There are thousands of known tomato varieties so it's not surprising that gardeners can be confused by the options that are open to them. In this posting, I explain the the terminology used in catalogs and seed packs to describe tomatoes so that it's easy for folks to sort through the various choices.
Determinate versus Indeterminate -- All tomatoes are either determinate or indeterminate. Determinate tomatoes grow to a specific height - usually about 4 feet tall - and then stop and they produce their entire crop of tomatoes in a short period of time. Determinate tomatoes are often good choices for container gardeners because the plants are small and require minimal staking. Gardeners who want to harvest determinate tomatoes over the course of the summer should plant determinate seeds every two weeks to create a continuous crop.
In contrast, indeterminate tomatoes continue to grow over the course of the entire summer. As the tomato plant vines, it produces flowers on the new growth and these eventually turn into tomatoes. That means that an indeterminate tomato will produce as long as the vine is growing. Unlike determinate varieites, there's no need to stagger the planting of indeterminate varieties. One potential downside is that indeterminate tomatoes will grow much taller than determinate varieties (8 feet or more) so they do require staking.
The choice between determinate and indeterminate tomatoes really boils down to this.....If you want to plant tomatoes in containers and/or want to harvest all the tomatoes at the same time because you intend to can them, purchase determinate tomato varieties such as: Grushovka, Principe Borghese, Rutgers, San Marzano, or Taxi. If not, then purchase an indeterminate variety such as: Jetsetter, Brandywine, Amish Paste, Risentraube, or Green Zebra. You can also plant a mix of both determinate and indeterminate varieties to suit your needs.
Open Pollinated versus Hybrid: Open pollinated tomatoes are ones where the seeds planted in this generation will produce plants and fruits that are identical to those produced by the preceding generation (the plant's parents).
Hybrids tomatoes are ones that are created by crossing two different tomato varieties together. In other words, they are mutts. Seed companies create hybrid varieties because each of the parents has a particular characteristic that is desirable and that they wish to combine into a single plant. For example, two varieties might be crossed in order to capture the color of one parent and the disease resistance of the other. While the "child plant" inherits these qualities, the child will not consistently pass these qualities on to the next generation. And there's the rub.... hybrid varieties may have very desirable qualities, but you can't save the seeds and plant them the following year and get the same results. You have to buy new hybrid seeds (cross between the original parents) each year.
If you don't mind buying seeds each year, the distinction between hybrid and open pollinated doesn't matter when choosing varieties for your garden. If, on the other hand, you want to save seeds, you must choose an open pollinated variety.
Heirloom versus Non-Heirloom - Heirloom tomatoes are open pollinated varieties that have been grown for a long time. (For example, the Brandywine tomato was developed in the 1880's.) The exact time frame required to acheive "heirloom status" is debated, with some claiming 100 years old, others 50 years old, and others still setting a date prior to World War II as the cut off point.
In the last few years, heirloom tomatoes have become the rage among gardeners. The reasons for this are rather complex and have a much to do with concerns about modern commercial agriculture, genetically modified organisms and big agribusiness companies like Monsanto. Heirloom tomatoes have the reputation for tasting better than hybrids but there really is no reason that this must be true.
What is more generally true is that hybrid varieties developed for commercial growers were bred for characteristics that made them less perishable and easier to ship. These characteristics are important to farmers who are interested in transporting crops over long distances. Unfortunately, commercial hybrid varieties traded off flavor and texture in order to be less perishable and easier to ship. That's one of the reasons that tomatoes from the supermarket taste so lousy.
In contrast, hybrid tomatoes sold to backyard gardeners from companies such as Burpee, Tomato Growers Supply, Renee's Seeds and others are not bred for their ability to withstand shipment. These hybrid varieties can be just as tasty as an heirloom varieties.
Here's my recommendation -- make heirlooms varieties your first choice because it gives you the option to save the seeds and because there really are plenty of good varieties from which to choose. However, don't be so inflexible that you wont ever consider buying a hybrid variety when there's a good reason to do so. Such reasons might include disease resistance, suitability for your particular climate, or simply because you want to try a variety that sounds interesting to you. If you decide you want, or need to grow, only hybrid varieties, go ahead. The tomato police aren't going to show up at your door.
Season - Tomatoes seed and plant providers often group varieties by when they will start producing tomatoes. This characteristic cuts across other distinctions such as determinate/indeterminate and hybrid/heirloom.
- Early Season - start producing tomatoes in about 65 days. Examples include: Stupice, Grushovka, Alaska, and Jetsetter.
- Mid-Season - start producing in about 75-85 days. Examples include: Abraham Lincoln, Brandywine, Boxcar Willie, Big Boy, Heinz 1439, Costoluto Genovese, and Rutgers.
- Late Season - These tomatoes mature in 85 days or more. Examples include: Druzba, Amish Paste, and Beefsteak.
Intended Use - While any tomato variety can be used in salads, cooking and sandwiches, certain varieties function better than others for specific applications. When you shop for tomato plants or seeds, varieties with similar culinary characteristics are sometimes grouped together. This type of classification occurs regardless of whether the variety is determinate or indeterminate, hybrid or open pollinated, heirloom or not. Some common groupings include:
- Saladette - these are medium sized tomatoes. When they are quartered they make good sized bites for salads and hence the name. Typical varieties include: Cosmonaut Volkov, Japanese Black Trifele, Green Zebra, Costuluto Genovese, Stupice, Olivade, and Marianna.
- Slicers/Sandwich Tomatoes - these are large tomatoes that are used particularly for sandwiches and hamburgers. They are also sometimes used to make tomato and onion salads by cutting both the tomato and the onion into thin slices and interleaving them to make a pretty salad plate. Typical slicing varieties include: Beefstake, Brandywine, Kellogg's Breakfast, Cherokee Purple, Big Beef and Porterhouse.
- Tomato Paste/Salsa/Sauce - These tomatoes are meatier and contain less water than other tomato varieties so they work well for salsa, tomato sauce, canning etc. While not always the case, they are often plum or pear-shaped. Typical varieties include: San Marzano, Amish Paste, Heinz 1439, Roma, Heidi and Opalka.
Shape - Tomatoes come in a very wide array of shapes and colors. As with the "Intended Use" category, shape and color groupings cut across distinctions such as determinate/indeterminate, hybrid/open pollinated.
- Cherry Tomato - small tomatoes 1 inch or less in diameter. Examples: Black Cherry, Sungold, Supersweet 100.
- Grape Tomato - about the same size as a cherry tomato but with an oblong shape. Examples: Riesentraube, Red Pearl and Sakura.
- Pear Tomato -as small as a cherry tomato but with a pear-shape. Examples: Red Pear, Yellow Pear, and Purple Pear.
- Plum Tomato - Oblong shaped tomatoes. Examples: Roma and San Marzano.
- Oxheart Tomato - oblong tomato with a tapered bottom that looks like a heart. Examples: Amish Paste, Bull's Heart, and Shilling Giant.
Colors - Most of us think "red" when we hear the word tomato mentioned. However, tomatoes come in an amazing array of colors. If you want to serve tomatoes to guests this summer, you might consider choosing varieties that produce a mix of fruit colors since they make a dazzling salad plate.
- Green Tomato: Green Zebra, Green Doctors, Kiwi.
- Orange Tomato: Orange Icicle, Dr. Wyche's, and Moonglow.
- Pink Tomato: Arkansas Traveler, Caspian Pink, Mortgage Lifter, Pink Oxheart.
- Purple/Black Tomato: Japanese Black Trifele, Black Cherry, Cherokee Purple, and Paul Robeson.
- Red Tomato: Amish Paste, Cosmonaut Volkov, Principe Borghese, Riesentraube, Rutgers, Defiant, Oregon Spring and Thessaloniki.
- Striped Tomato: Green Zebra, Hawaiian Pineapple, and striped Roman.
- White/Pale Yellow Tomato: Snowberry, White Zebra, and Snow White.
- Yellow Tomatoes: Roman Candle, Wapsipinicon Peach, Yellow Riesentraube, Taxi, and Dr. Carolyn.
For those interested, below is a list of tomatoes that I'm growing in my garden this year.
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