tomato guide: choosing the right one for you
It’s not unusual this time of year to see a CERES Nursery horticulturalist gesticulating wildly in the tomato section, trying to convey a sense of JUST HOW BIG a particular variety will grow, while a queue of customers look on wide-eyed and captivated! We thought we’d make it easy for you and post some advice for tomato growing in stages. Over the spring and summer, we’ll release posts timed with where you might be up to with your tomato plants, from sowing to staking to pruning to harvesting. To kick it all off here is some info about tomato varieties and what you should consider when choosing which ones to grow.
how to choose the right tomato
Whether you are starting from seed or choosing seedlings the range of different tomato plants can be a little overwhelming. I like to try at least one new variety every year, as well as growing some tried-and-true faves. It’s great to get a range of colours and sizes of fruit if you can, that way you can dazzle your friends with your heirloom tomato bruschettas all summer.
Have a think about what you will use your tomatoes for before choosing them. Do you make a lot of salads or are you looking to sauce and bottle? Maybe you have some foraging children that would enjoy eating sweet little cherry tomatoes straight from the plant, still warm from the sun.
If you haven’t got a lot of space, try a determinate or semi-determinate variety like Roma or Tatura Dwarf. These produce small bushes that need minimal staking and have ‘determinate’ growth, meaning that after a while they stop getting bigger, phew! They are also referred to as ‘bush’ tomatoes.
Determinate tomato plants tend to fruit all at once, so get ready for a passata-making session when they do. Siberian is a cold-tolerant determinate variety that produces early, so you might even get tomatoes before Christmas! Tiny Tim is a gorgeous little bush tomato that is great in a pot for balcony growers.
Indeterminate tomato plants keep growing and growing pretty much until the end of the warm weather. Their fruit ripens over a long period of time, so you can be grazing on tomatoes whenever you like. Most get VERY big, we are talking to two and a half metres here people, don’t underestimate them! If you are growing in a container pick a big one, at least 40cm in diameter and as deep, and prepare to support it with stakes or a tomato trainer/cage.
A great, high yielding cherry variety is Red Cherry Cocktail. Then there are the old favourites Grosse Lisse, Tigerella, Sweetie, and Black Russian. If giant veges are your thing go for the Beefsteak or Oxheart plants. These produce massive fruits that have great flavour and juiciness.
Grafted or not?
If you are buying tomato seedlings rather than growing your own from seed (which is always the cheaper option) you can try out grafted tomato plants. These are usually well-loved varieties that have been grafted onto a disease resistant, vigorous rootstock. Because of the extra work involved in grafting each plant they are a bit more expensive but some gardeners say the pay off of more fruit is worth it. You may have to do some pruning to control growth if the branches become too crowded, and providing a good trellis or tomato trainer is essential.
Depending on who you talk to there are anywhere from 4000 to 75,000 tomato cultivars around. Not all of them will be available in nurseries, which makes choosing a little easier.
See below a list of tomatoes the Nursery usually has in stock each year.
CERES-GROWN ORGANIC TOMATOES
DETERMINATE:
Determinate tomatoes are generally more compact, high yielding and hold most of their fruit all at once over a short period, making them perfect for preserving.
- Banana Legs: Bears many oval shaped fruit 70-80mm long often with distinctive bend. Paste type with firm, thick yellow flesh, 72-78 days.
- Tatura dwarf: High yielding, compact, bush type tomato. This was a popular canning/preserving variety once throughout Victoria. Good, sweet and tangy flavour with juicy flesh. Australian heirloom.
- Tiny Tim: The perfect tomato for pots, hanging baskets, and for children. Very compact plant which produces an abundance of tiny red, tasty cherry tomatoes throughout the season. 50-60cm high. American heirloom.
- Kangaroo Paw Brown Dwarf: a unique dwarf variety, producing small, mahogany-brown fruits with a rich, complex flavour and smooth texture. Ideal for container gardening, this compact plant is loved for its abundant yield and striking appearance in gourmet dishes and fresh salads.
SEMI-DETERMINATE:
Semi-determinate plants are more compact than indeterminate types but are also capable of producing fruit throughout the season.
- Kotlas: Small, very sweet, round fruit. Can retain slightly green tops even after ripening. This variety originates from Russia and is a very successful producer even under cool conditions.
- Roma:Italian plum-shaped fruits of 4cm by 6 cm long that are used for bottling and cooking as well as drying. Firm, meaty flesh with a thick skin.
- Yellow Cherry Honeybee: A very sweet, prolific yellow cherry with clustered fruit. Early maturing and disease resistant. Great for salads, saucing and bottling. Australian heirloom.
INDETERMINATE:
Generally taller growing plants, often referred to as ‘staking’ tomatoes as they require supports. Indeterminate types often have superior flavour and produce fruit over a long period making them ideal for home gardeners.
- Black Cherry: To 2m or more this tall cherry type produces an abundance of sweet, chocolate-coloured cherry tomatoes. Versatile and tasty.
- Black Krim: Dark red beefsteak tomato with unique salty flavour. Requires regular watering to prevent splitting. Very large plant, requires staking. Heavy producer.
- Black Russian: Mid-sized, dark chocolate coloured fruit. 1.5m high, requires staking. Early producer, tolerant of cold weather.
- Cherokee Purple: an heirloom variety with a rich, deep purple-red hue and a complex, sweet, smoky flavour. Renowned for its large, meaty fruits and historical significance, it’s a top choice for tomato enthusiasts and gourmet dishes.
- Cherry Blueberry: a unique and visually striking variety, featuring small, round fruits with a deep purple-blue hue and a sweet, tangy flavour. Its compact size and vibrant colour make it a delightful addition to salads, snacks, and garden displays.
- Cherry cocktail red: Very tall cherry tomato (needs good support) with small, very sweet fruits. High yielding and hardy.
- Cherry cocktail yellow: Very tall cherry tomato (Needs good support) with small, very sweet fruits that are bright yellow when ripe. Much loved by gourmet chefs for summer salads. Prolific fruiter.
- Cherry Orange: known for its small, round, bright orange fruits and sweet, juicy flavour. Ideal for snacking, salads, and adding a pop of colour to dishes, this prolific producer is a favourite among gardeners and chefs alike.
- Green Zebra: A smaller growing indeterminate to 1-1.2m. Attractive striped green fruit, great flavour and texture. High yielding (up to 13kgs per plant)
- Gross Lisse: The good ol’ reliable. Very vigorous up to 3m. Much loved by backyard gardeners for its high yields of mid to large red fruit. Late season producer. Tasty and versatile.
- Jaune Flame: Beautiful bright orange French heirloom with a rich, fruity, tart flavour. Fruit in clusters. Cold tolerant and prolific over a long period. Use for salads, salsa, drying, saucing.
- Principe Borghese: Grows approx 1.5m, semi-determinate.The mid season ovoid-cherry type fruits are 2-3cm in diameter are carried on trusses. Traditional Italian variety used for sun-drying
- Riesentraube: German meaning ‘bunch of grapes’. Grows approx 1.5m, prolific bunches of cherry sized fruit with points on the bottom. Great flavour.
- Rouge De Marmande:Can grow 1.5 to 2 metres. An old favourite for the early to mid season crop. Excellent flavour and good fruit set in cool areas. The fruits are usually 6-8cm in diameter, but vary considerably.
- Stupice: Grows to approx 1.2m. Very tasty mid sized red fruits, produces extremely well in cold climates. Starts early and keeps on fruiting into Autumn.
- Tigerella: An iconic heirloom tomato. Grows to approx 1.5m and is one of the most prolific of all varieties. Very attractive, striped, medium sized fruit. Versatile and tasty!
- Tommy Toe: Grows 2.2 to 2.7 metres tall when given support. The cherry type fruits have outstanding flavour and are slightly larger than other cherry types. Very heavy fruit set, over 10kg per bush.
- Tommy Toe Yellow: a vibrant, small heirloom variety known for its sweet, juicy flavour and prolific growth, perfect for snacking and salads. With its sunny yellow hue and excellent disease resistance, it’s a favourite among gardeners for its reliable yield and delightful taste.
- Wapsipinnican Peach: a unique heirloom variety, distinguished by its small, fuzzy, pale yellow fruits that resemble peaches and offer a sweet, fruity flavour. This indeterminate plant is cherished for its abundant yield and eye-catching appearance, perfect for adding a touch of novelty to gardens and culinary creations.
- Yellow Pear: Cute, golden, pear-shaped fruit are produced over a long growing season, very prolific. Grows 2 to 2.5m with support. Sweet fruit can be used to make interesting preserves. Great in school lunchboxes
Contact
- Pollination explanation
- Bare-root fruit trees explained
- Garlic planting, CERES style
- Growing tomatoes 1 – choosing the right one for you
- Growing tomatoes 2 – seed-sowing and transplanting
- Growing tomatoes 3 – watering and fertilising
- Growing tomatoes 4 – staking and pruning
- Growing avocado trees
- Seed potatoes – what are they?
- Bare-root strawberry runners
- Growing asparagus
- Bee-friendly gardens
- How to rehome a rooster
- CERES Nursery – Educating for food security
- Recipe: Nigethan’s Garlic Dahl
- Meet the Terra Wonder Playspace designer
- What is the significance of Winter Solstice?
- 5 myths we wish were true about CERES
- Smart urban forests at Brunswick East
- Solar projects at Brunswick East
- The Sacred Kingfisher
- From Classroom to Creek
- What happens on a corporate volunteer day?
- The sad loss of our DIG office