Need some advice for picking a tomato variety? Casey outlines how she picks her tomatoes each year.

What do I want to do with these tomatoes?

Are you a salsa lover? Do you like a big slice of fresh tomato on your sandwiches? Do you want something to put into your salad or something to pop directly into your mouth? Tomatoes come in a few different categories that will help you narrow down your choices to something you’ll actually like to eat.

• Cherry/Grape Tomatoes: These are the smallest of the tomatoes. They tend to be sweet and perfect for snacking. You can also slice them for a sweet addition to a salad or roast them in some olive oil to make a light pasta sauce. Some examples: Sweet 100s, Red Grape, Sungold
• Roma/Paste Tomatoes: These tomatoes have a lower water content that makes them the ideal choice for sauces and salsas. Some Examples: San Marzano, Roma, Amish Paste
• Slicer/Beefsteak: Some people will separate these categories, but these are typically your standard size to large slicing tomatoes. Beefsteaks are usually larger and ribbed, while slicers are smoother. Some examples: Celebrity, Early Girl, Bushmaster, Boxcar Willie

Where am I planting these tomatoes?

Tomatoes are heavy feeders that need consistent watering. Some varieties stay compact while others grow into massive vines. For most tomato plants, we recommend a 2’ x 2’ area of the garden for your tomato at minimum. Determinate tomatoes, those that produce one larger harvest of tomatoes, grow in a “bush” form, which are best supported through a tomato cage. Indeterminate tomatoes, those that continue to grow and produce throughout the season, may require a larger trellis or growing support.

If you are growing tomatoes in containers, you’ll want a smaller variety, bred to be more compact. Choose a container no smaller than 14” inches across for the best results. Cherry tomato varieties are more resistant to cracking issues associated with inconsistent watering that often happens with potted plants. Growers have also bred several varieties specially meant for containers such as Tidy Treats, Heatmaster, and Patio tomatoes.

What do you want your harvest to look like?

Tomatoes are not just bred for color, size, and flavor, but for disease resistance, cold and heat tolerance, and for different fruiting times. If you want tomatoes as early in the season as possible, look for tomatoes with a smaller number of days to maturity. Varieties like Early Girl or Fourth of July mature early in the season to get you fresh tomatoes quicker. Other varieties like Amish Paste may take longer to start producing ripe fruits, but will give you huge yields into the fall. If your goal is to cut your grocery budget and dine on soups, salsas, and bruschetta this summer, pick a selection that will combine early harvests with varieties with higher yields into the late summer.

Do I want to try new things?

Experienced gardeners know that growing plants is basically a big science experiment. You try different variables and apply different techniques to get the best outcome possible. Mother Nature is constantly sending in her own curveballs–lots of heat, too much water, bugs–and the gardener learns how to adapt to them. Experienced gardeners often lean on their favorite varieties that have delivered for them before.