Tomatoes

Choosing Among the Types

To compare days to maturity, fruit size, firmness, disease resistance, and more, use our tomato variety comparison charts:

• Determinate Tomato Varieties | Comparison Chart (PDF)
• Greenhouse Tomato Varieties | Comparison Chart (PDF)
• Heirloom Tomato Varieties | Comparison Chart (PDF)
• Paste, Plum & Roma Tomato Varieties | Comparison Chart (PDF)

For a primer on choosing tomato types plus some specific variety recommendations, we encourage you to visit our article 3 Ways to Choose the Best Tomato Varieties For Your Needs.

Tomato Terminology

It can be helpful to understand some of the following terminology as you shop tomato varieties.

• Growth Habit
  • Indeterminate: vining-type tomatoes that continue to form new leaves, shoots, and flowers for an indefinite time period (until frost or some other factor causes them to die).
  • Determinate: bush-type tomatoes, which grow to a certain size then divert their major energy stores away from vegetative structures, toward flower and fruit development and ripening.
  • Semi-Determinate: tomatoes that continue growing like an indeterminate, but maintain a more compact, bush-like plant, like a determinate.
  • Dwarf or Semi-Dwarf (a.k.a. Patio Tomatoes): these plants have a tidy plant habit and short stature generally appropriate for container growing.
• Greenhouse Performer: varieties demonstrating outstanding performance in protected agriculture including greenhouse or high tunnel/hoophouse. For more on our trial criteria and specific variety recommendations for the heated greenhouse and unheated tunnel, see Trial Criteria for Johnny’s Greenhouse Performers.

Growing Information

For guidance on growing tomatoes from seed, we offer the following:

• Key Growing Information: essential growing information by crop:
  • Tomatoes
  • Greenhouse Tomatoes
  • Rootstock Tomatoes
• In-depth Technical Production Guides for the avid gardener and commercial grower:
  • Tomato Production Challenges & Issues | Tech Sheet (PDF)
  • Greenhouse Tomato Pruning & String Trellising | Tech Sheet (PDF)
  • Basket-weave Trellising Instructions for Tomato & Pepper Plants | Tech Sheet (PDF)
  • Side-Grafting Tomatoes | Advantages, Materials, Technique | Tech Sheet (PDF)
  • Top-Grafting Tomatoes | Advantages, Materials, Technique | Tech Sheet (PDF)
• Additional Growing Resources:
  • 10 Tips for Growing Heirloom Tomatoes
  • Common Tomato Pests, Diseases & Physiological Disorders | An Overview of Biotic & Abiotic Problems
  • Trellising & Crop Support Systems for Tomatoes | Stake & Basketweave, Stake & Hanging String/Wire, Lower & Lean