet.

Just as a note, hybrids will not come back like its parent.  Be sure to save seed from heirloom or open pollinated types to be sure you will get what you expect.  Or if you like surprises, feel free to plant the seed and see what happens!  What do the terms GMO, natural, heirloom, organic, hybrid really mean?

If you are short on space, there are many dwarf and patio varieties that can even be grown in pots!  We have had good luck with Bush Early Girl (only 54 days ‘till ripe tomatoes), Patio, Husky Red, and heirlooms Lizzano and Tumbling Tom.  There are many more options!  Just keep in mind that the smaller plants will not produce as much as a huge plant.  

Compact tomatoes for small spaces and pots

Yellow Tumbling Tom, a dwarf variety

Just three tomato plants should give a family of 2 enough for eating, freezing for salsa, and canning.  You don't need many plants to get a whole lot of fruits!

For more on growing tomatoes, these blogs can help you get started growing your own tomatoes this season:

Tomatoes 101, everything you need to know to grow great tomatoes and 

Top 10 Tomato Myths (And Some Truths)