Wondering which types of tomatoes would work best in your indoor garden and which would thrive more in the great outdoors? Seeing as there are about 15,000 varieties of tomatoes to pick from, getting a little help regarding the best kinds to grow and how to store tomatoes would do you much good.
The following list explains the basic types and the most popular varieties. Down below, you’ll also find some neat tips on storage and cultivating perfectly delicious tomatoes.
37 Types of Tomatoes You Can Buy or Grow Today
Depending on how much they can grow and their lifespan, there are determinate and indeterminate tomatoes.
Determinate Varieties
Determinate tomatoes got that name because they are cultivated to grow to an optimal (some may say compact) height of about four to five feet. These tomatoes have genetically predisposed cutoff height, which does give them an advantage if they’re grown in containers or in small gardens. Furthermore, they tend to produce all of the fruit in a short period of time, after which the plant diminishes.
With determinate tomatoes, there’s no need to prune or remove suckers. They’re also a practical choice if you want to can them or make sauces, soups, and juices, as you’ll get all the fruit at once. Some of the most famous types include:
1. Patio Choice Yellow
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: bright yellow cherry tomatoes
• Flavor: milder taste; not too sweet or tart
• Use: salads
2. Thai Pink Egg
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: small pinkish cherry/grape tomato
• Flavor: juicy, crisp, and sweet
• Use: salads
3. Roma
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: oblong plum, rich red tomato
• Flavor: tangy, fresh flavor
• Use: canning and salads
4. Tiny Tim
Image source: www.gardenfocused.co.uk
• Characteristics: small and juicy globe-shaped red tomato
• Flavor: balanced sweet/tart taste
• Use: salads
5. Celebrity
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: plump, robust red tomato
• Flavor: sweet and succulent taste
• Use: canning, drying, slicing, and salads
Indeterminate Varieties
In contrast, indeterminate tomatoes are the types of tomatoes to plant if you’re eager to have the fruit throughout the growing season. These plants are famous for their continuous, sprawling growth and a consistent yield that comes to an end if they’re killed by some disease or frost.
Since indeterminate varieties provide fruit for as long as they can, they’re usually a more suitable option for people looking to use their tomatoes for salads, sandwiches, and snacking in general. However, you need to remember that they need their space. Though indeterminate tomatoes could work for larger containers, planting them in the ground would let them thrive.
Besides, unlike its counterpart, this variety continues to grow and may even reach up to 10 feet in height. Unsurprisingly, the plants require good support in the form of staking and caging.
Some of the most delicious indeterminate tomatoes you may have come across include:
6. San Marzano
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: thinner, more pointed oblong red tomatoes
• Flavor: pulpy and sweet but low in acidity
• Use: canning and drying
7. Black Krim
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: dark maroon skin and flattened globe shape
• Flavor: balanced sweet and acid taste, somewhat salty
• Use: salads and slicing
8. Cherokee Purple
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: globe-like shape and red skin with hints of pink, green, and purple
• Flavor: sweet and tart
• Use: canning, drying, slicing, and salads
9. Mortgage Lifter
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: pink and red beefsteak-shaped tomato
• Flavor: rich, sweet taste
• Use: salads and slicing
10. Japanese Black Trifele
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: purplish-brick, pear-shaped tomato with smooth skin
• Flavor: smoky, slightly sour, rich taste
• Use: canning, drying, slicing, and salads
The next classification of tomatoes you need to know concerns a tomato’s origin and the way a specific variety was made.
Heirloom Varieties
Heirlooms are some of the most delicious types of tomatoes out there and essentially antiques whose seeds have been passed on for years and years. The most common definition of an heirloom tomato is that it’s a type that’s been passed on through generations within a family or a community.
More specifically, for a tomato to get that precious heirloom add-on, it must be at least 40 years old, and it shouldn’t be hybridized or crossbreed.
From there, you can also differentiate between different heirlooms. There are family heirlooms, which, of course, relate to plants passed down through generations. Other than those, there are commercial ones — these are plants that have been in circulation for more than 50 years or are open-pollinated varieties that had been introduced before 1940.
There are also mystery heirlooms, which are the result of natural cross-pollination consisting of other heirloom types of tomatoes.
Finally, there are created heirlooms. In that case, someone had to take two known parent plants, usually two heirlooms or a hybrid and an heirloom, and cross them. After that, they would have had to de-hybridize the seeds to get rid of any unwanted features and make sure the preferred ones are steady. Naturally, this process would have taken years to complete.
Here are some of the best-known heirlooms today.
11. Pink Brandywine
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: beefsteak-shaped tomato with dark pink skin
• Flavor: sweet with hints of acidity
• Use: canning, slicing, and salads
12. Hillbilly
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: the texture is similar to a peach; a red, orange, and yellow almost seedless tomato
• Flavor: low acidity and high sweetness; almost fruity taste
• Use: slicing
13. Moneymaker
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: light red globe-shaped tomatoes
• Flavor: sweet and aromatic
• Use: slicing and salads
14. Mr. Stripey
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: pinkish-red striped beefsteak-shaped tomato with yellow undertones
• Flavor: mild, sweet taste
• Use: canning and slicing
15. Jubilee
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: globe-shaped tomato with golden-orange skin
• Flavor: mild tomato taste
• Use: slicing and salads
Hybrid Varieties
As the name says, hybrid tomatoes are essentially a cross between two varieties. The main idea behind creating these types of tomatoes is to get the best of both worlds, or rather, the best traits from both parent plants. In turn, the hybrid should yield superior fruits.
Some of the traits hybrid breeders are looking to improve on include disease resistance, higher yield, and even better growth habits. The cross-pollination doesn’t have to be human-controlled, though — it could happen naturally, too.
The problem with hybrid seeds, however, is that you cannot save them so easily. They are genetically unstable, so there’s a chance that the plants may revert back to one of their parents and thus produce much different fruit than expected.
Some delicious hybrid tomatoes you should give a try include:
16. Lemon Boy
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: bright lemon yellow globe-shaped tomato
• Flavor: mild, tangy, and sweet
• Use: slicing and salads
17. Big Beef
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: bright red globe-shaped tomato
• Flavor: old-fashioned tomato taste
• Use: canning, slicing, and salads
18. Super Sweet 100
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: larger bright red and orange cherry tomato
• Flavor: sweet
• Use: salads
19. Baby Boomer
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: red and juicy cherry-shaped fruit
• Flavor: full, sweet taste
• Use: salads
20. Black Pearl
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: round purplish (or brownish-red) tomato with a flattened top
• Flavor: rich and sweet
• Use: drying and salads
Tomato Shapes You Can Find Today
Cherry and Grape Tomatoes
You probably believe that any smaller types of tomatoes are of the cherry variety. However, there are some subtle differences here, most notably in terms of flavor and shape.
Yes, both grape and cherry tomatoes are small in size, but while grape varieties will have a more oval shape, cherry tomatoes should be almost perfectly round.
Additionally, though both varieties are on the sweeter side, grape tomatoes tend to be a bit more balanced in flavor. This good ratio of sweetness and acidity gives them that famous rich, sweet taste. These are also rather meaty and crunchy and simply taste more like a classic tomato you’d get in a store.
In contrast, cherry tomatoes can be very sweet, to the point of being like candy. Still, they are refreshing and oh-so-juicy!
Some great varieties you may be interested in include:
21. Golden Sweet
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: oval-shaped reddish-pink grape-sized tomato
• Flavor: super-sweet
• Use: salads
22. Black Cherry
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: brownish-purplish perfectly round cherry fruit
• Flavor: rich, sweet taste
• Use: salads
23. Isis Candy
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: small round cherry tomato of various shades (yellow, red, and gold)
• Flavor: sweet and fruity
• Use: drying and salads
24. Matt’s Wild Cherry
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: red marble-sized round cherry tomato
• Flavor: sweet tomato taste
• Use: salads
Beefsteak Tomatoes
As one of the largest varieties, beefsteak tomatoes are popular home garden tomato plants that grow almost effortlessly and rather quickly. These tomatoes are often super-juicy with a not-so-overpowering flavor and a high water content.
Since they’re so big, beefsteaks are a staple in sandwiches and salads — to bring out that tomato flavor, you may only need just a hint of salt. They don’t do so well in sauces, though, since their high water content could prevent you from getting the right consistency.
Some all-around winners in this category are:
25. Aunt Ruby’s German Green
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: slightly flattened beefsteak green tomato
• Flavor: fruity and sweet with some hints of spiciness
• Use: slicing and salads
26. Ferris Wheel
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: large, vibrant pinkish-red beefsteak
• Flavor: juicy, well-balanced, slightly sweet taste
• Use: canning, slicing, and salads
27. Dester
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: smooth pinkish-red beefsteak
• Flavor: rich, sweet taste
• Use: slicing and salads
28. Marmande
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: deep-red oblate meaty fruit
• Flavor: slightly tart
• Use: canning, drying, slicing, and salads
Roma (Plum) Tomatoes
The types of tomatoes most often used to make tomato sauce happen to be Roma or plum potatoes. These are usually firm and very red, with an almost egg-like shape and a meaty consistency.
Since they are on the dryer side, they aren’t so famous for their use in salads — but nothing stops you from adding them in. Their denser, more grainy flesh, however, makes them perfect for making tomato paste.
Here are some popular varieties:
29. Amish Paste
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: red acorn-shaped fruit with few seeds and thick flesh
• Flavor: fresh, sweet, and tangy
• Use: canning, drying
30. Jersey Giant
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: red plum-shaped, pointed tomato with few seeds
• Flavor: sweet and balanced
• Use: canning, slicing, and salads
31. Granadero
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: bright red oval-shaped tomato with smooth skin
• Flavor: balanced (not too sweet or acidic)
• Use: canning and salads
32. German Lunchbox
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: medium-sized vibrant pinkish-red fruit
• Flavor: sweet
• Use: slicing and salads
Oxheart Tomatoes
Though the yield of oxheart varieties isn’t so comparable to some other types of tomatoes, these are a fantastic option to have in your garden because of how juicy and flavorful they are. Aptly named due to their size and shape, oxheart tomatoes are a good choice for sandwiches (just slice them in!), and you can even stuff them. Since they don’t have so many seeds, they work well in sauces too.
Some of the most delicious varieties include:
33. Bull’s Heart
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: medium- or large-sized pinkish-red fruit with few seeds
• Flavor: juicy and sweet
• Use: canning, drying, slicing, and salads
34. Oxheart
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: red heart-shaped and almost seedless tomato
• Flavor: sweet and slightly acidic
• Use: slicing
35. Pink Oxheart
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: pink-purplish heart-shaped meaty tomato
• Flavor: sweet and juicy, only slightly acidic
• Use: slicing
36. Orange Oxheart
Image source: Pinterest
• Characteristics: large oxheart-shaped golden-orange fruit
• Flavor: meaty and sweet balanced taste
• Use: canning and slicing
37. Canned Tomatoes
Though they aren’t really a variety, you can rely on canned tomatoes when in need of some flavorful produce. These are meant to taste as good as or even better than fresh tomatoes since they’re picked at the very peak of ripeness.
The process of canning tomatoes is pretty simple — they’re usually processed with heat, peeled, and placed in a tin or can. However, even in this case, there are a few options to choose from.
You have your whole-peeled tomatoes, which involve just enough heat to break the skin for easier peeling. These are usually canned whole with tomato juice or purée, and some brands even add some calcium chloride for more firmness.
Image source: Pinterest
Once you get them out, you can decide on how to cut or crush them. Some of the preferred uses include making tomato soup or marinara sauce.
The next step is for the manufacturer to dice the fruit, which in turn gives you diced and petite diced tomatoes. Usually, brands add some citric acid and salt to keep them from going mushy or changing color. The best way to use these is when you want to keep the texture a bit chunkier, like when making salsa.
For those looking to save some time in the kitchen, using stewed tomatoes is always an option. These are cooked and seasoned before canning, usually with a variety of herbs, sugar, and salt.
Commonly Used Canned Tomatoes
• Crushed tomatoes. These can be either more like a purée or will have a few chunks here and there. They do well in soups and sauces and usually have a sweet flavor.
• Tomato purée. To make the purée, you have to cook and reduce your tomatoes but also strain them to eliminate the seeds. Because of that, they don’t taste so fresh as some other varieties, but they still work well in sauces and stews. If you’re making pizza or some slow-cooker dishes, this is a good option to have on hand.
• Tomato sauce. More spreadable than purée, you can use tomato sauces in slow-cooker dishes and sauces when you don’t want any chunks. It often includes some seasonings (sugar and salt), but some herbs and even garlic may find their way into it too.
• Tomato paste. The most processed of all (and a favorite of Italian grandmothers), tomato paste is rich in flavor, darker than other varieties, and thick. This concentration of flavor is achieved by cooking the tomatoes for hours to reduce the water content, removing the skin and the seeds, and then reducing the remaining liquid again.
The final result is much stronger than other varieties, so you generally need less paste while cooking.
Choosing Your Crops: The Best Varieties to Opt for
Growing Tomatoes Indoors
Growing tomatoes indoors is possible, but you need to be wary of the types of tomatoes you opt for. In general, since you are limited in space inside, growing huge fruit (beefsteak and oxheart, for instance) may prove a bit challenging.
Instead, you should opt for smaller types of tomatoes, like cherry and grape (or micro-dwarf tomatoes), which yield enough clusters for personal use but won’t overwhelm you. But there are many other factors to consider, too, such as how much sunlight they’ll get, how disease-resistant they are, etc.
Image source: Pinterest
Another consideration is whether you should pick determinate or indeterminate plants. This will depend on how much effort you’re willing to put into your plants and how often you need the fruit.
If you don’t want to keep pruning the plants, go for determinate ones that will do everything by themselves and stop growing at some point, yielding one big round of fruit. If pruning and general care are something you aren’t afraid of, indeterminate varieties may prove to be a better option, especially since you’ll get a continuous yield. You can also start your own import-export business by getting a Florida LLC if your business is based in Florida.
Some of the best types of tomatoes to grow indoors are:
• Florida Petite
• Red Robin
• Tiny Tim
• Yellow Canary
• Mohamed
• Totem
• Sprite
• Patio F Hybrid
• Small Fry
Growing Tomatoes Outdoors
Here, you have to take into account the same factors that go into deciding which types of tomatoes you can grow indoors (type of growth and seed origin, fruit flavor, color, etc.). The good news is that you probably have more space outside for a bigger crop. The somewhat bad news is that you may want to grow your tomatoes in a protected setting.
Greenhouse Tomatoes
Image source: Pinterest
Some types of tomatoes have been specifically bred to thrive in greenhouses, such as the Suncherry Premium F1 Hybrid.
In general, the humidity and warmth inside a greenhouse may boost the growth, but it can also put your crops at risk of some plant pathogens, bacteria, and fungi. The extent of potential damage depends on you, of course, and how much effort you put into offsetting some of the unfavorable conditions with technology.
Some of the types that could thrive inside a greenhouse include:
• Black Opal
• Gardener’s Delight
• Sungold
• Craigella or Ailsa Craig
• Nebula
• Annamay
• Climstar
• Ferline
• Bigdena
You should mostly consider indeterminate types of tomatoes for greenhouses to take advantage of the amount of vertical space you have.
Outdoor Varieties
Some great options for growing tomatoes outdoors include:
• Gardener’s Delight
• Moneymaker
• Alicante
• Beefmaster
However, one of the most important factors here is checking how disease-resistant the variety is. Blight is a common annoyance among gardeners, so they often prefer the following types purely because they will fight off pathogens better:
• Mr. Stripey
• Iron Lady
• Matt’s Wild Cherry
• Defiant
• Plum Regal
How to Select and Store Tomatoes
Picking Out the Best From a Bunch
As a rule of thumb, no matter if you’re in a store or in your garden, the best tomatoes:
• Have a distinct aroma. If they don’t, they probably lack flavor too.
• Are somewhat firm. If you squeeze the tomato slightly, it should give in to the pressure. When they’re too firm, you will likely have to leave them to ripen for a few days.
• Feel heavy in your hand. That means they’re full of juice.
• Don’t have any dark spots or blemishes on them. If they do, there may be some rot on the inside. Fine cracks near the stem, however, don’t have much of an effect on flavor.
• Haven’t been kept in the refrigerator. Putting your tomatoes in the fridge will stop the ripening process and thus prevent them from achieving their full flavor.
• Can be of any size. Their size doesn’t affect the quality, so pick whichever you prefer.
Storing Tomatoes
Store-Bought Tomatoes
• Keep them at room temperature or somewhere cool. If you refrigerate them and they’re unripe, you’ll ruin them forever.
• Keep them flush to the surface to prevent bruising. Also, store them stem-down on a flat surface as that’s the part bacteria and moisture can go through.
• If they’re ripe and you won’t use them right away, then it’s OK to refrigerate them. They can last for a couple of days in the cold. When you want to eat them, though, revive them by leaving them at room temperature for about an hour (or more).
Home-Grown Tomatoes
With lots of fruit to spare from your garden, you have a few options in terms of preserving your tomatoes:
• Store them uncovered and away from direct sunlight. Make sure they stand in a single layer so as not to limit the airflow. If they’re very ripe and you won’t eat them all right now, you can store some in the fridge as well.
• If you’ve diced your tomatoes, put them in a Ziploc bag or an airtight plastic container and store them for up to three days.
• Freeze them. To preserve your tomatoes for stews, sauces, and soups, sort them out, removing damaged fruits, and cut them if necessary (some types of tomatoes, like cherry, can be frozen whole). Lay them on a freezer-safe sheet (single layer again) and make sure they aren’t touching when you place them in the freezer. Once they’re frozen, you can store them in sealable plastic bags and freeze them for about six months.
• Can them. Use a pressure canner to reach the high temperature necessary to prevent botulism and other bacteria from reaching the food. You can keep bottled tomatoes almost indefinitely (but the quality is best when used within 18 months).
• Dry them in the oven. Once they’re done, pour some vinegar over them, and after letting them sit for a while, transfer to sterilized jars, topping them off with some more vinegar and oil. Store in a dark area for up to four months. If you open a jar, keep it in the fridge and use it within six weeks.
• Make paste, sauce, purée, etc. If you cook a lot and love using tomatoes for soups, sauces, and pretty much any dish out there, this might be the ideal option. Store in the fridge or freezer to extend the shelf life.
Final Thoughts
Yes, finding out that there are thousands of types of tomatoes out there can be overwhelming. Now, however, you have a decent list of the most suitable ones for various purposes, complete with how they taste, what they look like, and more.
Fairly easy to grow and tend to, tomatoes will make you feel like a pro gardener, even if you’re only growing them on your patio. So don’t wait around — start your crops today!
