Which Tomatoes Should You Grow? A Guide to Choosing the Best Tomato Varieties

With hundreds of tomato varieties out there, how do you choose which ones to plant? 

We have plenty of space in our Sow Right Seeds garden and are even adding more space this year. We’re always growing our favorites and trialing new varieties. But it wasn’t always that way.

Back when we only had a garden in our suburban backyard, we didn’t have space for everything. We chose our favorites, and those changed as we tried new varieties. 

If you’re staring at a seed catalog feeling overwhelmed, here is the “Sow Right Seeds” strategy for picking your perfect lineup.

The best way to decide what to grow is to know what you want to eat. We categorize our garden into three "food groups":

• The Slicers: These are the heavy hitters. If you live for a summer BLT, you want a slicing or beefsteak variety. They are juicy, meaty, and big enough to cover a whole slice of bread.

• The Snackers: Cherry tomatoes are prolific and easy to grow. We love these for lunch boxes or just popping in your mouth while you’re out weeding the garden. See our tips on growing cherry tomatoes.

• The Preservers: If you want to fill your pantry, look for Paste tomatoes. These have thicker walls and less water, making them perfect for sauce.

Did you know color is often a shortcut to flavor? Use this table from our Tomato Flavor Guide to pick your vibe:

This is the "technical" part that saves you a lot of headache in July. You need to know how the plant behaves.

• Determinate Tomatoes: Think of these as "bush" tomatoes. They grow to a fixed size (usually 3–4 feet), fruit all at once, and then they're done. These are perfect for containers or for people who want to do all their canning in one weekend.

• Indeterminate Tomatoes: These are "vining" tomatoes. They will grow and produce fruit all season long until the first frost kills them. They can get HUGE (6–10 feet!), so make sure you have tall cages or a trellis. You can follow our step-by-step directions to make our favorite tomato cage.

Looking for a true space saver tomato? Try growing Tiny Tim in a container. 

If you have dreams of homemade marinara, don’t just plant any tomato. You want varieties that stand up to the heat of the stove. Ideally, sauce tomatoes have a thick, meaty texture that takes less time to cook into a rich, thick sauce, and they hold their shape for diced and whole canning.

Our Sauce Favorites:

• San Marzano: The gold standard for Italian sauce. It’s meaty with very few seeds.

• Roma: The classic "paste" tomato. Reliable and high-yielding.

• Rutgers: A great all-purpose heirloom if you want a tomato that can do both slicing and canning.

Try Patty's tomato sauce recipe for canning. 

We always grow our favorites and try a few new varieties. We like to have a mix of flavors and sizes. And you don't have to worry about growing too many. Whatever you can't use, you can donate to a local food pantry. 

Whether you have a sprawling farm or a single pot on a balcony, there is a tomato that is the perfect fit for you.

Shop our full Heirloom Tomato Collection here and find your new favorite.