My Tomato Grow List For 2024

Black Krim tomatoes growing in my acreage potager.

I always put my tomatoes in a list all their own, treat them special in comparison to other vegetables. I have such a love affair with growing them, and still want to grow all sorts of them, even now that we have a much smaller property.

The good thing is that I have trialed literally hundreds of them over the years, if not thousands, so I already have my favourite varieties. Being in a new zone, I add several new ones to my grow list to trial each year, as I have always done, to see if I might find a new favourite. I always recommend that folks grow 80% tried and true, 20% something new.

I grow only open-pollinated varieties, no hybrids at all (not even the ever popular Sungold cherry). My first love was the heirloom types, but I've since also fallen in love with some of the newer open-pollinated ones. As I like to say... some of these will become the heirlooms of tomorrow, they really are that good!

In case you are unsure what the difference is...

• Hybrids are two/some tomatoes that were crossed to make tomatoes to enhance certain traits; firmness for better shipping, uniform size and colour for ease of mechanical picking, disease resistance for higher yields.... Seeds are often sterile, if you grow the seeds from a hybrid tomato, you will not get the same tomato that you started with. It will revert back to one of the parents.

• Heirlooms are varieties that have been carried along/saved for several generations. They are open-pollinated types from from pre-WWII, or for at least 40 to 50 years.

• Open-pollinated tomatoes are pollinated by insects, birds, wind, humans, or are self pollinating. They produce seeds that are true to type so if you save them, you will get the same tomato from those seeds.

This Year's Tomato List

I love beefsteaks, they are my favourites to both grow and eat, so they are an absolute must in my garden, even though summers are a few weeks shorter here on the prairies.

The paste (Roma) types are for canning into sauces or diced tomatoes.

Slicers are for fresh eating, salads, sandwiches. All the good things. Some are listed as canning types, as well as fresh eating, as they have less seeds, are meaty, and have thicker skins making them easier to peel after a hot water bath.

As we are not really big on cherry tomatoes, I am growing just 2, along with a saladette type. Saladettes are small slicers, like large cherries.

You'll notice that I have a few which say they can be grown indoors. These are tomatoes that I am going to try growing in pots, inside the house. I got this idea from reading a post by Sara Bäckmo, who starts her mini tomatoes in November (Sweden) and begins harvesting in February. I figure starting them now, in January, as the days are getting longer, will be even more productive. Let's see how it goes! Nothing like a good trial, eh?

Here is Sara's Swedish blog, too, just in case anyone is interested : )

Ananas Noir	Heritage Harvest	80 days	Fresh salsas, salads sandwiches, everything really. Heirloom. Beefsteak.
Aunt Ginny's Purple	Tomato Fest	79 days	Deep pink, despite the name. Nice, big, good for salad/sand. Heirloom. Beefsteak.
Aunt Ruby's German Green	Heritage Harvest	85 days	Big, green tomatoes with a spicy, sweet flavour. Favourite. Heirloom. Beefsteak
Beliy Nativ	Tomato Fest	54 days	Small, juicy, red slicer. Can be grown indoors. New to me heirloom. Slicer
Black Seaman	Tomato Fest	75 days	Salads, sandwiches, deep red inside. Can be grown indoors. Heirloom. Slicer
Black Prince	Tomato Fest	70 days	Rich, deep black, great producer, lots of lycopene. Favourite. Heirloom. Slicer
Bush Beefsteak	Tomato Fest	62 days	Compact plant, early, vigorous producer. Can grow indoors. New to me heirloom beefsteak.
Chianti Rose	Tomato Fest	78 days	Large, juicy tomatoes. Great for growing on the coast. Tester for here. Heirloom. Beefsteak.
Elizabeth	T&T Seeds	60 days	Tall vine with many oval shaped small tomatoes. Heirloom. Saladette.
Gardener's Sweetheart	Heritage Harvest	72 days	Long trusses of lovely heart shaped tomatoes. Heirloom.
Heinz 1350	Tomato Fest	68 days	Round, red, uniform tomatoes. Heirloom. Slicer/Canner.
Heinz 2653	Yonder Hill	60 days	Small, pumpkin shape, is the ketchup tomato of Canada. Favourite heirloom. Paste.
Lucky Tiger	Stem's Flower Farm	70 days	The best cherry(?) tomatoes. Big oblong, yummy, green/gold striped. Open-pollinated.
Manitoba	Tomato Fest	58 days	Early red slicer that is a also a good canner. Can grow Indoors. Recommended by Rick. Heirloom. Slicer/Canner.
Martino's Roma	Baker Creek	75 days	BER resistant paste, prolific, great for sauces. Favourite heirloom.
Oxheart	Heritage Harvest	80 days	Very large, pink, heart shaped, low-acid tomatoes. Heirloom.
Paul Robeson	Baker Creek	74 days	Large black sweet, rich flavoured tomato. Favourite. Heirloom. Beefsteak.
Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye	Stem's Flower Farm	65 days	Large pink tomatoes with green stripes. Very reliable fruiter, tasty! Open-pollinated. Beefsteak.
Red Robin	Tomato Fest	54 days	Super dwarf cherry type. Indoor tester.
San Marzano Redorta	Tomato Fest	78 days	Larger than the San Marzano, meaty, canning tomato. Heirloom. Paste.
Sprite	Tomato Fest	60 days	Very dwarf, very productive. Can be grown indoors. Cherry.
Sophie's Choice	Tomato Fest	54 days	Can be grown indoors. Heirloom tester. Grow inside/outside. Slicer
Uluro Ocher	Tomato Fest	68 days	Smoky, sweet tomato on tree stalk, dwarf tomato project. Black orange tomato. Open-pollinated. Slicer

My determinate tomato beds on the acreage, for saucing.

Types of Tomatoes

Determinates are also often called bush tomatoes. They stay more compact at 2 to 3 feet, will grow tidily in a small tomato cage. The fruits ripen all about the same time, within a couple of weeks of each other. Most paste tomatoes are determinate and because they can be harvested at the same time, they are perfect for canning. You cannot get a determinate tomato to make more flowers or fruits when it is finished. I grow determinates mainly for canning.

Indeterminates are also called vining tomatoes, need a stake or a trellis, or a very large cage to grow in. They produce a steady supply of tomatoes throughout the season, until frost takes them out. They tend not to ripen enough tomatoes at one time for saucing or canning, but are great for fresh eating as they ripen a few at a time. Some of the new open pollinated cherry types produce lots of tomatoes that ripen at a time, like Barry's Crazy Cherry and Pink Bumble Bee. I choose indeterminates for fresh eating in salads and sandwiches.

Semi-determinates are the best of both worlds. The vines are shorter and mor compact than the indeterminates, still need staking, but also produce throughout the season.

There is now a new 'type' called a tree tomato. These are the tomatoes from the Dwarf Tomato Project. These tomatoes dwarf tomatoes crossed with heirlooms to produce short, stocky, sturdy, tree trunk like stalks. I have trialed quite a few of the project tomatoes, and love them, especially Dwarf Purple Heart, and Dwarf Hannah's Prize. Highly recommend these tomatoes. This year, I am only growing Uluru Ochre though, as I wanted to trial some of the minis indoors and out. One can only grow so many tomatoes on a town lot ; )

When To Start

Mid to late March in Nanaimo, a Zone 7, to plant out in mid to late May.

Last year, my first growing season back here on the prairies, a Zone 3, I started in late March, thinking that giving them that extra 2 weeks would make them just right for planting out at the end of May here. Some did not have time to ripen.

This year, I am starting a bit earlier, in early to mid March, giving them an extra 2 to 3 weeks head start. Keep in mind that there is no benefit to starting any earlier than that as they still cannot go outside till after last frost.

The only ones I am starting early (right now, end of January) are the very dwarf varieties for growing indoors, as an experiment.

Sweet, tasty Green Zebra tomatoes.

How to start seeds post coming soon. Not just for tomatoes, but for all the things.

Happy Tomato Seed Shopping ~ Tanja