Tomato varieties will typically grow to 3 to 5 feet tall, then stop. Although they do not grow as tall as their indeterminate counterparts, they still benefit from staking or caging to increase air flow, prevent disease, and support heavy fruit. Determinate varieties flower and fruit during a determinate amount of time, about 3-4 weeks. Because of the heavy onset of fruit, this makes determinate tomatoes a great choice for canning and preserving. If you’re short on space, determinate varieties are the best choice for container gardening.

Indeterminate tomato varieties produce tall plants with rambling vines and will need to be staked or braced with a tomato cage or stake to hold the plant off the ground. They flower and produce fruit more gradually and over a longer period during the season

Hybrid tomatoes are created when a plant breeder or home gardener intentionally cross-pollinates two different tomato varieties. The resulting offspring is a hybrid plant which is selected for the best traits of each parent plant. Hybrid tomatoes are often very hardy, disease resistant, and have a consistent shape and size.

Heirloom tomato plants that are passed down through generations of gardeners and are at least 50 years old (number of years is highly debated). Heirlooms have been selectively grown, and seed passed down through generations based on certain characteristics or traits that are best suited for their growing region, taste, habit, size, and form. They are not intentionally crossed with other tomatoes to attain these traits. Heirloom varieties generally have more flavor, interesting colors, and shapes, but are less disease resistant.

TextFor seeds started indoors and transplanted into the garden, days to harvest is calculated from the date transplanted into the garden to the day(s) the variety should mature and may be harvested.

Now on to the good part. With 30 varieties to choose, how can you pick just one?

Everything we love about heirlooms but hybridized with improved fruit quality and disease resisitance in a manageble size. Reduced cracking and scarring. Introduced in 2020. Fresh, salads, canning.

This mouth-watering giant red tomato is not only huge but very heavy-bearing, yielding large quantities of tomatoes up to 2lbs. each. Salads, sandwiches, hot dishes, soups, and sauces.

An old time favorite with large globe-shaped fruit. Dark scarlet red fruit with thick walls and great flavor. Perfect base for many cooked dishes and superb on sandwiches. Also used for salads, soups, pickling.

Stunning shades of gold to scarlet and everything in between make this heirloom variety truly stand out. Rich balance of acids and sugars gives it an old-fashioned tomato taste.

Selected in the late 1920's, this potato leaf heirloom is extra large in size and full of deep, earthy, smokey and sweet flavors. Amazing in salsa or gazpacho. Due to its fleshy, juicy nature, this tomato cooks down excellently for tomoato sauce, jam, and is great for stewing. Also a great slicing tomato for salads, sandwiches, and burgers. Holds up to canning and freezing, but does not have a long shelf life so eat them or process soon after harvest.

A favorite potato-leaved heirloom tomato variety. Incredibly rich, delightfully intense tomato flavor. One of the most popular home garden cultivars in the United States. Eat fresh, on sandwiches, or in salads.

A vigorous high yielding tomato with firm, flavorful fruit. An all-purpose variety with crack resistantence. AAS Winner. Soups, canning, salsa.

An old Cherokee Indian heirloom variety, pre-1890. Beautiful, deep, dusky purple-pink color. Superb, sweet flavor, and very large-sized fruit. Try this one for real old-time tomato flavor. Use for cooking, sandwiches, soups.

Cocktail sized, oval to round 2" fruits, dark brick brown, nearly brown interior, delightfully sweet. Great for fresh eating and salads.

One of the earliest tomatoes available! Medium, globe-type popular for its ease of growth. Just a tasty tomato. Salads, hot dish, pasta.

First developed in the 1980s, the Green Zebra tomato is a striking cross of four different heirloom tomatoes, giving this modern heirloom qualities of both hybrid and heirloom tomatoes: the strength and disease-resistance of a hybrid, and the unique flavor and appearance of an heirloom. The fruits are bright green or chartreuse when ripe and have green zebra-like stripes. Their flavor is somewhat tart, tangy and complex. Use for salad, gazpacho, or fried.

Like sunshine in the garden, Golden Jubilee is bright and golden with firm texture. Mild, low-acid flavor makes excellent tomato juice, sauce, and salsa. Small seed cavities means fewer seeds and more solid, meaty slices perfect for sandwiches and salads. Expect high yields of these 3" delights. Fruit may occasionally have green shoulders. 1943 All-America Selections award winner. Disease resistant.

An updated version of the classic Lemon Boy tomato with added disease resistance and sweet, tangy flavor. The flattened-round, beefsteak fruits are consistent in size, shape, and quality with very few blemishes. A high-yielding variety with good firmness. Strong disease resistance. Can be harvested bright lemon-yellow to deeper golden-yellow when fruit exhibits light checking and a subtle blush at the blossom scar. Harvest a bit underripe if you prefer a more acidic flavor profile. Eat fresh, use in juice, salads, or sauce.

Large, slightly flattened, pink-red fruits. Very meaty, extremely flavorful, and has few seeds. Typically crack-free. Cooking, sandwiches, salads.

This famous tomato has a cult following among seed collectors and tomato connoisseurs, who simply cannot get enough of this variety’s amazing flavor that is so distinctive, sweet, and smoky. 10-oz fruit is a red-brick color. Paul Robeson, an American, was also a Russian Equal Rights Advocate for Blacks. This Russian variety was lovingly named in his honor.

This new variety combines all the flavor of the heirlooom Cherokee Purple with the improved disease resistance of an hybrid. Slightly rigid and symmetrical, this tomato is an excellent combination of juiciness and tang. Perfect for summer slicing. Purple color is the result of the plant pigment anthocyanin which has many health benefits.

12-16 crack-resistant fruits per cluster. It's just too tempting to pop the sun-warmed, super-sweet fruits right into your mouth, fresh off the plant. Fresh, salads, pasta.

A natural cross between Tom Wagner’s Green Zebra and an unknown parent. Discovered by Jeff Dawson in his California fields and listed in the 2003 Seed Savers Exchange Yearbook. Gorgeous 2½" round fruits are blood-red overlaid with jagged carrot-orange stripes. Top quality uniform strain, very productive. Slightly tart flavor. Use for salad, salad, canning, freezing, fresh eating.

This tomato is a meaty plum type with few seeds. While Roma is an open-pollinated variety, it is generally not considered an heirloom tomato. A top choice for salsa and tomato sauce.

The ultimate paste tomato! 3½ inch long tapered fruits in clusters of five or six. Gives superior flavors when cooked. Prolific and will produce until the first hard frost. Pastes, sauce, Italian cooking.

An intriguing cherry type tomato. Sweet and juicy without being sugary, notes of citrus and pineapple. Fresh, salad, veggie tray.

Speckled Roman was developed by Seed Savers Exchange member John Swenson as a result of a stabilized cross of Antique Roman and Banana Legs making it a modern heirloom. Gorgeous 5" long fruits with jagged orange and yellow stripes. Meaty flesh with few seeds. Great tomato taste, ideal for processing and fresh eating. Very productive. Ideal for fresh eating, sauce, paste, roasting, canning, freezing.

These flat, medium to large, variably ribbed-shoulder tomatoes are shaded yellow and red. The marbled interior looks beautiful when sliced. Complex, fruity flavor and smooth texture. Sandwiches, cooking, salads.

Bright tangerine-orange cherry tomatoes that produce an exceptionally sweet, almost tropical flavor. Vigorous plants start yielding early and produce right through the season. Salads, veggie trays, pasta, snacking.

A large, early to mature variety that will be the star of the show on sandwiches and salads. Great for canning, grilling, and sauce. The perfect combination of sweetness and acidity.

Small, sweet cherry-like fruit are produced in large clusters. Delightful when eaten straight from the vine. Salads, veggie trays, soups

A neat and tidy vareity great for tight spaces and containers. Prolific producer all season long. Eat fresh off the vine, in salads or add to a veggie tray at your summer celebration.